General Structure of Comedy and the Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
GeneralStructure of Comedy:
* Things start out badly and end well
* The deeper aim is broadly social: the kingdom or other city space
is at first badly ruled or in turmoil for some reason--perhaps the
values and institutions of the citizens and/or rulers are in need
of some re-examination.
* Next, the main characters leave (willingly or otherwise) the city
setting and wind up in the countryside, in a pastoral setting.
This setting allows for the necessary re-examination of values and
social roles.
* Magical transformations of characters occur; they are put in
situations that could not occur in the city or the kingdom; the
forest or countryside's magic opens up new possibilities to them.
* After this reappraisal and readjustment period has been completed,
the main characters come together--the young by marriage, the
foundational institution of the civil order and its only hope for
regeneration.
* Finally, the characters return to the "kingdom" proper or are
about to return when the play ends.
Comedy of Manners: This kind of comedy is the one that best describes
The Importance of Being Earnest. English comedies deal with
"the relations and intrigues of men and women living in a polished and
sophisticated society, relying for comic effect in great part on the
wit and sparkle of the dialogue--often in the form of repartee, a
witty conversational give-and-take which constitutes a kind of verbal
fencing match--and to a lesser degree, on the ridiculous violations of
social conventions and decorum by stupid characters such as
would-be-wits, jealous husbands, and foppish dandies."
The Impor...
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...y ideal to love someone by the name of Ernest."
One view among critics is that Wilde is saying that marriage based on
class by birthright is no less stupid that marriage based on something
else a baby cannot control: say, his name.
In the play many other examples occur of things that cannot be
controlled but people act as if they could be:
"Some aunts are tall, some aunts are not tall. That is surely a matter
that an aunt may be allowed to decide for herself."
"I think it is high time that Mr Bunbury made up his mind whether he
was to live or die."
The play also trivialises other things, like religion, death, customs
and manners, etc. For instance, when Algy tells his Aunt Augusta that
his friend Bunbury died when his doctors told him he could not
possibly live, her only concern is that he acted under the proper
medical advice of his physician.
His conclusion, life is not fair. Boobie Miles, for example, is a High School student who has dedicated his life to football.... ... middle of paper ... ...
This final use of the phrase and the simple Holden’s answer appears to be of no significance at the first sight. Yet this very answer is quite important. It could be shown either as agreeance or as resignation. Resignation at the fact, that the ocean just has to be full of bowling balls. One cannot change this, it is simple law of nature.
He clearly states proper and valid evidence in his opposing view, while maintaining a convincing tone. Works Cited Jacoby, Jeff. A. Bring Back the Flogging. Current Issues and Enduring Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking and Argument, with Readings. By Barnet, Sylvan and Bedau, Adam.
look shows us that his is a great argument with good structure and balance. David Cole did what
To begin, I will give a brief overview on the effect emotions have on our media viewing experience. In particular, I will be examining the work of Noem Carroll and Carl Plantinga. Second, I will give a brief overview of the research that connects political humor viewing to positive outcomes including increased political knowledge, and the ability to learn various view points as well as greater understanding of one’s own viewpoint. Though, I understand that their is a raging debate between cognitivist and non-cognitivist. My goal is not to take a position on the debate, but I am merely going to give a brief overview of the literature on film and emotion. On one hand, Carl Plantinga argues that emotions can be defined as "Concern Based Construals.” To highlight this meaning, let us imagine that as I am writing this paper, I hear loud noises, as this is going on, unconsciously, my heart rate increases and respiration increase and I begin to develop the emotion of fear. This is similar to Noel Carroll’s theory of emotion, if not complimentary to Plantinga’s view. Carroll would say that emotions act as searchlights to help us focus on the perceptions necessary to deal with the current experience. Plantinga would concede that many of the affects associated with emotions occur in the cognitive unconscious. So, Plantinga is not saying that, “Emotions are mere judgements,” As Robert Solomon would claim, but emotions are driven by experience based on one’s personal perception. In other words, Plantinga is saying the these construals are based on one’s personal experiences, whether conscious or not. However, something should be said about Construals in of itself, th...
Syme, D. (1997). Martin Bryant's Sentence- What the judge said, Retrieved 5 July, 2003, from http://www.geniac.net/portarthur/sentence.htm. 7. The Australian Encyclopaedia.
Oscar Wildes ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’’ is believed by many to be his most genius work and certainly has withstood the test of time. The play is set in London during the 1890’s in which time frame aristocracy and upper class held the majority of the countries wealth. Many of the comical aspects question the morals of the upper class in which he satirises throughout the play. One method of this, for instance is through one of the main protagonist, Algernon Moncrieff. Algernon is an upper class individual who is oblivious to the world around him in such an exaggerated manner that it makes his character comically adjusted for Wildes own views. Many aspects of the time period are made a mockery through puns and witty remarks from the main protagonists, most if not all are portrayed in a sense that makes them undoubtedly a laughing stock. Wildes methods are not discrete; nor are they obvious, many of the comical comments made are by none other than the protagonists themselves. This furthermore enforces the corrupted morals of the time periods prestigious upper class by showing their sheer inability to acknowledge hypocrisy. For example, in act one; Algernon states “ 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 have absolutely no sense of moral responsibility.” This is especially amusing as Algernon believes that the lower class have a duty to set an example when in reality the matter of fact was quite the contrary. Algernon states that he believes the lower class are lacking in morals, he being arguably one of the most morally distorted characters Wilde created makes the double standards more prominent.
Although heartrending and disastrous in nature and conclusion, Romeo and Juliet is filled with humor brought to the reader with a variety of literary devices. This is very evident throughout the play because William Shakespeare, through the immense use of puns and sarcasm, creates comedic effects in tragic plays such as Romeo and Juliet.
Use of Humor in Romeo and Juliet & nbsp; Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare's most famous plays. One. could give many reasons as to why this play became such a huge success, but one of the most important reasons could be the use of humour in the play. The main reason for doing this could be to relieve the tensions in the play. and to entertain and keep the Elizabethan audience interested. &
Aspects of Humor in William Shakespeare's The Tempest. Act Two Scene Two is a comic sub plot because of the characters. behaviours and actions that are necessary. It also highlights some of the main themes of the central plot of the. Trinculo is a jester, a fool and one of the main.
History proves that some of life’s most valuable lessons can be found through humor. Take “The Wizard of Oz,” four people on a journey to find love, courage, Intellect, and acceptance. And at the end of that yellow brick road one man telling them they had it all along. In the play “Twelfth Night,” the Feste the clown is the man at the end of that yellow brick road, showcases his comedic genius of other characters behavior toward life. Sometimes the characters do not seem to realize or understand his hidden message, the reader can instantly understand Feste's use of structure, through words like “dissemble” (4.2.4) which means to disguise, which in fact is present in every scene which he appears. From singing to Orsino, or arguing with Malvolio, to messing around with Viola, Feste always manages to slip that hidden message before he makes his exist. His enthusiasm is what helps him to actively fit in to each characters soundtrack of life. However, he is merely present to express that which cannot be fully expressed through the lines of other characters. Through his songs, witty jokes, Feste proudly and efficiently reveals truth throughout the play.
Irony in The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde The play The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde is full of irony. Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, the protagonists in the play, get themselves into a complicated situation called Bunburyism (as Algernon refers to it). They pretend to be someone that they are not to escape their daily lives. They lie to the women they admire, and eventually the truth is revealed.
The Importance of Being Earnest appears to be a conventional 19th century farce. False identities, prohibited engagements, domineering mothers, lost children are typical of almost every farce. However, this is only on the surface in Wilde's play. His parody works at two levels- on the one hand he ridicules the manners of the high society and on the other he satirises the human condition in general. The characters in The Importance of Being Earnest assume false identities in order to achieve their goals but do not interfere with the others' lives. The double life led by Algernon, Jack, and Cecily (through her diary) is simply another means by which they liberate themselves from the repressive norms of society. They have the freedom to create themselves and use their double identities to give themselves the opportunity to show opposite sides of their characters. They mock every custom of the society and challenge its values. This creates not only the comic effect of the play but also makes the audience think of the serious things of life.
Oscar Wilde was born in October 16, 1854, in the mid era of the Victorian period—which was when Queen Victoria ruled. Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 to 1901.While she ruined Britain, the nation rise than never before, and no one thought that she was capable of doing that. “The Victorian era was both good and bad due to the rise and fall of the empires and many pointless wars were fought. During that time, culture and technology improved greatly” (Anne Shepherd, “Overview of the Victorian Era”). During this time period of English, England was facing countless major changes, in the way people lived and thought during this era. Today, Victorian society is mostly known as practicing strict religious or moral behavior, authoritarian, preoccupied with the way they look and being respectable. They were extremely harsh in discipline and order at all times. Determination became a usual Victorian quality, and was part of Victorian lifestyle such as religion, literature and human behavior. However, Victorian has its perks, for example they were biased, contradictory, pretense, they cared a lot of about what economic or social rank a person is, and people were not allowed to express their sexuality. Oscar Wilde was seen as an icon of the Victorian age. In his plays and writings, he uses wit, intelligence and humor. Because of his sexuality he suffered substantially the humiliation and embarrassment of imprisonment. He was married and had an affair with a man, which back then was an act of vulgarity and grossness. But, that was not what Oscar Wilde was only known for; he is remembered for criticizing the social life of the Victorian era, his wit and his amazing skills of writing. Oscar Wilde poem “The Ballad of Reading Gaol” typifies the Vi...
All is not as it seems in The Comedy of Errors. Some have the notion that The Comedy of Errors is a classical and relatively un-Shakespearean play. The plot is, in fact, based largely on Plautus's Menaechmi, a light-hearted comedy in which twins are mistaken for each other. Shakespeare's addition of twin servants is borrowed from Amphitruo, another play by Plautus. Like its classical predecessors, The Comedy of Errors mixes farce and satire and (to a degree) presents us with stock characters.