The speed that we allow and enable our world to change and adapt is often a common topic among people. When I think back to my childhood it now seems so outdated and old fashioned, yet it was such a short time ago; showing me how fast were developing as people and as a planet. In the Victorian era, when The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde was written and set, they were just discovering cars for the rich, and railways were becoming a popular form of transport. Nowadays the development of technology has allowed man to walk on the moon and we are able to fly to the other side of the world in just a day. The contrast in these two statements is so vast; it is difficult to see how a person from either era could survive without really struggling, if their roles were reversed. While I’m not sure about Cecily and Gwendolen, I am certain that Jack and Algernon could survive and prosper in a modern day city like London. Gwendolen represents the typical Victorian woman, always striving for the ideals, attending lectures and is constantly looking for ways to improve herself. I think that whilst Gwendolen appears to the reader as independent and intellectual, she is also particularly naïve and pretentious. This naivety is shown as she becomes fixated with the name Earnest; the name being partly why she falls in love with Jack, believing he is in fact someone he is not. She claims that the name Earnest “inspires absolute confidence”, resulting in her becoming obsessed with finding a husband who goes by that name even stating that any other name would simply not do and that she pities “any woman who is married to a man called John” (15), solely because that is his name. This ignorance would simply not be found nowadays, as people ... ... middle of paper ... ...of surviving in a modern city such as London but initially they would struggle to much and be unable to sustain themselves in such a demanding environment. Jack and Algernon however I feel have the capability to survive and thrive under such circumstances although there double lives would be substantially harder to pull off now as people are much more wary and suspicious. I think Algernon in particular would flourish as I think the kind of character he’s portrayed as in the book would seemingly take the opportunity to explore and learn more eagerly. It can be very difficult to predict how people are going to react when put in certain situations but certain personality traits are always going to become glaringly obvious and useful, and Jacks intelligence and Algernon’s cleverness are the main characteristics that I believe would enable them so survive and prosper.
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
As the film presented, Miss Gwendolyn Fairfax is born in rich which means that she is undoubtedly confident, smart, worldly, and experiencing a extravagant life. From the scene that Jack is being tested by Lady Bracknell to determine whether
In contrast however, Wilde centers on seemingly positive female ideals of virtuousness. Wilde reveals the flaws in these standardized roles by demonstrating how women secretly go against these ideals, which can only have a detrimental outcome. Gwendolen exemplifies how women are portrayed when they merely pretend to abide by the idealized female role in society instead of attempting to challenge it honestly and publically. Gwendolen and thus stereotypical Victorian women are depicted as inauthentic, superficial, immoral, and most appallingly hypocritical. On the contrary, Bronte focuses on the negative connotations of women’s gender role through the depiction of a male character. For Bronte, Mr. Brocklehurst’s maltreatment of Jane and the girls at Lowood demonstrates the fundamental problem in the Victorian society; men dominate and govern society whilst women are rendered subservient and inferior in relation to men.
Wilde’s usage of hypocrisy in ´The Importance of Being Earnest´ gives reader a sense of instability and insecurity in women characters. They are often foolish and naive in their behaviors in opposite to the two later texts. Firstly, both Gwendolen and Cecily are convinced that a man of the name Ernest is destined to be their husband. The time Gwendolen and Jack meet at Algernon’s household she mentions that ever since Algernon told her about Ernest, she was sure that her fate was to be with him: “my ideal has always been to love someone of the name of Ernest” (p. 895). The same situation follows as Algernon visits Cecily and convinces her to
People in the modern society we live in today are the ones that are shaped by society. Say there is a new trend, that trend can change people
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.
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.
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
Lane, for example, the lowly butler of Algernon, is used to give an unfamiliar perspective to the social class problem: the neglected lower class is finally given a voice (Wilde 7). Reality in this period was that the lower class virtually never got to state their opinions or defend themselves, so Wilde used the character of Lane for people to visualize their treatment of the lower classes and be held accountable for their distasteful actions against them (Victorian). Furthermore, Lady Bracknell represents yet another perspective: the posh, frivolous lifestyle of the upper class and how backwards their thinking was. At one point in the play, Jack and Gwendolen are discussing their plans of marriage to Lady Bracknell. After interrogating Jack about his familial ties and his past life, she disapproves of their engagement (Wilde 69). Her reasoning was clear: she did not want Gwendolen to have even the slightest chance of marrying into a poor family, even if that was what made her happiest. Bracknell's eternal craving for more wealth and reverence is exactly what Wilde wanted readers to frown upon and take out of their own
class, and sadly to say yes. In today's world it seems that class is still a
Sometimes, people may not be the best in character, and their values may be superficial in nature. Although this may be the case, these people may have a reason for their questionable character. These people may have been treated poorly before, or their influences make them poor characters. Such is Gwendolen Fairfax in Oscar Wilde’s play, The Importance of Being Ernest. To the audience, she may seem to be someone shallow, dishonest, or even insincere. The audience is most likely correct, although if one pays attention, one may realize the reason why Gwendolen has such a character. Throughout the play, Wilde shows how Gwendolen’s trivial and insincere character is influenced by her mother and the people around her, as well as the result of
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.
Satire in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. The Importance of Being Earnest is a comedy of manners, whereby Oscar Wilde uses satire to ridicule marriage, love and the mentality of the Victorian aristocratic society. It can also be referred to as satirical comedy. What is a satire and what is Oscar Wilde trying to emphasize by employing it in his play?
The main characters do use their double lives to escape social regulation, although in differing ways and on each character different social pressures are acting. The women live alternative mental lives through fantastical journals whereas the men, due to their comparatively greater social freedom, are able to create alternative physical lives. Jack pursues a double life due to the pressures of rural, family responsibility. Algy does the same due to the authoritarian influences of his relatives and his financial troubles. 'The Importance of Being Earnest' was written in the tradition of the 'well-made play', fast paced and almost farcical plays peopled by stock characters, as described by Peter Raby; "two pairs of young 'romantic' lovers, a pair of older 'grotesques', separated orphan brothers and a 'blocking' parent." The heroes were conventionally brave and possessed `earnestness', valued very highly in Victorian society, encompassing all the aspects of an ideal man who had family piety, was in control of his expenses and had no debts, kept pace with society yet had solemn responsibility. The female characters have a parallel set of values; subservience, family piety, innocence and the limited role of women in the male dominated Victorian society. Jack and Algy, who are nearly polar opposites to the conventional Victorian hero wish to escape the demanding social expectations. Cecily wishes to escape her stock role as an innocent, protected ingénue and attempts this through the far more eventful whirlwind romance of her diary. Gwendolen, who lives a life of social convention supervised by a repressive mother, wishes to jettison this influence and in her diary lives a `sensational' life otherwise disallowed.
The main protagonist of the story, Elizabeth Bennet (nicknamed both Lizzy and Eliza), is the second daughter in the Bennet family. Second only to her elder sister in beauty, Elizabeth’s figure is said to be “light and pleasing,” with “dark eyes,” and “intelligent…expression” (24). At 20 years old, she is still creating her place in society. Known for her wit and playful nature, “Elizabeth is the soul of Pride and Prejudice, [she] reveals in her own person the very title qualities that she spots so easily” (“Pride and Prejudice”) in others. Her insightfulness often leads her to jump to conclusions and think herself above social demand. These tendencies lead her to be prejudice towards others; this is an essential characteristic of her role