The Importance of Being Earnest as Timeless Social and Political Satire [For All Generations] The Importance of Being Earnest was written in 1896 by famous playwright, Oscar Wilde, and is a timeless masterpiece that transcends time because it has satirical elements that target social and political issues that are still invariably controversial in today’s society. The play consistently parodies issues such as the relationship between romance and marriage and one’s socioeconomic status and marriage. In the traditional sense, romance and marriage probably should fall hand-in-hand, and though one’s socioeconomic status probably should not be the decided factor of a marriage, it is the play’s mission to satirically suggest otherwise. While romance and marriage should inherently fall hand-in-hand, looming faithfully overhead is the idea that romance suddenly disappears shortly after the wedding. Perhaps the inevitable experience of coming to terms with the thought of living together forever procures an uneasy feeling and puts an impression on newlyweds that marriage turns into a series of routines and monotony.
Gwendolen wants to marry a man called Ernest, not caring whether he possesses the qualities that comprise earnestness. This is evident as Gwendolen quickly forgives Jack’s deception and Lady Bracknell quickly forgets her earlier disapproval of Jack’s suitability for Gwendolen. Jack, the central character, is initially neither ‘Ernest’ nor ‘earnest’. Through forces at times beyond his control, he becomes both: a symbol of Victorian hypocrisy. Both Jack and Algernon lead a double life, known as ‘Bunburying’, the practice of creating an elaborate deception so as to misbehave whilst maintaining expected social standards of duty and responsibility, essentially, pretending to be earnest.
Romeo and Juliet Essay Every person views love in a different way. At times, the way a person expresses their love depends on who they have the emotions for. In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Mercutio views love as a joke while Friar Laurence's idea of love is more passionate. Love is shown as a vulgar item when seen through Mercutio's view. “Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down.” (Act I Scene IV) Mercutio believes that love is only about being sexual to one's partner.
"Wilde exploits the conventions of comedy merely for sensational effects. He fails to present a critical view of society" Explore your different responses to this view. The Importance of Earnest is a play by Oscar Wilde, instructed to have "no real interest" and be "light comedy for serious people". This defines the notion that Wilde's purpose was to simply make his audience react. It is suggested by this then that the play holds no deeper meaning or message of morality; it is simply designed to fulfill a purpose through usage of traditional comedic techniques.
The Friar responds with, “Young men’s love then lies/ Not truly in their hearts but, in their eyes jesu maria, what the deal of brine/ Hath washes thy sallow cheeks for Rosaline!”(2.3.68-90). In the first act, Romeo thought himself to be in love with Rosaline. Romeo had been distraught over the fact that his beloved Rosaline was going to become a nun. Romeo would never be able to love Rosoline, or be with her. Friar Lawrence makes fun of Romeo saying that young men only love what they see.
Through Friar Lawrence, Shakespeare shows us how shortsightedness will avert our true responsibilities. Friar Lawrence only sees the good effects, but pays no mind to possible mishaps, which causes him to make bad judgments. When Romeo and Juliet fall in love and want to get married, they seek Friar Lawrence to fulfill their desires. At first, Friar Lawrence opposes because he believes that the pace of their relationship is going too fast, but gives in “For this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households’ rancor to pure love”(Act 2.3 #98-99). Despite the fact that Friar Lawrence had already thought through some of the consequences, like their relationship is not actual love, he only thought through half of it.
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 theme of love and romance is approached through the relationships of two distinctly contrasting couples in “Much Ado About Nothing”. The unexpected relationship of Beatrice and Benedick juxtaposes the more idealised love between Hero and Claudio. Beatrice, Benedick, Hero and Claudio are the immediate protagonists of the play-a story of how deception interrupts or spurs love between two very different couples. “Young love is a flame; very pretty, often very hot and fierce but still only light and flickering. The love of the older and disciplined heart is as coals, deep-burning, unquenchable”, a quotation by Henry Ward Beecher, an American preacher.
William Shakespeare establishes Benedick’s character by using diction and imagery to show his changed viewpoint on marriage. Benedick is strongly opinionated and rarely ever let’s his guard down when it comes to feelings or love. After he overhears that Beatrice is in love with him, he ponders what to do. The characterization is established through diction, “And wise, but for loving me; by my troth it is not addition to her wit, nor no great argument of her folly, for I will be horribly in love with her!” (II.3.235-237). He is saying that is might not be wise for loving him, but he swears it won’t be stupid for he is going to be “horribly” in love with her.
Beatrice expresses her acceptance of Benedick’s love but does not realize the love inside Beatrice exists artificially. Beatrice’s faith in her emotions leaves her vulnerable to any criticism of her love to Benedick. For instance, when Hero commands Margaret to fetch Beatrice, Hero and Ursula purposely allow Beatrice to listen to them to invoke a stronger attraction in Beatrice towards Benedick. Shakespeare allows the first sign of the theme deception to manifests itself within Hero and Ursula’s conversation. Shakespeare aims to project a very harsh form of deception here in order to emphasize the power of deception of love.