Being earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest is regarded as Oscar Wilde’s most famous and long-lasting play. Reasons for this is because Wilde manipulates social drama, slapstick humour and melodrama through the different comedy styles. This essay critically explores the differences between the comedy styles such as farce, satire and the absurd that are present in Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest. Another issue that Wilde brings up is the portrayal of rich people during the Victorian era. Wilde suggests

Oscar Wilde's final play The Importance of Being Earnest was first performed in 1895, near the end of Britain's Victorian Era. As was common in Wilde's previous works, the play lightheartedly documents (and often mocks) Victorian society and explores a number of universal themes such as marriage, gender, and social class. One element in particular that Wilde repeats throughout the play is the superficiality of his characters. For them, appearance takes precedence over all else. This superficiality

Over the weekend I saw the play, The Importance of Being Earnest. As I first walked into the Black Box Theater in Kendall Hall, the yellow lights were dimmed and there was Opera music playing. The stage was set up as a small living room with purple walls, tan doors, old-fashioned furniture, and a big white couch with an orange blanket hanging over it. Even though it was a small theater, the way the living room was set up made it look bigger, and the settings went very well with the play. The next

The Importance of Being Earnest shows morality through all the characters in various ways. Each person teaches a different lesson that readers should take away in their everyday lives. For instance, comedy and deception are two ways that Wilde tries to show characters acting immorally. In the Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde satirizes morality through the characters Algernon, Jack, and Cecily. Throughout the play, Algernon discreetly breaks social norms through bunburying, defying human

Oscar Wilde uses a comedy of manners to present a critical view of late 19th century society in The Importance of Being Earnest through hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is the practice of demanding to have sophisticated standards or more honourable beliefs than one actually does. An example of hypocrisy can be seen in Act 1 when Algernon states that “Lane's views on marriage seem somewhat lax. Really, if the lower orders don't set us a good example, what on earth is the use of them? They seem, as a class, to

On the eleventh of November, I was able to take in a performance of Oscar Wilde’s 1895 comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest, a Trivial Comedy for Serious People, it was performed in an amphitheater from within Corning Community College. Additionally, it was presented by the aforementioned college, and the Muse of Fire Theatre group. While initially off putting, the overall experience was generally an enjoyable one. When viewing the stage the audience can obviously tell that, while seemingly simplistic

Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde has received mixed reviews since its first performance in 1895, but actually enjoyed a successful run of 86 performances. However at the time, the main focus of theatre was to tackle and address current issues and most had a definite moral flavour. Other plays of the time, such as A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens were about social change and where more geared towards a critique of the mistakes and failings of society. Whereas The Importance of Being Earnest

of victorian society that are represented by Gwendolen and Cecily. Gwendolen and Cecily are both fixated on the name Ernest because the superficial society surrounding them unconsciously causes them to gravitate towards men that they believe have earnest dispositions. Gwendolen asserts her fondness of the name Ernest declaring, “my ideal has always been to love some one of the name of Ernest. There is something in that name that inspires absolute confidence” (Wilde 980). Cecily also admires the name

Cronk 1 Cameron Cronk Mrs. Gilbert English CP 3rd Period March 1, 2015 The Importance of Being Ernest In the play, “The Importance of Being Earnest” by Oscar Wilde he shows true morality through immorality by making it important to be “serious”. Earnest who is also Jack and how he has mad immoral choices by lying to other people and what his true identity is. Also how Algernon is also lying to other people about his other identity whose name is Bunbury and how his moral and immoral decisions

Satire in The Importance of Being Earnest The Importance of Being Earnest is a short play written during the Victorian Era by Oscar Wilde. In his play, Wilde’s use of mockery and irony is meant to publicly ridicule the self-centered attitude of the Victorian upper classes, as well as, to expose their hypocrisy, lack of intelligence, and ridiculous social behaviors. Wilde mocks the Victorian structure of society in Britain and the procedures it followed by satirizing issues such as marriage, money