The Laughter and Plodding of the Film Adaption of Oscar Wilde’s "The Importance of Being Earnest"

The Importance of Being Earnest, uses comedy and farce to display a light hearted approach to the hugely powerful upper class of Victorian society and add a playful edge to their actions. Although it could also be seen as a comedic shell for the true nature of Wilde’s comment upon the society in which it is set, exposing the flaws and inconsistencies that the upper class was built upon. It will be necessary to consider whether Wilde is purposely commenting on the dysfunction of the society in which he lived, or if it does in fact only serve as a comedy.

Wilde's "Importance of Being Earnest" and Weschler's "Boggs" At first glance, Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest and Lawrence Weschler’s Boggs: A Comedy of Values treat the issue of art’s function in converse ways. Wilde, the quintessential Aesthete, asserts that art should exist for the sake of beauty alone. Boggs, on the other hand, contends that art should serve a practical function: it should wake individuals from their sleepwalking by highlighting essential, overlooked aspects of society. Fascinatingly, neither Wilde nor Boggs firmly adheres to his ostensible artistic purpose.

Contrary to the stereotypical woman of the Victorian culture, both female characters Gwendolen and Cecily become instigators of love, from influencing the proposal to composing their own love letters from their lovers. Gwendolen affirms her forwardness in romantic matters when she exclaims to Jack who is hesitant about proposing, “I am afraid you have had very little experience in how to propose” (Powell, 132). Not only do the ladies have a skewed view of marriage and their responsibilities within that relationship, but the men do as well. Algernon says of proposals, “I really don’t see anything romantic in proposing. It is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal. Why, one may be accepted” (Ericksen, 150). He clearly has a skewed view of marriage. When it comes to Lady Bracknell, her view of marriage is primarily concerned with money and sometimes concerned with social respectability. When questioning Jack about the potential of marrying Gwendolen, she focuses on typically irrelevant characteristics. Lady Bracknell says of Jack’s confession to his tendency to smoke, “I am glad to hear it. A man should always have an occupation of some kind” (Greenblat, 539-540). She goes on to take interest in such things as his knowledge and education, finances, and family

Gwendolen and Cecily act like air-heads and are easily won over by the men they plan to marry. Gwendolen simply wants to marry a man named Earnest. She tells Jack “my ideal has always been to love someone of the name of Ernest” (I.381-82). The mere idea of marrying a man for his name shows how easily Gwendolen can attach herself to a man. Marriage is the most serious of all relationships and Gwendolen is foolish to deter...

..., C. D. "Oscar Wilde." The Literature Network. Jalic INC., 2008. Web. 3 Apr 2012.

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

In conclusion, with a prominent use of inversion, satire and epigrams; Oscar Wilde is able to create an eloquent blend of effective yet sometimes implicit social criticisms of late nineteenth century society and derive humour for both modern and Victorian audiences in doing so. Combined with carefully sculptured characters such as Lady Bracknell and with the use of puns and intelligent wordplay, the playwright elegantly comments on aspects of society such as marriage and traditional gender roles thus confirming Sir John Hankin’s interpretation that the play is ‘…only a joke, yet an amazingly brilliant one’[ ] and mope importantly establishing The Importance of Being Earnest as a sardonic masterpiece.

General Structure of Comedy and the Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde GeneralStructure of Comedy: * Things start out badly and end well * The deeper aim is broadly social: the kingdom or other city space is at first badly ruled or in turmoil for some reason--perhaps the values and institutions of the citizens and/or rulers are in need of some re-examination. * Next, the main characters leave (willingly or otherwise) the city setting and wind up in the countryside, in a pastoral setting.

Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Ed. Isobel Murray. London: Oxford University Press, 1974.

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. Nothing is taken seriously except trivial things.