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. It’s quite clear that the institution of marriage is being lightheartedly ridiculed in The Importance of Being Earnest. The main characters in the play appear to treat marriage as something frivolous and are oblivious to the concept of mutual commitment. Cecily and Gwendolen only want to marry Algernon and Jack because they are convinced that their names are Ernest. As Gwendolen points out to Jack early in the play, “…My ideal has always been to love some one of the name of Ernest.
In this way, the ‘earnestness’ of these two men is shown. Another of the conflicts that occurs in the play is marriage, and the guardians assent required for marriage. When Jack wishes to marry Gwendolyn, Lady Bracknell disapproves, so Jack refuses to allow Algernon to marry Cecily. This trivialising of the sacrosanct institution of marriage shows Wilde’s view on the matter: he saw it as “a practise surrounded by absurdity and hypocrisy.” In addition to this, both Gwendolyn and Cecily are sure that they could not possibly love someone whose name was not Earnet, which both Algy and Jack are not. (until Jack discovers his real name and family at the end.)
It was a play that made controversy in the lush mansions of Victorian society. Subtitled "A Trivial Comedy for Serious People," The Importance of Being Earnest jokingly criticized Victorian manners and morals and attacking the society of the rich and luxurious. Oscar Wilde incorporated his own beliefs and ideology into the play by alluding to Victorian society "lets duplicity led to happiness." It is this "happiness" Wilde's play focuses on by concentrating the theme of the play on marriage. Alluding to marriage, The Importance of Being Earnest begins with the witty and selfish Algernon.
Austen succeeds in showing how the prideful nature of Darcy is unacceptable to Elizabeth and thus the reader knows that her refusal is based on her need for respect and love in a marriage. Lady Catherine insults Elizabeth when she thinks that she can manipulate Elizabeths happiness for her own image because Elizabeth in not “rich” enough for lady Catherine's fancy. When Lady Catherine visits Elizabeth and demands that she does not accept Darcy's proposal, Elizabeth refuses by saying, “ I am only resolved to act in that manner, which will, in my own opinion, constitute my happiness, without reference to you, or to any person so wholly unconnected with me"(Chapter 13 Vol.
Chekhov’s protagonist, Gurov is a man who is rough, arrogant and manipulative. He refers women as ‘inferior race’ (Chekhov 205). He does not have feelings for his wife and describes her as “a tall, erect woman with dark eyebrows, stately and dignified and, as she said of herself, intellectual” (Chekhov 205). She rather seems indifferent towards Gurov. The reader gets an impression that she is aware of his infidelities and does not seem to care.
In the excerpt from The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People, playwright Oscar Wilde creates a humorous account of Wilde’s interpretation of Victorian society. Through describing an oddly humorous interview scene between Jack and the mother of the girl he fancies, Lady Bracknell. Wilde attempts to capture the essence of the frivolity of many Victorian era customs and traditions that are exemplified by this exchange between these two individuals. The play's title itself contains a mocking paradox (serious people are so because they do not see trivial comedies), introduces the theme, which is prevalent throughout the excerpt. The clashing between the trivial and the serious forms the foundation of the excerpt.
The Importance of Being Earnest is more often, and perhaps somewhat more accurately, regarded as a comedy of manners. Ridicule and exposure of vanities, the hypocrisies, and the idleness of the upper classes is, to be sure, the main function of its verbal wit. Moreover, the stock patterns of Restoration and eighteenth-century manners comedy are evident in various characters (Foster 19) “The Importance of Being Earnest is a comedy of manners, where Oscar Wilde uses satire to ridicule marriage, love and the mentality of the Victorian aristocratic society” (Satire in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest Par. 1). The play satirized the hypocrisies the Victorian society and the people who lived in it.
These type of puns are certainly found in the play in lines such as “As far as the piano is concerned, sentiment is my forte” and “It is very vulgar to talk like a dentist when one isn’t a dentist. It gives a false impression.” In The Importance of Being Earnest, many of the puns are expanded upon to a point that requires a second reading or careful observation. An example of this elaborate pun would be Bracknell’s criticizing of Jack’s infancy. She uses phrases such as “origin” and “Terminus” to indicate that he has no real past. The Importance of Being Earnest puts a satirical spin on the vanity and fruitlessness of modern living.
During Oscar Wilde’s literary career, he has been accredited for his notorious use of satire within his writings. Satire ridicules flaws in society in order to bring about change. His use of satire in the play, The Importance of Being Earnest, is reflected in how the characters live double lives. His play is a demonstration of how Victorian society accepts appalling behavior as long as it is concealed to the public. Oscar Wilde is credited for being a provocateur for change in nineteenth century England.
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.