Both Jack and Algernon are admired by two young ladies who mistakenly 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. Oscar Wilde’s comical scenes often take their source in social satire and non-conformism (Baselga 15). Throughout his play, In The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde satirizes education, women, and morality. Oscar Wilde satirizes the British education by using Lady Bracknell.
who hides and what is hidden? how does deceit function in the world of the play, and how does it help the play comment on life in general? a central motif in the play is trickery or deceit, whether for good or evil purposes. counterfeiting, or concealing one's true feelings, is part of this motif. everyone seems to lie; good characters as well as evil ones engage in deceit as they attempt to conceal their feelings: beatrice and benedick mask their feelings for one another with bitter insults; don john spies on claudio and hero; don pedro and his 'crew' deceive benedick and beatrice.
Uploaded 1/29/2013 Humor: Literature’s Rubber Sword “Humor is a rubber sword—it allows you to make a point without drawing blood.” In this quote by contemporary writer Mary Hirsch, Hirsch describes how, in literature, humor is used to show insight about humanity in a sophisticated and comical way to amuse the readers. In The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde uses humor to criticize the moral and respectable attitudes and values expected in Victorian society. Wilde incorporates humor through the literary devices of puns, irony and epigrams to satirize that duplicity is more important than the conventional reality in Victorian society. One of the ways Wilde’s humor is displayed is through his puns. Throughout the play, Wilde takes advantage of the double meaning of the word earnest through the functions of a man’s name and an adjective describing sincere.
“Roy is the most effective manipulator in the play.”Discuss. Louis Nowra’s black comedy, Cosi positions the audience to perceive “madness” in terms of the patients and outsiders extreme behaviour and fixation over certain issues. Roy, who is seen as Lewis’ “natural support,” has a vision of the opera envisaging the “music of the spheres, joie de vivre…and a world that is removed from [his] depressing asylum.” Roy’s eccentric nature allows him to be the most effective manipulator in “Cosi Fan Tutte” and his manipulation stems from his passion for the theatre. Similarly, Henry, Nick and Lucy who have different opinions on the Vietnam War are prepared to influence Lewis to have the same outlook as they do. Therefore the effectiveness of the characters
Human flaws are weaknesses in personality which result in outcomes that lead to disreputable actions. Through the dramatic irony of the monologue, the reader is able to gain an understanding of the social attitudes and patriarchal values in the Victorian Era which the human flaws in the monologue are based on. The study of “My Last Duchess” offers a significant understanding of the male ego and a male’s desire to be in control in a relationship. The factors determining a male’s desire to be in control are evident through Browning’s portrayal of the Duke through his need to retain his pride, extreme jealousy and his need to objectify women in order to satisfy the male ego. Browning contrasts the Duke’s representation of the duchess with the factual representation emphasising the Duke’s manic state and causing the audience to strongly oppose the duke as a person.
Explore the presentation of marriage in Oscar Wilde’s ‘A Woman of No Importance’ and Henrik Ibsens ‘A Dolls House.’In both Oscar Wilde’s ‘A Woman of No Importance’ and Henrik Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’ the playwrights seem to imply through their plays that the institution of marriage in the Victorian era had become centered around superficial values, such as social status, rather than love. Both Ibsen and Wilde use their plays as vehicles to criticise the society they perceived around them, exposing the faults of the upper classes through naturalistic settings and witty banter. The naturalistic setting of both plays, allows the audience to see how the ideas and events within the plays were based on realistic ideals and the witty banter, particularly pronounced within Wilde’s play that explicitly follows the conventions of a comedy of manners, allows both playwrights to satirise and pass judgment on society in a slightly tongue in cheek manner, so as not to cause offense to the very people being mocked who would see the performances. Because Wilde has written his play as a comedy of manners, the characters that he has created can be perceived more like caricatures, which allows him to exaggerate certain characteristics that the audience will be able to recognize and yet still be able to laugh at. Ibsen however takes a more moralistic approach to portraying Victorian society; by doing this he makes the characters more realistic.Both writers position the argument that marriage was being undermined as increasingly society seemed to show a lack of trust and respect within marriage.
The Importance of Being Earnest: Film vs. Text Oscar Wilde’s highly popular play, The Importance of Being Earnest, elicits numerous dramatic elements which fall under one of the two major dramatic modes, comedy. Throughout the play there are many miscommunications, errors in judgment, and failures by the characters which are displayed in a humorous fashion. With this brilliant play available as text or a film version, one may wonder which medium truly conveys Wilde’s witty characters and genius comedic satire more accurately. Through extensive analysis and in depth research, it is apparent that the film version trumps the text by delivering the play more precisely and grabbing the audience from start to finish with its vivid visual aspects,
They bring in a lot of content which fits into to comedy criteria as well as enable the plot to develop fully. Firstly, the aspect of comedy ' servants and masters' is one where The Importance of Being Earnest fits perfectly as Lane and Merriman are both butlers of Jack and Algernon-the main characters of the play. They show the contrast between the lower and upper class in the Victorian Era which is a theme often found in comedic plays. Additionally, the relationship between Lane and Algernon could possibly represent the theme of youth and age-the generation gap. This is shown when Algernon asks Lane, " Is marriage so demoralising as that?"
The play The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde is full of irony. John (Jack) Worthing and Algernon (Algy) Moncrieff, the protagonists in the play, get themselves into a complex situation called Bunburyism. Jack and Algy pretend to be someone that they are not to escape their daily lives. They are dishonest to the women they admire and ultimately the truth is uncovered. Irony is first observed when Algernon (Algy) Moncrieff accuses the protagonist, John Worthing, of being a “bunburyist” (Act I).
I wanted to have you all to myself. Seen as a sin by people in Victorian society this is why they condemned Wilde. Nevertheless, this may not be homosexuality and just may be his dedication towards his friend. Also, Dorian was going to marry Sibyl and there have been suggestions that he has had sexual relationships with other women. Murder - Lord Henry's influence.