Absurdities Of The Upper Class
- The Importance Of Being Earnest - characters act as foils creating wit and sparkle in the dialogue. Wilde exemplifies this,...
- Wilde--Strucutural Genius - his ridicule between the female characters, Gwendolen and Cecily. Both females are interested in...
Submitted by golietj on 06/30/2008 05:21 PM
- Category: Psychology
- Words: 1224
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Absurdities Of The Upper Class
The play "The Importance of Being Earnest", written by Oscar Wilde, truly is a lighthearted and funny comedy. Even the title itself is interesting, because it introduces a central theme in the play. One of the ways Wilde demonstrates his theme is by forming puns. Running throughout the entire play is the double meaning behind the word earnest, which functions both as a male name and as an adjective describing seriousness. Wilde saw earnestness as being a prominent ideal in Victorian culture. Much of British society struck him as boring, strict, and concerned with the maintenance of social norms in their society, which makes them seem as almost inhuman in some respects. Wilde continuously pokes fun at the aristocracy, marriage, English manners and customs, women, men, and love throughout the dialogue of his characters. Therefore, "The Importance of Being Earnest" is a comical play, which demonstrates the absurdities of the socially elite class in British society by using lighthearted humor.
The play begins in the "flat" of Algernon Moncrieff, an upper-class English bachelor. His friend Jack Worthing visits him, however Algernon and everyone else in London know Jack as "Ernest". Jack has come to town to propose to Gwendolen Fairfax, the daughter of Lady Bracknell and first cousin of Algernon. Algernon then tells Jack that he refuses to give his consent to marry Gwendolen until he can explain why the name Cecily is inscribed in Jack's cigarette case. Jack finally admits to Algernon that he is the legal guardian of Cecily who lives in the country. Jack also admits to Algernon that his name is not Ernest but rather Jack, which is what everyone at his country manor house calls him. Algernon jokingly accuses Jack of "Bunburying", which is pretending that you have a friend in some other part of the world so you have an excuse to leave whenever you desire. Algy (Algernon) exclaims, "The truth is rarely pure and never simple. What you are is a Bunburyist. You are...
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