Because this play is meant to embody victorian society, Wilde is able to interpret and criticize the high importance of social identity to Victorians. The encompassing critic that Wilde addresses in his script involves the corrupt nature of society and the hypocrisy of presenting oneself as a wholesome, earnest person when reality indicates otherwise. This play symbolically allows us to view the characters as an example of all elite Victorian society. Bromige declares that, “reading or watching the play is to observe the unconscious of the society of Wilde’s day” (1). The bulk of the play revolves around the character’s fixation on their reputation and their desire to be seen prestigious members of society; Wilde makes a mockery of these priorities to satirize aristocracy.
In this essay I am going to discuss how Jane Austen distinguishes each relationship in a very different way from another. Jane Austen presents Mr and Mrs Bennet’s marriage as highly unsuccessful. They are the first married couple we as readers are introduced to and almost from the very start of the novel we can tell they are certainly not a good match. In fact they seem to be so unmatched it is hard to imagine why they ever married each other in the first place! Perhaps it was Mrs Bennet's good looks that captivated Mr Bennet’s attention, or perhaps it was even her appearance of good h... ... middle of paper ... ...s in lookout and in need of a wife, Austen makes it very clear that marriage should be made for the right reasons.
Oscar Wilde, the writer of The Importance of Being Earnest, celebrated the Victorian Era society while criticizing it in his play. Through his play, he utilized the humorous literary techniques of pun, irony, and satire to comment on the impact of Victorian Era society left on the characters themselves. These comedic literary devices also help to show how the members of this society in the Victorian Era live by a set of unspoken rules that determine politeness, as well as proper etiquette to live by. Wilde uses a pun in the title of the work, as well as in the character personalities. Different types of irony appear in many scenes in the play, to flout the rules of society, as well as mock the intelligence of the upper-class characters, compared to the lower-class characters.
There is no one thing that makes for a good marriage; it is the semblance of marriage that makes people believe so. It is common for people to think marriage will be easy although it is constant work. Good marriages consist of communication, honesty, passion, intimacy and commitment. In the short story “The Girls in Their Summer Dresses” by Irwin Shaw, Michael and Frances’s relationship lacks these qualities, therefore their marriage was not great. Most importantly, the husband and wife need to both want the relationship and the life long commitment.
Wilde’s Earnest Satire The Importance of Being Earnest is a comedic play that was written by Oscar Wilde in the late 1800s. He believed that people in the Victorian Era took life too seriously. He wrote this play with various forms of satire to ridicule the strict lifestyle the upper-class were boxed into. The upper class had pretentious values and behaviors that characterized Victorian life. During the Victorian Era, people were living under Queen Victoria’s monarch.
The Grandmother is the complete opposite, she truly believes that she is good and lies to herself and everyone around her so she will be accepted. The Grandmother says to the Misfit, “I just know you’re a good man. You’re not a bit common” (O’Connor), to which he replies, “Nome, I ain’t a good man, but I ain’t the worst neither” (O’Connor). It is refreshing to see someone admit and know that they are not good, and that they will never be
The first words that Goneril speaks are totally empty and are the complete opposite of what she really feels. She says, "Sir, I love you more than word can wield the matter; Dearer than eye-sight, space and liberty;" (I.i.54-55) The reason why there are no words to express her love for her father is that she has no love for him and it does not exist. The same goes for her sister, Regan, who is plotting against her father as well. She says that she feels the same way as her sister and expresses how Goneril has named her very deed of love. Regan adds a little twist to this and professes that she loves Lear more than her sisters and that Goneril's affection for her father "comes too short."
She is therefore amazed that her friend Charlotte Lucas does not marry for love, but for status and a comfortable home, "Charlotte engaged to Mr Collins - impossible". In this way she can be seen to be prejudiced and quite blind to other people's viewpoints other than her own - a failing on her part. Lizzy takes after Mr Bennet, in that she has a quick and generally accurate judgement of people's characters. It is clear at the beginning that she dislikes Mr Darcy, "with more quickness of observation, she was very little disposed to approve of him". At their first meeting Mr Darcy is very proud and disagreeable in contrast with the good-natured Mr Bingley.
She shows how utterly preoccupied with marrying her daughters off, regardless of their happiness, in the way that she is pleased with Lydia's marriage to Wickham. It is painfully obvious that Lydia will soon become disillusioned with her hasty marriage, but Mrs Bennet still sees it as 'delightful indeed' 9169). It is very likely that Austen's use of Mrs Bennet's character is only a deliberate device to highlight the necessity of marriage for young women to avoid scandal or scorn and to ensure that they are provided for, and this explains why her character is never developed any more than necessary. Charlotte, however, is still given as much attention after her marriage as she was before, and this is probably because Austen wants to let us as the reader see how her marriage of convenience affects her.
Elinor looked at the situation practically, citing that Mrs. Ferras would be the ultimate factor in their courtship because Edward's future (and fortune) depended on what Mrs. Ferras thought of Edward's possible wife. Thus, Elinor waited for more proof before she got carried away. Marianne couldn't believe Elinor's reserved attitude, calling Elinor "cold-hearted" for not saying more positive things. As far as Marianne was concerned, love and nothing else determined the possibility of a good marriage, a fact confirmed by Marianne's courtship with Willoughby. After falling and meeting her "knight in shining armor," Marianne quickly fell in love with Willoughby wi... ... middle of paper ... ...arrying Colonel Brandon, who also had displayed sense throughout the novel, Marianne further bridged the gap between her and sense.