Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Analysis of the play The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
Analysis of the play The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
The Victorian era and gender roles
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Every text is an argument to the audience and every argument is influenced by a text and the audience surrounding the author. The Importance of Being Earnest is a play written by Oscar Wilde which was first performed in 1895. The plot centers around the proposal of marriage between Jack Worthing and Gwendolen Bracknell and also the proposal from Jack’s friend and Gwendolen 's cousin Algernon Moncrieff extended towards Jack’s ward, Cecily Cardew. In The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde uses the ideas of his time period, his own background, and absurd comedy to argue that the views of marriage and gender held by those in Victorian Era England are wrong and hypocritical. The Victorian Era in England was denoted by the reign of Queen …show more content…
Men of the time were held to the standard of being active in society. They were expected to be active in politics and social activities outside of the home. Expectations for men were also for them to be respectful and proper, especially when women were present. The character, Jack Worthing, in The Importance of Being Earnest, is the representation of the perfect Victorian gentleman. For example, Jack says to Algernon in Act I, “...My dear fellow, the truth isn’t quite the sort of thing one tells to a nice, sweet, refined girl. What extraordinary ideas you have about the way to behave to a woman!” (Wilde 1.2.236). In this simple quote, Jack describes the high standards and expectations that Victorian gentlemen were held to. But not only men were held to high standards, women were expected to hold themselves in the most proper way as well. The point of a Victorian woman’s life was to marry and domestically support her family. Women had little rights and in fact, prior to the Married Women’s Property Acts of 1870, women were forced to give up all property that they held to their husbands upon marriage. (Appell 1). Within the play, Lady Bracknell, Gwendolen 's mother, is provided as a tool to explain the oppression put upon women of the time. …show more content…
In 1877, Wilde accepted a job as editor of The Women’s World magazine, a fashion magazine for women. The Women’s World took a drastic change with Wilde in charge. Instead of displaying fashion in a shallow sense, Wilde encouraged the magazine to, “...invite debate over the legitimacy of women’s voices in mainstream British society while featuring consumable icons of femininity such as fans, lace, and feathers” (Green 103). By changing The Women’s World, Wilde became the editor of not just a fashion magazine, but a magazine that stood as an advocate for the women of his time period and an argument against the restrictions which held women back in Victorian society. Because of Wilde’s experience in the feminist environment of The Women’s World, he could expand his argument against the ideas of marriage and gender in the Victorian Era to readers who knew him as an established author, a person to be
In Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest, names hold a certain social significance. For example, the first name Ernest bears an arbitrary importance, at least in regards to the bachelorettes of the play. However, neither Jack nor Algernon was christened with this name, so, naturally, they masquerade as the imaginary character who owns the name in order to win the affections of the local bachelorettes. This act is surface level and merely changes the nomenclature of a body. Jack, in particular, has everything to gain from a union with the well-connected Gwendolyn, including all the benefits that come from being tied to a wealthy, established family. Jack’s lack of familial and social ties can be remedied through baptism and marriage,
Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest is a timeless comedy of manners in which two young, light-hearted men, pretend their names are ‘Ernest’ in a bid to impress their love interests, who both believe the name Ernest bestows magical qualities on the possessor. Throughout the play, Wilde uses a mix of social drama, melodrama and farce to appeal to the audience. Through his gentle use of parody Wilde is able to ridicule his contemporaries and attack the values and attitudes of Victorian society, such as; wealth, hierarchy, respectability, morality and self- interest. Via satirical dialogue and dramatic irony Wilde is able to reveal the moral hypocrisy at the heart of the Victorian era.
The Importance of Being Earnest is one of Oscar Wilde’s many masterpieces. The famed comedic play is about Jack Worthing and his friend Algernon Moncrieff, who create double identities and are eventually caught in their lie. When analyzing this play the author made it easy for the reader to identify the different gender roles & gender specific stereotypes he uses in order to criticize the Victorian values.
Jack invents his brother “Ernest” so that he can excuse himself from the country, where he serves as Cecily’s guardian. Under such pretense he can escape to town, where he can court Gwendolen and entertain himself with extravagant dinners. Similarly, Algernon invents his invalid friend “Bunbury,” so that he has an excuse to escape from the city when he does not care to dine with his relations. Fact and fiction collide when Algernon arrives at Jack’s country estate, pretending to the elusive “Ernest”. His arrival upsets Jack’s plan to kill off his fictional brother and nearly derails Jack’s real engagement to Gwendolen. That Algernon coins the terms “Bunburying” and “Bunburyist” after his imaginary invalid to describe such impersonations highlights
In Oscar Wilde’s drama The Importance of Being Earnest, he uses light-hearted tones and humor to poke fun at British high society while handling the serious theme of truth and the true identity of who is really “Earnest.” Truth as theme is most significantly portrayed through the women characters, Gwendolen and Cecily but to present serious themes comically, Wilde portrays women to be the weaker sex of society, despite the seriousness of the subject—the identity of the men they want to marry.
Gwendolen Fairfax and Cecily Cardew offer representation of the ideas of the woman toward the turn of the century. They happen to be similar in many ways but still have their differences. Gwendolen and Cecily are insistent and take initiative in search of their own aspirations. Gwendolen follows Jack to the country, a place most likely very unfamiliar to her, and Cecily pursues Algernon as soon as she sees him. They are also both capable of escaping those who intend to keep them from their goals. Gwendolen is able to flee her overbearing mother, Lady Bracknell; Cecily outsmarts Jack by organizing Algernon to stay, and also avoids Miss Prism to continue on a rendezvous with her lover. For both women, material and small things are most important. Gwendolen insist on marrying a man with the name Ernest merely based on the name's connotations. Cecily also craves the same as she believes Jack's brother is an immoral man and ever though she has never met him, the thought of him sounds idealistic. She rebelliously and romantically toys with pursing the "immoral brother," but clearly she will shape him into the man she wants him to be. The name of Ernest is also important to her. Both Gwendolen and Cecily are products of the Victorian concept in which how one accomplishes is more important than why. Though seeming very similar Cecily and Gwendolen are divergent in certain aspects, Gwendolen is confident and knowing, while her mother has taught her to be short-range. She is also raised in the only traditional family in the entire play. On the other hand, Cecily is more sheltered, and more primitive. She doesn’t really experience motherly love other than her governess. The character of Gwendolen is tool used to confer marriage and give Wild...
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
Alluding to marriage, The Importance of Being Earnest begins with the witty and selfish Algernon. It is Algernon who is the amoral bachelor and has not one problem with that because he believes that "divorces are made in heaven" and is utterly against marriage as viewing marriage a waste of time (118). The reasoning for Algernon's views is a stand in for Wilde's own beliefs. The quote on marriage, which there is several from Algernon, is quite entertaining to the reader that is because the reader can see that Algernon's conclusion of marriage is preposterous for that time period. However, in real life, during the twenty-first century, which is well after the Victorian age, the fact that "divorces are made in heaven" is actually quite true by today's standards. Even though Algernon clearly expresses his own views on marriage, Earnest (in the city), who is actually Jack, continues to pursue his plans of proposing to Gwendolyn. The reader is again amused as Earnest attempts to propose to Gwendolyn and Gwendolyn directing Earnest on how to propose. Earnest states "[They] must get married at once" Gwendolyn, who seems surprised, replies to Earnest's declaration be saying "[He] hasn't
Oscar Wilde frames "The Importance of Being Earnest" around the paradoxical epigram, a skewering metaphor for the play's central theme of division of truth and identity that hints at a homosexual subtext. Other targets of Wilde's absurd yet grounded wit are the social conventions of his stuffy Victorian society, which are exposed as a "shallow mask of manners" (1655). Aided by clever wordplay, frantic misunderstanding, and dissonance of knowledge between the characters and the audience, devices that are now staples of contemporary theater and situation comedy, "Earnest" suggests that, especially in "civilized" society, we all lead double lives that force upon us a variety of postures, an idea with which the closeted (until his public charge for sodomy) homosexual Wilde was understandably obsessed.
Expressing that the highest form of art is “Art for arts sake” (Wilde), Wilde stated he wants his works not to be a social commentary, but rather to have beauty for its own sake. However he uses the play as a form of social commentary. He constantly pokes fun at the Victorian upper class and the triviality of their lives. Expertly Wilde demonstrates the disparity of the “two England 's” and shows how little the ruling class cares for rules and consequences (Schmit 8). Even though claiming not to, Wilde uses The Importance of Being Ernest to hi-light the differences in social standing and in doing so deconstructs the whole class system. “The dualism in The Importance of Being Earnest celebrates diversity and difference, that first appearance,
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.
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.
...control, they wanted the girls to never find out about their names and to love them. Wilde is trying to convey the message that people who see themselves as high class believe the world belongs to them.
Large decorated carriages drawn by massive gallant horses, beautiful women dressed in striking gowns throwing magnificent parties, and five o’ clock tea times are common aspects of the Victorian Era. This is the period that a person should imagine while reading many of the works composed by Oscar Wilde.
One major theme of The Importance of Being Earnest is the nature of marriage. Throughout the entire play, marriage and morality serve as the catalyst for the play, inspiring the plot and raising speculation about the moral character of each person. Throughout the entire play, the characters are constantly worried about who they are going to marry and why they would marry them. This theme is the most prevalent theme throughout the entire play and shows what impact marriage had on a Victorian society. This essay will prove that marriage is the theme of this play.