The Importance of Being Earnest
A protagonist is described as the main character in the story. The
story line revolves around this one character and the events in his/
her life. In the Importance of Being Earnest, Jack Worthing is the
protagonist of the play because it is his character that dominates the
narrative. His pursuit to marry Gwendolen, and the conflicts and
struggles he goes up against to reach his ultimate goal, are traits
which develop his character into being the protagonist.
For a character to take on the role of protagonist, there always needs
to be conflict. Jack Worthing’s first conflict is getting the
approval to marry Gwendolen from her mother, Lady Bracknell. In the
beginning of the story when Jack, also referred to as Ernest, proposes
to Gwendolen, but is denied the ability to marry Gwendolen until he
has passed Lady Bracknell’s series of tests; what she sees as a
suitable husband for her daughter. This is shown through her statement
of: “I fell bound to tell you that you are not on my list of eligible
young men…however, I am quite ready to enter your name should your
answers be what a really affectionate mother acquires” (Wilde,1438).
Earnest informs her that he does not know anything from his childhood,
including who his parents are, and why he became an orphan; and now is
thought to be unacceptable suitor to marry her daughter, Gwendolen.
Lady Bracknell reinforces to Jack that “to be born, or at any rate
bred in a handbag, whether it had handles or not, seems to me to
display a contempt for the ordinary decencies of family life that
reminds one of the worst excesses of the French revolution”(Wilde,
1440), basically stating that having a hand bag for a parent is an
unacceptable “notion about family life” (Parker), and needed to find
out who his parents are before he can marry Gwendolen. It is this
sort of conflict that must arise in order for the play to pursue any
further. It is the role of the protagonist to ensure that he
continues on his pursuit in order to get what one wants, that being
the hand of Gwendolen. Jack lies and discoveries “of human freedom in
protean identity” (Parker, 185) which he “adopt[ed] identities to suit
the occasion” (parker, 185). All of these identities and secret lives
eventually led to Gwendolen’s hand but also the truth of who Jack
really was; the true importance of being Ernest, because being Ernest
gets him what he wants.
The title of the play “The Importance of being Earnest” shows
significance because this creates conflict and comedy between the
Everyone always says the story is always better than the movie, let’s say it’s always the truth. ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ is a theatrical play about two men Jack and Algy. Jack is a man from the country who lies saying his name is earnest when he goes into the city, he is very in love with Algy’s cousin Gwendolen. Lady Bracknell is Gwendolen’s mothers who very much does not like jack what so ever. Algy is a man in very much debt who ends up falling in love with Jacks ward Cecily, he also has some lies about who is. The whole point of lying about who they both are was to get away from the everyday lives they lived and not worry about being found out. In 2002 this famous play was turned into a movie, sadly though a lot of scenes were
The Outsiders identified the 60’s, often there would be violence between groups and often involving a group’s social class. For instance, the tensions between the Socs and Greasers is violent, and this will lead to Bob’s death, Johnny’s death, as well as many injuries throughout both gangs. The book The Outsiders is written by S.E. Hinton and is portrayed through the eyes of a high school student in Tulsa, OK where S.E. Hinton grew up. Hinton began writing The Outsiders in 1965 at the age of 17 and the book was finally published in 1967 when she was 19. The difference in perspective upon the society and social class creates issues throughout The Outsiders and they assume the problems will be solved with violence,
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. Wilde satirizes the rules of the upper-class society of the Victorian Era through the dialogue of the characters. The time period in which these characters live, impacts their daily lives, and their personalities.
In “The Importance of Being Earnest” by Oscar Wilde he uses satire to show whether or not marriage is pleasurable or just a social obligation. In general many use marriage or “love” as a way of creating a higher social status. In “Pride and Prejudice” Jane Austen also uses satire to show inequality that controls a relationships between a men and a women and how it can affect a women's choice and opinion regarding marriage. Although the two stories are different they have plenty of similarities when it comes to demonstrating how much people depended on their reputation when it comes to marriage or love.
Firstly I would set this play in the 21st century so that a modern audience could relate to it. Algernon, one of the main characters in the play, would live in a luxury apartment in the centre of London, over looking the River Thames. His apartment would have a minimalist theme to it and would be influenced by aesthetic; for example he would have a piece of abstract art on the wall for no reason other than that he thinks it looks nice.
Satire in Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. "The Importance of Being Earnest" is a play by Oscar Wilde, set in the late 1800's. His actors are playing upper class citizens who are very self-absorbed. The play is set amongst upper class, wealthy people. They appear not to work and are concerned with their own pleasure.
the essence of man - that Jane Austen portrays in her novel “Pride and Prejudice”. Through a
Identity and social class can be closely tied together. Identity is the part of a person that makes up who he/she is. Social class has been known ever since the late eighteenth century. In the play, The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, Miss Prism’s identity of knowledge and education leads her into the middle class; while in the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the monster’s identity leads him into no social class at all, in which he becomes excluded from society. Also, in the play, Fences by August Wilson, Troy’s identity of being an African American male leads in a conflicting struggle with society and with his relationships in his family. Much of literature and artwork can depict this idea of identity and how society places
The play, The Importance of Being Earnest, was set in the late 1800’s when a woman needed a man to make her someone. This play portrays two young men pretending to be someone they’re not to win the affection of Gwendolen and Cecily, two women they have just recently met. Gwendolen and Cecily, blind for love, ignored all the “red flags” a woman born in the 21st-century couldn’t forget or forgive.
The Importance of Being Earnest Written, written in 1854, by Oscar Wilde, discusses many social matters occurring in the 19th century. Since The Importance of Being Earnest is a comedy, it “awakens thoughtful laughter” (George Meredith). This comedic play often awakens thoughtful laughter, or laughter that makes someone ponder more about important issues. One of many of the primary instances of this is created by the ideas of marriage and love is a social device during this era. The characters didn’t fall in love because there was a romantic spark or that they felt a love connection with one another, they fell in love because the people they loved had a specific name, history, physical characteristics or economic status.
Oscar Wilde’s treatment of high society and manners are explored in the play “The Importance of Being Earnest”. Here, members of the upper class display a great deal of pride and pretense, feeling that they are inherently entitled to their wealth and higher social position. An example is Lady Bracknell, who is preoccupied with maintaining the status quo that she quickly squashes any signs of rebellion. Characters from higher societies/classes are mainly concerned about their reputation and respectability. Thus, expectations of the upper class for both men and women include being upstanding, rich and come from a wealthy family. Wilde’s criticism on 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.
class, and sadly to say yes. In today's world it seems that class is still a
It has been said that ‘Comedy, beginning in turmoil but ending in harmony, celebrates life.’ and this is the general idea with ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ Wilde proves that this comedy of manners does conform to this model. As Lady Bracknell tries to prolong the resolution and tries to prevent the marriage between Jack and Gwendolyn, she can be seen as a ‘gorgon’ because she refuses to let Gwendolyn marry Jack. Despite this, She may be seen as a heroine because she is a strong, commanding woman who isn’t passive like traditional Victorian women as she makes decisions which indicates that she has power within the play. Furthermore, Wilde has constructed her in such a way that she dominates the company wherever she is present and judges people according to their wealth even though she is from a non-aristocratic background. Therefore, Lady Bracknell may be viewed as a character that stays ‘bad’. Despite the obstacles surrounding Lady Bracknell, there are some aspects throughout the play which do conform to this model. For instance, Jack faces problems during the play which are then resolved through his actions and are consequently followed by happiness in the resolution when he finds out ‘the vital Importance of Being Earnest’ . Similarly, the same can be said for Algernon who lies to please the women that he desires to achieve happiness in Act 3. Therefore, depending on each character and their actions beforehand, they either face happiness or distress which indicates that comedy does have some elements of movement from distress to happiness and from ‘bad’ to ‘good’.
Throughout the late nineteenth century, Oscar Wilde wrote plays such as Lady Windermere’s Fan, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband, and The Importance of Being Earnest- his most famous play. Earnest is a comedic work that focuses on a pair of wealthy men. They have been leading double lives so that they can go off for periods of time and enjoy living without responsibility while still maintaining their aristocratic reputation. Because of Wilde’s invlovement in the aesthetic movement, it is not uncommon (or unfair) to believe that his work, Earnest included, is nothing more than fluff. That being said, it is also fair to argue that this particular play does have meaning in it. Wilde wrote The Importance of Being Earnest as a commentary on the hypocrisy of the ideal Victorian character. Earnestness is sincerity- which most Victorians believed themselves to be- and so Wilde uses the word ironically. In his eyes, people who considered themselves sincere were actually smug, self-righteous, and pompous. He expresses these opinions clearly through the play’s over-the-top and frustrating characters.
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.