The Importance of Being Ernest and Insignificance of Being Earnest According to two female characters in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, Ernest is a name that is typically desirable for a husband and represents high social status and wealth. Earnest, on the contrary, according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, means to be “serious, sincere”, or, in other words, honest (“Earnest”). Within the irony of the title of Wilde’s play itself, the hypocrisy of the high social class of the Victorian era is revealed. Wilde himself said of the play in one of his letters to Lord Alfred Douglas from Worthing, “The real charm of the play, if it is to have a charm, must be in the dialogue. The plot is slight…but…adequate” (Ericksen, 145). …show more content…
Such comedy emphasizes wit, whether true or false…” (Bacon). As a comedy of manners, the play accomplishes its goal of revealing the shallow mindset of the Victorian high society through satirical, yet critical, tone. In his book, Oscar Wilde, Erickson refers to the play as “Wilde’s comic masterpiece” (Ericksen, 145). When critiquing the play, the Times correctly noted a quality in the language of The Importance of Being Earnest that foiled every expectation: “Mr. Oscar Wilde’s peculiar vein of epigram does not accord too well with flippant action. Its proper vein is among serious people, or so we have been taught to think. In a farce it gives one the sensation of drinking wine out of the wrong sort of glass: it conveys to the palate a new sensation, which in the end, however, is discovered to be not unpleasing” (Powell, 119). It seems that the reason for Wilde’s incredible success with his satirical play is due to the fact that it contradicts the purpose of a farce, so where “a typical farce dissolves into bland conventionality, Wilde strikes at the root of accepted standards” (Powell, …show more content…
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
The Importance of Being Earnest is a play by Oscar Wilde. Oscar describes his play as A Trivia comedy for serious people. The protagonists in the play maintains being fictitious in order to escape burdensome social obligations. The play is lighthearted with flippant comments and offhand jokes, however the play contains serious undertones and social commentary about marriage and the society. Oscar Wilde in his plat portrays marriage in the Victorian Era as arranged for the upper class. Lady Bracknell is not ready to give her daughters hand in marriage to Earnest because of his social class and because he told her that he was found in a Victorian railroad station and has no idea who his biological parents are. Oscar Wilde explores the topic of marriage at length in his play. Marriage is a primary force motivating the plot of the play and a subject of speculation. The debate in the play is to whether marriage is pleasant or unpleasant.
... on Victorian culture, the modern day reader is left with disdain for the earnest ideal. The characters rely on it only superficially. Through the play the meaning of the word is manipulated until its meaning is lost and the remaining value of the word is to essentially mask the true natures of the people who use the word (or name) too freely. The implication is that the characters in the play are silly as well as hypocritical, and as representatives of Victorian culture, Wilde is leading the reader to the conclusion that much of the decorum expounded by society is just as silly and hypocritical. Luckily for the proponents of the stiff propriety in the Victorian age, the blow of this conclusion is softened immensely by the comical nature of the play, and we are left with the lesson that there is really no importance in being earnest, but merely being named Ernest.
The play The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde was written and set during the Victorian era, a time when the desire for social approval and status controlled the rituals, appearances, and attitudes of the middle and upper class. The search for moral recognition in society was the commonly conspired front that masked the people’s selfish ambitions. Oscar Wilde felt strongly towards the reformation he believed his time period needed, having been personally affected by the oppressive Victorian Society about his own sexual exploitations, and wrote The Importance of Being Earnest as an outrageous attack on the faults of society in order to expose its frailty. The play is able to broadcast his
Each of these criticisms relies upon the paradoxes that Wilde sets up on successively larger scales within the play. It is, in fact, this tool of humor, not the object of ridicule that truly defines this work. While each paradox is pointed at Victorian society, the individual paradoxes each take on a different element of Victorian society, thereby diminishing the pointedness of the overall criticism. The use of paradox allows Wilde to take this play beyond its narrow and somewhat scattered critique of Victorian society. The underpinning element then, is not Victorian society, but instead the paradox, the concept of dual, irreconcilable elements. This more lasting topic is, not co...
“The Importance of Being Earnest” By Oscar Wilde, is a satirical play that has captured the attention of audiences for over a hundred years. Much of this plays popularity has stemmed from Wilde’s ability to direct viewers attention to the flaws of Victorian society, while maintaining a lighthearted and comical tone throughout. Although the play maintains a humorous nature, Wilde manages to touch on many issues surrounding the moral and social values held by many people in the Victorian era. In this time, expectations surrounding romance and marriage were fairly restricting, making them both controversial and inticing topics for Wilde to critique. Here we will analyze the mentality and actions of leading characters;
Oscar Wilde uses conventional comic devices such as disorder, caricature, and witty repartee in order to contrive the satirical ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’. Combined with a prominent use of droll epigrams, maxims and skilfully employed inversions of conservative Victorian morality and disposition, Wilde is able to effectively create a unique blend of classical romantic comedy and humorous social satire. Wilde uses this satire in order to mock many aspects of late nineteenth century society such as, marriage, education and the aristocracy among others. In terms of structure, marriage serves as a prime force of motivation in terms of driving the plot.
In Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, much is made of societal expectations, protocols, as well as the inversions of these expectations. A character, Jack Worthing, adopts an alter ego when going into town to avoid keeping up with the serious and morally upright behaviour that is expected of him as guardian to his eighteen-year-old ward, Cecily. Another character, Algernon Moncrieff, makes up an invalid friend Bunbury whose grave health conditions provide him with the excuse to escape to the country as and when he pleases. Both Jack and Algernon are admired by two young ladies who erroneously believe the men's names to be Ernest, and who adore the men for this very reason. In relating the story of mix-ups and mistaken identities, the ideals and manners of the Victorian society are satirized in a comedy where the characters "treat all the trivial things of life seriously and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality" (Wilde back cover), in the words of the author himself.
“The Importance of Being Earnest”, by Oscar Wilde, is a novel that defies most of society’s morals. The characters react the complete opposite to how a normal person in today’s society would react. Wilde creates a sense of humor through an eccentric tone and also through actions and reactions of the characters and their situation.
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde was a satire structured to look at the norms of the Victorian era. He utilizes irony and paradoxes to illustrate the issues and weaknesses that were apart of the Victorian society. The Importance of Being Earnest is supposed to be set in London during a social reform. The class system was a way for people of higher manner to be separated from the poor and to look down upon them based on their social standings . The upper class was taken over by social manners and delicacies. The Importance of Being Earnest ridicules the upper class’ behavior and the character that was expected from them. Wilde utilizes humor, irony, and the characters to point out the “Victorian” conduct, as well as pointing out
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.
...s distinguished by the domestic life. While the public world of the men was celebrated, the private world of the women was largely ignored. Through Lady Bracknell, Wilde provides a clear image to the ambiguous of the female life. When Jack pronounces his love for Gwendolen, Lady Bracknell is there as the blocking character with pencil and notebook in hand to evaluate him as a potential bachelor. The pencil and notebook symbolize Lady Bracknell’s strategic approach, business-like conduct and dependence on facts to make decisions that will impact her domestic space. Oscar Wilde’s evocation that women rely on the same tactics as men to make decisions suggests the female life operates with the same validity as the male life. Wilde’s proposal of similarity between the lives is taunting the biological roles that was labeled on the domestic aspect of Victorian women.
(42) but to be truly earnest, it takes time and effort. Revealing this superficiality shows Wilde’s thoughts on the Victorian upper classes. The moral code of the Victorian Era valued honesty, sincerity, and integrity, but the lives of Victorian people, as Oscar Wilde describes them, are hypocritical, lazy and self - congratulatory. Jack is unworthy of the name Earnest because it implies hard work and good reputation, and Jack has
‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ is often represented as being a comedy of manners- Wilde defines the text as ‘a trivial comedy for serious people’, which instantly raises questions on the purpose of the play itself. Dr Tracy Sanders states that “the comedy of manners is a style of comedy that reflects the life, ideals and manners of upper class society”, which undoubtedly links to the play. On the surface ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ could be classed as a sophisticated comedy of manners which disregards any sincerity, it is characterised by sarcasm, stock characters and the typical comedic resolution which is marriage. Yet in opposition to this, hidden amongst the humour are underlying principles of the play which arguably portray fundamental elements of darker humour, concerning gender, society, and marriage, which have invoked the questions of the true intention of the play. Many critics have claimed that the play is Wilde’s criticisms of society in the Victorian era and is mainly a sharp attack to convey serious social messages.