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"the importance of being earnest" and critique
the importance of being earnest critical essay
the importance of being earnest critical essay
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A Marxist Criticism on "The Importance of Being Earnest"
"Excuse me Geoffrey, could you get me some more water. I'm terribly
thirsty, and the weather out here isn't doing any good for my complexion."
declares the man as he sighs in exhaustion.
"Right away sir, anything else?" proclaims the servant.
"No that will be all." says the man as he waves off the servant.
So is this the scene of yesteryear's society or one of today's, well in
actuality it can be either. In today's world the rich still rely on butlers and
maids. It seems to be a practice that will always exist in this world, but the
question largely is not on their jobs, but if they are deemed of a different
class, and sadly to say yes. In today's world it seems that class is still a
huge part of the world order, and moreover it seems that there will always be
the rich and poor, the owner and the worker. This is even demonstrated by the
literature of our time and that of other era's, such as the play "The Importance
of Being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde. In this play Wilde display's the class
structure with a different and interesting twist. He makes a reflection on the
society with his own sense of humor, but however it still leaves a very good
opportunity to make a Marxist critique about the way the class structure
influences the play. He leaves room for these critiques when he writes about
the servants, the nobles, and the middle class. His view on society and class
is very evident on the way the servants are portrayed.
"‘I don't know that I am much interested in your family life, Lane'"
"‘No sir; it's not a very interesting subject. I never think of it
myself.'"
In this passage from the play it is very clear that Wilde likes to give
his characters some life, but however it seemed that he was giving the servants
a bit too much, but nevertheless it does establish very well the position of
those servants. In the society Wilde is presenting it seems that the place of
the servant was not only for manual labor, but also to provide conversation, and
to compliment the employer's personalities. In the story the idea of class was
demonstrated by the interaction between Lane and Algernon even though Lane was
witty he did know his place as a servant and throughout the play the servants
were an excellent reminder that class structure did exist. Wilde's idea of a
witty servant has even spawned off into today's society with television sitcoms
Humor is more than just amusing entertainment to pass the time. Though jokes and witty banter can be shallow, humor can go deeper than surface level to convey messages to audiences who would otherwise be close-minded about certain ideas. Humor is a great tool to get audiences to change the way they think, feel, and act. In “Saying Goodbye to Yang,” Alexander Weinstein uses humor to criticize some of society’s faults such as the way it has become heavily reliant on technology, racially insensitive, and judgmental.
Jackie Robinson was the most influential ball player of all time. Jackie was born in Cairo, Georgia on January 31, 1919. Robinson had a tough childhood since his dad left his family when he was only 1 year old. This was very difficult for his family, so Jackie, his mom, and his 4 siblings moved to California. This move actually helped Jackie in the long run as he later attended UCLA. At UCLA, Jackie became the first 4-letter man. This meant that he was the first person in the school’s history to join four varsity sports teams. From there, Jackie went on to the army and then to the Negro Leagues. During his time in the Negro Leagues, Branch Rickey, the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, was looking for a black man to break the
Jackie Robinson overcame many struggles in life such as being included in the civil rights movement, facing discrimination, and he achieved being the first black man in major league baseball. He was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia on Hadley Ferry Road. It is a blue-collar town of about 10,000 people. Jackie Robinson became the first black player in the major leagues with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Even though he achieved this major goal he still had trouble getting there. He and his siblings were raised by his single mother. Jackie attended Muir High School and Pasadena Junior College. He was a great athlete and played many sports. He played football, basketball, track, and of course baseball. He left school in 1941, worked as an athletic director and played semiprofessional football for the Honolulu Bears before being drafted to the Army in 1942. While he was in the army he became close friends with Joe Louis. The heavyweight used his popularity to protest about the delayed entry of black soldiers. Two years later he got the honor to be second lieutenant in 1943. After an accident where he refused to sit in the back of an unsegregated bus, military police arrested Robinson. A duty officer requested this and then later he requested that Jackie should be court martialed. Since this happened Jackie was not allowed to be deployed overseas to the World War II. He never saw combat during the war. Jackie left the Army with an honorable discharge.
Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia in 1919 to a family of sharecroppers. He attended UCLA where he became the first athlete to receive varsity letters in 4 sports; baseball, basketball, football, and track. Jackie did not have enough money to afford college and was forced to drop out. He then decided to enlist in the U.S. Army. With very swift progress, after only two years Jackie earned the rank of lieutenant. Jackie’s career in the army was cut short when he was court-martialed in relation of objections to racial discrimination. No scene was made and Jackie received an honorable discharge when he decided to resign from the army. He took a stand when he was in the army and made changes against racial discrimination that stood until racial discrimination completely ended. Jackie stood up for what was right and was not afraid to voice his opinion. Jackie said, “A life is not important, except in the impact it has on other lives.” Jackie never knew what was coming when he gets recognized by Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Jackie Robinson said, “ A life is not important except the impact it has on other lives. He said that because he always wanted to make a difference in the world. Jackie Robinson is a African American baseball player that played for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was also a very good athlete and was good at every sport that he played. He also was the very first African American person in the MLB, which took a lot of courage. Because he got a lot of mean comments and letters his first years. He is a very courageous player and respectful person. Most people know why he is famous, he is the a man that broke the color barrier. He is not only one of the first African American baseball player in the world. He is one of the best baseball players to ever play. Overall Jackie is a very good, courageous person and for all we know if Jackie never played there could still be discrimination against African Americans in baseball. Jackie Robinson is known as one of the best because of his courage and outstanding work that he did in the world counting in the league and outside of the league.
Jackie Robinson faced much adversity through his career, but he eventually gained the respect of thousands across the country and is considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time. Jackie Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia. He was the son of Jerry Robinson and Mallie Robinson. His father Jerry was a plantation farm worker and his mother was a domestic worker. Jackie had four siblings, three brothers and one sister, Edgar, Frank, Mack, and Willa Mae. Jerry Robinson, Jackie’s father, left him, his mother, and his four siblings when Jackie was just six months old and never returned. Jackie’s mother was a very religious women, so she tried to do better for her and her children by moving by railroad out to Pasadena, California. Although conditions were not as bad as they were in Georgia, there was still racial discrimination in California. However the self-respect and self-confidence that Jackie’s mother taught him later would help him later facing the discrimination on the baseball field (Biography.com) So was Jackie Robinson entering Major League Baseball (MLB) a major historical event? Well Jackie Robinson entering the MLB was a major historical event, especially in baseball. Jackie Robinson’s persistence through the adversity he faced paved the way for all the other minorities that play in the MLB in today’s game, he played a part in the civil rights movement, he served in World War II (WWII), and played a variety of different sports throughout his life. His entering into the game was a major milestone in Baseball history.
Jackie Robinson, from early on in his life, was known for his great achievements in sports, but his achievements in sports only aided the greater goal of racial equality. Robinson attended Pasadena Junior College, where he often got in trouble for not cooperating with Jim Crow laws- laws that enforced segregation between African Americans and Whites. He also attended UCLA College where he met his future wife, but he was not able to finish because of financial difficulties. When he entered the Military he faced discrimination from other soldiers; this discrimination he faced showed him that sports were his true calling, not the military. He seemed destined to lead a career in bringing African Americans and whites together. Jackie Robinson played baseball at a time when it was segregated, a time where there were white leagues and African American leagues and the two did not mix. Being a civil rights activist, Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, opening up sports to African Americans.
I feel that this play is very funny and it has its own hidden message. All the epigrams in this play are the best of Wilde’s to date. What is the message that we can learn from the play? All of us are living a lie to some extent. We need to recognise the ridiculous in our daily lives and need to understand that to earnest is not what others declare to be, but it is to be true to your very own self. Rather than blindly believes and follows, we need to sit down and think what is important and truthful first, then only we can be earnest.
William Shakespeare has become landmark in English literature. One must be familiar with the early days of English literature in order to comprehend the foundation of much of more modern literature’s basis. Shakespeare’s modern influence is still seen clearly in many ways. The success of Shakespeare’s works helped to set the example for the development of modern dramas and plays. He is also acknowledged for being one of the first writers to use any modern prose in his writings.
Jackie Robinson was a major cultural hero. It was a very courageous act to go and be the first African American player in Major League Baseball, breaking the color barrier. This paved the way for many more African Americans in baseball and other sports everywhere. This also affected our society today because now baseball along with all other professional sports are multi-racial and allow everyone to play in the league. No matter what if they had the skills it didn't matter who or where they are from they could play.
Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays. Ed. Richard Allen Cave. New York: Penguin, 2000.
A common worry about Friday is safety, parents wondering if their kids should be out that early in such dangerous crowds. My solution: Do not shop at Wal-Mart! Out of all crime reports filled out on Black Friday, over half of them are involving Wal-Mart customers or staff
Shakespeare, William, and Samuel Barclay Charters. Literature and Its Writers: A Compact Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2007. Print.
...s given by Dorian himself with his own hands. Death becomes the judge of him. But Wilde is more fortunate than Dorian for the prisons judged him in his late years.
Such comedy emphasizes wit, whether true or false…” (Bacon). As a comedy of manners, the play accomplishes its goal of revealing the shallow mindset of the Victorian high society through satirical, yet critical, tone. In his book, Oscar Wilde, Erickson refers to the play as “Wilde’s comic masterpiece” (Ericksen, 145). When critiquing the play, the Times correctly noted a quality in the language of The Importance of Being Earnest that foiled every expectation: “Mr. Oscar Wilde’s peculiar vein of epigram does not accord too well with flippant action. Its proper vein is among serious people, or so we have been taught to think. In a farce it gives one the sensation of drinking wine out of the wrong sort of glass: it conveys to the palate a new sensation, which in the end, however, is discovered to be not unpleasing” (Powell, 119). It seems that the reason for Wilde’s incredible success with his satirical play is due to the fact that it contradicts the purpose of a farce, so where “a typical farce dissolves into bland conventionality, Wilde strikes at the root of accepted standards” (Powell,