As a character, Algernon is not too dissimilar to Oscar Wilde himself thus it could be said that Wilde expresses himself through the character of Algernon. This may be why Wilde’s comedy through Algernon is much more light-hearted, if he took his comedy to extreme lengths with Algernon, Wilde would have been essentially criticising himself. This is highlighted by the critic Stanton Thacker – “Ultimately, Wilde is subtly arguing his case for the “dandy way of life”, which for his characters seems the only way to liberate themselves from the chains society has placed on them.” Here Thacker depicts the idea that in Victorian society, individuals were bound to
Later, he describes himself as "Deformed, unfinished, sent before his time into this breathing world, scarce half made up." The deformity, which has been shown to have been exaggerated or even deliberately faked in portraits of Richard III, is given as the source of his evil ways. He says that as he "cannot prove a lover" he is "determined to be a villain." While everybody makes fun of Richard, and thinks that he is not able to achieve anything, he shows everyone that even though he is handicapped, he can achieve the highest power, to be King. Richard overcompensates his inferiority.
How successfully does Oscar Wilde create comedy in Act 1 of The Importance of being Earnest? Act 1 of The Importance of being Earnest features a range of comedies, including satire, comedy of manners and farce. The text often ridicules the basic morals of the Victorian society and exaggerates the behaviour of the upper classes to create a comedic effect. The ‘dandy’ (a man who pays excessive attention to his appearance), such as Algernon have often been believed to reflect the nature of Wilde himself; a witty, overdressed character who often ridiculed the hypocrisy of society and presented himself trivial. The opening scene establishes this unrealistic almost ridiculous world where people don’t seem to talk in a normal manner.
Oscar Wilde, the author of The Importance of Being Earnest, was most definitely a peculiar character. This is present in his writings, particularly in the aforementioned work. The Importance of Being Earnest uses unusual situations and striking puns to produce a humor that would be enjoyed by nearly all peoples. The Importance of Being Earnest was nearly a Victorian example of an episode of 'Seinfeld. '; The characters contained within often find themselves in the most peculiar of situations, so strange that we can find them humorous.
Act 1 sees Lady Bracknell converse with Jack about his engagement with Gwendolen. The humour is sustained by Wilde’s mockery of Lady Bracknell and the ideals that Victorians in general deem important but are in fact trivial. The witticism embedded in Lady Bracknell’s comment that “ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone” ironically alludes to her haughty and arrogant airs and graces that is so typical of the upper-class of Victorian England. Her further realisation, that in England,
Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance Of Being Earnest’ Within this essay, the themes of sexism, hierarchy and the importance of marriage will be explored. These are key themes to understand when reading ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ by Oscar Wilde because it gives the reader insight into this age of literature. Referencing will be in accordance to ‘The Collected Works of Oscar Wilde’. By putting Lady Bracknell into a position of power at the beginning of the play and by showing that through their white lies and double life Jack and Algernon as men, can even make foolish mistakes are exceptions when it comes to the over all message that men at the time were actually of more social importance. Men were in the position to make the political decisions, women did not drive, men worked and woman stayed at home to bring up the children and preparing more and more social gatherings whilst being visited by ‘friends’ of theirs.
‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ demonstrates aspects of farce and aspects of ‘incongruity’ (Langley:2012) which at first glance make the play seem purposeless. However the ‘trivial’ aspect to ‘serious people’ suggests that maybe to someone with little understanding would struggle to infer the play but after closely reading it, I tend to agree with the statement of Simon Bubb. As Anna Sarchet says,‘In fact, it is because of the epigrammatic exchanges and witty repartees that Wilde creates the space to be subversive’. The play is overloaded with humour, wit, paradoxical twists, and epigrams.The wit is clever, subtle. As the critic Peter Raby says ‘the play remains… a critique of the absurdity of all forms and conventions’.
How could anyone in a clear state of mind desire marriage after being exposed to such a brilliantly devised sequence of bitter-sweet remarks on the institution of marriage? In essence, when the bubble fireworks are out, Wilde’s play reveals its thorns, and they are aimed directly at the institution of marriage. Despite the happy ending, The Importance of Being Earnest takes a perfectly satirical stance in regards to the institution of marriage. Oscar Wilde takes pleasure in deconstructing the pristine facade built around the concept of marriage by Victorian society, and he is fearless in attacking its conventions. Wilde’s play does not celebrate marriage as the ultimate alliance by love, instead preferring to expose its “unstylish” side stained by hypocrisy and shallowness.
A good example of this would be Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest. Oscar Wilde was able to accomplish a brilliantly comical play, while developing the plot and characters, by portraying humor through comedic elements. The Importance of Being Earnest is a social satire, using irony and paradoxes to insinuate the problems and faults found in Victorian society. During the Victorian era, there was much emphasis on social class, marriage and courting, gender class, religion and many other societal issues. Wilde uses satire to ridicule marriage, love and the mentality of the Victorian aristocratic society.
Oscar Wilde knew the upper class, and he knew that the lives they lead were so dry, boring, concerned with manners and customs, and so perfectly earnest that it was almost inhuman. It is being earnest that the play mainly focuses on, as may be surmised from the title. Characters who lie to get gains are rewarded with love, and are later shown to have been lying at all. Jack, in saying that his name is Earnest, is found to be telling the truth at the revelatory end of the story, and Lagernon’s lie of being Jack’s brother is also found to be true when they find Jack’s real parents. In this way, the ‘earnestness’ of these two men is shown.