Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ can be perceived as either a seemingly satirical piece aimed at the upper class society of the 1890s with a darker nature underneath or as a play “which imitates nothing, represents nothing” and “is nothing.” (William Archer). However, I believe it is the former – a belief fuelled by the comedic features used in the interview scene between Lady Bracknell and Jack Worthing. Wilde convinces the audience to believing that there is something empowering and different about Lady Bracknell as she interviews Jack as opposed to her husband, demonstrating that women in her generation are in charge despite the ‘separate spheres’ debate.
The absurdity of Lady Bracknell’s views are apparent during the opening of the scene. Lady Bracknell asks “do you smoke?” to Jack and upon his answer of yes, Wilde has crafted it so Lady Bracknell replies “I am glad to hear it. A man should always have an occupation of some kind” which would make the audience laugh as we know that smoking is not an
…show more content…
This is funny as it is absurd to think that there is an “unfashionable side” of a street. The absurdity continues as Wilde implies that Lady Bracknell thinks that this could be “easily altered” showing that she expects Jack to change the side of the street he lives on if he wishes to marry her daughter. This is completely ludicrous and an unbelievable request. The fact that Jack questions whether Lady Bracknell meant “the fashion, or the side?” creates comedy simply because he questioned it as it implies that both these factors could affect the quality of the life the upper class lead. Wilde shows that the thought alone of the upper classes being so ostentatious and could possibly believe this, evokes laughter on its
AThe Importance of Being Earnest a play written by Oscar Wilde is set in England in the late Victorian era. Wilde uses obvious situational and dramatic irony within the play to satirize his time period. According to Roger Sale in Being Ernest the title has a double meaning to it and is certainly another example of satire used by Wilde. With a comedic approach, Wilde ridicules the absurdities of the character’s courtship rituals, their false faces, and their secrets. (Sale, 478)
Racism. Sexism. Ugly words with a single common thread—the all too human flaw of judging others based solely on outward appearances. Although this flaw can be found in every culture and era, Victorian England perfected it into an art form. Wealthy, fashionable, powerful and highly hypocritical, appearances were everything. As stated by Gwendolyn Fairfax in the play The Importance of Being Earnest, “Style, not sincerity, is the vital thing” (783). And it is this play, written by Irish playwright Oscar Wilde, which mocks and exposes the carefully constructed façade of British high society.
The play contains a constant exchange of verbal banter between the characters. Wilde does this in a comical way, while still using the witty remarks as a way to satirize the absurdities and excesses in the character’s lives. Lady Bracknell, Gwendolen’s mother, is a lady of high society, and she bases her life on the standards and morals that the Victorian society proposes. The film replaces the verbal banter with physical humor which ultimately loses the satire and wit the characters have in the play. In Act I of the play, Lady Bracknell questions Jack about his life in order to approve her daughter’s engagement to him. Her questions are based on what the society deems important, instead of what she, as a mother, should care about. Lady Bracknell says, “Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes … What is your income?” (Act I. 1435). Obviously, the verbal banter between Lady Bracknell and Jack is quite comical, but more importantly it satirizes the things that Lady Bracknell and the Victorians value essential. The film modifies this scene into a more visual one for a modern audience. Lady Bracknell and Jack still have their witty conversation; however, Wilde’s intended effect of the verbal banter is lost. The director modified the verbal banter because a modern audience most likely would not comprehend Wilde’s intentions. The visual aspect of this scene is the director’s way of expressing the satires of the Victorian morals in a way that the modern audience will understand. In the film, this scene is made visual as Jack enters Lady Bracknell’s home. Large pillars, expensive paintings, and grandiose doors create the mood. She sits ...
...she is conversing with character Jack discussing his proposal of marrying Gwendolyn. Lady Bracknell says she regrets that she lives in a society that is only concerned with the way people appear. This incongruous because she is saying that she doesn’t enjoy taking part in a society that is concerned with the way people appear, but she only judges people on the way they show themselves and their wealth. Lady Bracknell contradicts herself when she makes this statement. Oscar Wilde pokes fun of peoples concern with appearance and reputation by having Lady Bracknell contradict herself. He uses this effectively because consistently throughout the play Lady Bracknell only judged people on the way they appear. Lady Bracknell’s contradictory statement allows the reader to understand in an humorous way that Victorian people only judged people on their wealth and appearance.
The daydreams of Cecily where Algernon is dressed as a knight, Gwendolen’s tattoo of the name ‘Ernest’ on her backside and Algernon and Jack’s duet of ‘Lady Come Down’ are the scenes the audience can best recall, and unfortunately none of them are in the original. Since Wilde’s satire depends upon his characters behaving with dignity, scenes like these in Parker’s film, ruins all sense of dignity in these characters, therefore there is no satire. The lack of satire not only decreases the standard of comedy, but it also means that Wilde’s criticisms of the upper class are also lost. This is also evident through Parker’s jokes that are contextually specific.... ... middle of paper ...
Wilde does this in order to portray Lady Bracknell with very strong Victorian views that are illogical and humorous to the reader thus satirising the values which are prominent in Victorian standards. Consequently it can be seen that Lady Bracknell is corrupt beyond reason, sacrificing the happiness of her daughter for her Victorian values and ridiculing Jack for his less than exemplary past. Some critics believe Lady Bracknell to be a ‘living parody of upper class values’ which can be
Wilde’s didactic satire delves deep into the problems of society, highlighting to the audience all the flaws of human beings and their social obligations while keeping it light-hearted and enjoyable for audiences. The author’s mockery and satire of society, as seen in his play, is most likely stemmed from his lack of acceptance and frustration at the society he believes to be ‘proper’. Readers today laugh at the situations portrayed because they are satirical and humourous, but they also question the motives behind the character “Earnest” because they see that “earnest”, meaning seriousness or sincerity, is the one thing the characters most certainly do not portray. However, towards the end of the play, when all has come out, Jack states that “I’ve now realized for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest” (Wilde 2000, p.358), which may in fact be the most blatantly satirical line of the play, and a great summation of the lies the play relied on. This explores Wilde’s use of double entendre as Jack lives a double life, alongside the use of an elaborate p...
The Importance of Being Earnest is regarded as one of the most successful plays written by Oscar Wilde, a great 19th century playwright. Oscar Wilde deals with something unique about his contemporary age in this drama. It addresses Victorian social issues, French theatre, farce, social drama and melodrama. All these factors influenced the structure of the play in a large scale. This play is basically a Victorian satirical drama showcasing the social, political, economic and religious structural changes that affected 18th century England. It was the time when British Empire had captured most part of the world including Oscar Wilde’s homeland, Ireland. The aristocrats of England had become dominant over the middle and poor class people and Wilde wrote plays with the motivation to encourage people to think against the English aristocracy and artificiality.
By doing that he caused the audience to feel that the actors had authentic regret about their characters actions (Foster 19). Two adolescent women who incorrectly consider the men’s names to be Ernest, and who are passionate about the men for this very reason, think highly of both Jack and Algernon. In relating the story of mix-ups and mistaken identities, the ideals and manners of the Victorian society are satirized in a comedy where the characters "treat all the trivial things of life seriously and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality"(Wilde, Oscar). Oscar Wilde’s amusing scenes often take their source in societal satire and unconventional (Baselga 15). All the way through his play, The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde satirizes education, women, and morality.
However, Wilde became accused of “homosexual offenses” (Kraus) in 1895 and when he refused to leave England for his “scandal,” he was brought to court on account of what the Victorian society believed to be sexual treason. He was claimed guilty and sentenced to two years of hard labor and transported to Wandsworth Prison. What supplemented the suspicion of Wilde’s sexual affairs was the running of his newest play The Importance of Being Earnest, a play that exposed and ridiculed the abuses of society in regards to sexuality and marriage. “Simultaneously he (Wilde) questioned his sexual orientation. Wilde’s realization that he was more homosexual than heterosexual changed his life” (Kraus xix). This epiphany aided in his Aestheticist sentiments towards the Victorian society’s abuses and helped inspire the connotative and suggestive language of The Importance of Being Earnest. “The Aestheticists thrived on being poseurs; they relished the artificial and doing what oppressive Victorian society looked upon as ‘evil” (Kraus xiv). Wilde’s masks his societal oppression and outrage through clever and witty exchanges between the characters on stage, and never directly states the sexual exploration and hypocrisies that were common in his era. A quote from Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest states that “Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone” (22). The meaning behind his simile is that the basis of his work and the personal sexual struggles all must be written in a sub text style so as not to “prove a serious danger to the upper classes” (22). Wilde balances between exposing the truth of his impulsive Victorian Society and writing under the radar of what is socially acceptable to satire by weaving a complex system of secret sexual encryptions into his characters dialogues
On “The Importance Of Being Earnest”, Act II lines 1324 to 1446 the sources of humor of these passage are the satirization of the Victorian era norms, violations against common sense, mockery of love and delusion. All of these humorous source are provided by the extravagant author Oscar Wilde in the short passage of 122 lines.
Wilde’s criticism of high society and manners are explored through the characteristics of Lady Bracknell; the dialogue between Gwendolen and Cecily; and the characteristics of Jack in the country. Wilde’s criticism of high society and manners is shown by creating absurd situations and characters whose lack of insight causes them to respond in an inappropriate manner. An example is shown in Lady Bracknell’s preoccupation with her own parties and that the lack of sympathy for invalids makes her react to the news of Bunbury’s illness in an exaggeratedly cold manner. “I think it is high time that Mr Bunbury made up his mind whether he was going to live or die. I should be much obliged if you would ask Mr Bunbury, from me, to be kind enough not to have a relapse on Saturday, for I rely on you to arrange my music for me”.
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.
In the play, Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde ridicules and identifies the negative aspects of Victorian society through comedic dialogue. He uses characters with ridiculous personalities to demonstrate his idea of Victorian life. By making absurd scenes with foolish characters, it is his way of mocking the Victorian lifestyle passive aggressively.
Both Algernon and Jack assume the identity of "Ernest" yet ironically, they both plan on starting their married life with a lie. Lady Bracknell represents the typical aristocrat who focuses the idea of marriage on social and economic status. She believes that if the men trying to marry these girls are not of proper background, there is to be no engagement. Through this major exaggeration, Wilde satirically reveals the irrational and insignificant matters that the upper class society uses to view