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Essays on importance of being earnest
The importance of earnest character analysis
Essays on importance of being earnest
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As Søren Kierkegaard once said, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forward.” I agree with Kierkegaard because our lives reveal who we were through our past and who we can be in the future. Likewise, some directors base their plot on this principle, but through the use of plot devices. Through reading and actually going to see the live play production of The importance of Being Earnest at Savanna’s Children Theater, I was able to get an understanding of the characters, hearing the dialogue and seeing their interactions. However, through watching the movie, the character’s personality was better understood through the use of plot devices. The criteria that seems to be the building blocks to the foundation of characterization in The Importance of Being Earnest includes flashbacks and daydreams. These plot devises combined give a clearer understanding of the characters which allows the audience to see things from the character perspective that you wouldnt’t have access to in the play.
Plot devices play a major role in creating character development. The first plot device used in the movie is flashbacks. Flashbacks in the “Importance of Being Earnest” movie allow the audience to get a better understanding of the story line by providing background information through imagery. In the play version a flashback scene reveals Jack’s true identity and opens up with the use of dialogue. In Act 3, Lady Bracknell asks “Prism! Where is the baby?” Miss Prism response is “I left it in the cloak-room of one of the large railway stations in London. (Wilde 1464). The play production uses the lines directly from the script. The dialogue exchange between Miss. Prism and Lady Bracknell only gives the audience a little in...
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...ld is no longer on his face. The fact that the knight helmets is taken off from Algernon face shows Cecily’s affection towards her Algernon.
Daydreams and flashbacks are apart of our internal thoughts. Daydreams allow us to get away from the present into a place that is all just a fantasy. Likewise, Flashbacks also plays a role in our intellectual thoughts. In flashbvackas our past is revealed to us and therfore brings forth understanding. The play production of The Importance of Being Earnest; The characters past were revealed though the use of dialogue and stage props. However, the movie revealed the characters past through the use of flashback and revealed their future through the use of daydreaming. These two plot devises developed true characterization that not only matched up to the play but went above and beyond to show who the characters really are.
Throughout the play, there is a level of intensity that can be seen. Sound effects, lightning and props help make the story seem intensely realistic. It helped engage the audience's attention and emotions throughout the entire play. It is as though we are living vicariously through these characters. With these characters, there is a life lesson to be learned. We create education in favor of ourselves from which we learn and journey to travel through time and time again. The playwright leaves an impression on our lives, which is to say that as society moves on, so should our paths that lead to greater understanding. A project such as moving on as a society and gaining better understanding of people and their lifestyles are elements the entire cast and the playwright has presented, a project that is appropriately entitled -- The Laramie Project.
Adaptation is the process or state of changing to fit new circumstances or conditions, or the resulting change (Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.). When something adapts, or is adapted, it retains the basic content of its former self while taking on new qualities. When a story is adapted, either to a different medium than the one originally used or to a different time or place, the adaptation shows a new interpretation of the story and gives insights into the mindset of the individual that adapted it and the society that created that mind.
Much like art, and literature a play has a message to communicate to the audience. In the play Our Town by Thornton Wilder the overall message that is being sent is that people often take life for granted and often don’t appreciate the smaller details so we should learn to appreciate them. He implies one thing that is taken for granted is the connections we have with others. Wilder even uses great detail to have the reader understand that. He also uses the theme of cycles that are easily understood and often relatable, the first being daily life, the second being love and marriage, and death to create a connection for the audience. He also uses tool such as a Stage Manager to clearly present those ideas while at the same time allowing a connection between the audience and the play. The stage manager is also a character without bounds and so Wilder takes advantage of that by allowing the use of flashbacks to clarify ideas. With these tools Wilder has the ability to allow the audience to understand a clear message and appreciate life.
The play,“The importance of being Earnest” begins by introducing Jack Worthing and his lifestyle. Worthing is well liked in his community and is praised for his hard work; unlike his brother Earnest. Jack always keeps an eye on his trouble some brother and reprimands him constantly. Shockingly, the play later reveals that Earnest is Jack’s alter ego but nobody knows except Josh himself. Josh only uses the name “Jack” when he doing responsible things; and uses the name “Earnest” when partying outside of his small town.
By using paradoxes, metadrama and dramatic irony the audience got an extra insight into the character's true nature and what they were really planning behind their fake appearance. This makes us query the characters external appearance because we are mindful of the reality. The characters find it is easy enough to put on a fake smile, to give the impression that their something else. “Character is like a tree and reputation its shadow. The shadow is what we think it is and the tree is the real thing.” – Abraham
experienced at the time. He also emphasized that the actor on a stage lives a “repeated” experience not a “primary” one. What he means by this is that in order to evoke passionate emotion, the actor has to have experienced it. The only way an actor can make it seem real is if they truly can take themselves back to that moment they initially felt that way. However, there were a few limitations that occurred with emotional memory. The actors felt exhausted after recalling these strong emotions, producing negative
Throughout The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde plays around with the standard expectations along with the absence of compassion of a Victorian society in the 1890’s, he demonstrates this through several genres of comedy such as Melodrama, Comedy of Manners, Farce, dark humour and Irony, as well as portraying the themes, death and illness, in this play in a brilliance of unusual amount of references.
“Your home is regarded as a model home, your life as a model life. But all this splendor, and you along with it... it's just as though it were built upon a shifting quagmire. A moment may come, a word can be spoken, and both you and all this splendor will collapse.” This pragmatic view and belief came from the mind of Henrik Ibsen, the often regarded, founder of realism. A new form of drama introduced in the later 19th century, realism, was an “attempt to create an illusion of everyday life onstage” as stated in Edwin Wilson’s Living Theatre: A History (403). So the question would arise as to wonder where God fits in this realistic view of life in the theatre. If the suggestion was to leave nothing out, God is omnipresent and should not be forgotten. However, some would argue that God is ethereal and His presence cannot be recreated and put on a stage. So is faith in the supernatural viable subject matter for realistic theatre? There is definitely reason to believe so considering these three points: first, in real life, people of the time and to this day have had strong faith in God and the unknown plans He has had for them, second that the realists of the time were accustomed to having God in their lives, so why would they not include it in their plays and thirdly, that God may be believed to be more of a spiritual being, but in reality, Jesus was sent to the world far before the time of realistic drama, to teach about the hard lessons of life and went through the hardships of a human life that should have been shared as a primary example to mirror His life to the rest of humankind.
The Literature, Importance of Being Ernest, by Fiona Gregory, is complete reflection of the nature of marriage and social life during the Victorian age. It has helped accept and appreciate that different people have different cultural observations. It based on the theatrical play, The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde. The storyline presents the life of a Jack, who lives a double life. He is Jack Worthing in the village and Ernest Worthing in the city. He is in pursuit of his fiancé, Gwendoline, who loves him solely because he is called Ernest (Gregory 18). However, their marriage cannot take place because Lady Bracknell, Gwendoline's mother, does not approve Jack as a suitable suitor. She insists her daughter's suitor must be a young
“Nothing to be done,” is one of the many phrases that is repeated again and again throughout Samuel Beckett’s Waiting For Godot. Godot is an existentialist play that reads like somewhat of a language poem. That is to say, Beckett is not interested in the reader interpreting his words, but simply listening to the words and viewing the actions of his perfectly mismatched characters. Beckett uses the standard Vaudevillian style to present a play that savors of the human condition. He repeats phrases, ideas and actions that has his audience come away with many different ideas about who we are and how beautiful our human existence is even in our desperation. The structure of Waiting For Godot is determined by Beckett’s use of repetition. This is demonstrated in the progression of dialogue and action in each of the two acts in Godot.
I wanted to play this child to the best of my ability, I found this
...ngagement, their re-engagement. Cecily is not the natural country girl. She possesses the self-assurance of the experienced woman. Without being cynical she makes her desires clear. And when Gwendolen and Cecily discover that their Earnests are impostors whose names are Jack and Algernon they decide that love can be restored only if Jack and Algy christen themselves Earnest.
In conclusion, The Importance of Being Earnest strongly focuses on those of the upper class society and the vanity of the aristocrats who place emphasis on trivial matters concerning marriage. Both Algernon and Jack assume the identity of "Ernest" yet ironically, they both are beginning their marital lives based on deception and lies. Lady Bracknell represents the archetypal aristocrat who forces the concept of a marriage based on wealth or status rather than love. Through farce and exaggeration, Wilde satirically reveals the foolish and trivial matters that the upper class society looks upon as being important. As said earlier, a satirical piece usually has a didactic side to it.
George Herbert Mead is a philosopher who coined the theory Genesis of the self. Mead, believes " the self develops through contact with others." Play Stage, as defined by George Ritzer is, "the first stage in the genesis of the self in which a child plays at being someone else." In play a child is acting out that of a role model in their life. Such example may include dressing up as parents, teachers, doctors, construction workers, police officers and so on. In an article called Genesis of the Self and Social Control by George Herbert Mead, it states "the child is acquiring the roles of those who belong to his society." This simply means, the child is imitating the roles of people around him/her in society and is putting themselves in place of those who fulfill this role hoping to imagine, and achieve them. According to the genesis of the self, play stage begins with simple gestures and gradually moves up in difficulty to running away when being chased or using symbols to interact. The different role playing a child goes through is what I am trying to symbolize with these pictures. Children learn, grow, act, and communicate through play. A child learns the way the world operates, by attempting to assume a role of an adult. Such examples may include play with a doll and dress up, which demonstrates a motherly roll. This involves taking care of the "baby, and feeding them, in addition to them looking the part.
Throughout literature, much has been assumed and gathered about the state of man and his purpose in life. Different poets, novelists, and playwrights have employed the powerful tools of language to broadcast their respective statement to the literate world. Many authors stand out for their overly romanticized or horribly pessimistic notations on life, but only Samuel Beckett stands out for his portrayal of absence. As Democritus, a Greek philosopher, noted, "nothing is more real than nothing," a quote which became one of Beckett's favorites and an inspiration for his masterful plays (Hughes 1). Beckett's works have astounded many through their utter divergence from the typical basis of a play. His blatant discount for the traditional concepts of character development, setting, time, and sequence of events distinguish Beckett's plays from a myriad of themed dramas. Because of such breaks from the standard, the message of Beckett's plays rings clearly. In his ground breaking play Waiting for Godot, Beckett describes two men, Estragon and Vladimir, who come to a rock and a tree beside a road and wait for an unknown "Godot" in vain day after day, idly making frivolous conversation and casually meeting another pair of characters, Pozzo and Lucky, who pass by daily. His follow up play, Endgame, creates a similar scenario with a blind, chair-bound man, Hamm, and his servantile friend, Clov, stuck in a room characterized only by two high windows and two ashbins housing Hamm's parents, Nagg and Nell. Such unusual plays portray the American Theatre of the Absurd perfectly. In both Waiting for Godot and Endgame, Samuel Beckett expertly incorporates nonconformist setting and dual chara...