The Importance Of Being Earnest

Discuss the use of duplicity and subterfuge for comic affect in The importance of being earnest. The importance of being Ernest written in 1899 by Oscar wild is a comedy of manners which was first shown to the Victorian society. Being a comedy of manners, the play includes many features of a Victorian melodrama including confusion, mistaken identity and a final happy ending. However subterfuge and duplicity is inherent in all characters and is the main source of comic value within the plot. We see the comic value of subterfuge and duplicity not only within the main characters and the cameo roles but also heavily embedded within the plot to highlight wild's attack on the hypocrisy of upper class Victorian society. Within the plot of The importance of being earnest nobody is who they appear to be and that is what plants the seed for the humour. All the confusion and farce that is creates right before your very eyes creates a comprehensive amount of dramatic irony for the audience to sit and laugh at, little did they know however that they are laughing at a mirror image of themselves. From the butlers - Lane and Merriman - to the very top predators of the Victorian social society such as Lady Bracknell, they all have a measurement of deceit hidden within them - all rising in amount - to reflect their social status. Other than the characters the whole plot created by wild was intended to exploit the hypocrisy of the Victorian social society. This theme of exposing the upper class you find in all the characters within the play.

One of the lead characters, Algernon Moncrieff is also the main instigator of deceit within the play. The first case of duplicit behaviour is clear in "please don't touch the cucumber sandwiches they are specially made for Aunt Augusta" (act 1, 83) this is physically amusing as he has been sat there eating the cucumber sandwiches and has utterly contradicted himself. This error of his own, makes Algernon look foolish and a little stupid,