Satire In Tartuffe

In literature and in play writes, the effects and influence of satire is often evident in many well known works. For example, Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, Tartuffe by Moliere, The Mandrake by Nicolo Machiavelli, Ubu Roi by Alfred Jarry, and The importance of being earnest by Oscar Wilde. The Satire in The importance of being earnest by Oscar Wilde will be the focus in this essay. Satire can be risky for many reasons. One being that the creator of a work may not know how his/her audience will react to what is being presented especially if the work deals with controversial, personal or social issues. So why did Wilde satirize his viewers? What was his goal in The importance of being earnest?

In the play, the main characters Jack and Algernon were wealthy individuals. Jack (known to Algernon as Ernest) lives a admirable life in the country. Algernon lives in luxury in London and invented a fictional friend named Bunbury whom he visits in the country when a social event he is not really interested in presents itself. Jack has also created a character known as a younger brother named Ernest whom he uses as an excuse in order to visit London. Moving on, Jack then wishes to marry Algernon’s cousin Gwendolen, but must be able to convince her mother, Lady Bracknell, of the respectability of his family, mainly his parents. Jack was abandoned in a handbag at Victoria station. So it is no surprise that he saw this task as possibly being very difficult. Algernon then visited Jack’s house and introduced himself to Cecily as Ernest, having already known that Cecily is fascinated by the tales of Ernest's wickedness. Eventually they become engaged. Some time afterwards, Jack comes home announcing Ernest’s death. This triggers a series of events. Gwendolen and Cecily have a courteous discussion regarding which of them owns a claim on ‘Ernest’. Jack and Algernon contend to be christened Ernest. Later on, Jack finds out that his parents were Lady Bracknell’s sister and brother-in-law and that he is actually Algernon’s older brother, named Ernest. In other words, The conflict is resolved with the discovery that Jack is in fact Ernest, the older brother to his friend Algernon and nephew to Lady Bracknell (VictorianWeb). As a result of the dramatic conflict in the play, the groups of lovers are allowed to marry one another. While the previous events involving Jack and Algernon were taking place, the Canon Chasuble and Cecily’s governess Miss Prism also fell in love, and the play