The Importance of Being Earnest The Importance of Being Earnest a play written by Oscar Wilde is set in England in the late Victorian era. Wilde uses obvious situational and dramatic irony within the play to satirize his time period. According to Roger Sale in “Being Ernest” the title has a double meaning to it and is certainly another example of satire used by Wilde. With a comedic approach‚ Wilde ridicules the absurdities of the character’s courtship rituals‚ their false faces‚ and their secrets
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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
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Blanche‚ Stella’s older sister‚ until recently a high school English teacher in Laurel‚ Mississippi. She arrives in New Orleans a loquacious‚ witty‚ arrogant‚ fragile‚ and ultimately crumbling figure. Blanche once was married to and passionately in love with a tortured young man. He killed himself after she discovered his homosexuality‚ and she has suffered from guilt and regret ever since. Blanche watched parents and relatives‚ all the old guard‚ die off‚ and then had to endure foreclosure on the
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The Play In Tennesse Williams’ A Street Car Named Desire‚ Williams sets up the character of Blanche as soon as she is introduced in the play. Her desire‚ her heartbreak‚ her downfall‚ and her extremely complex past are all foreshadowed in Blanch’s first lines of the play‚ “They told me to take a street-car named Desire‚ and transfer to one called Cemeteries‚ and ride six blocks and get off at—Elysian Fields!” (Blanche Du Bois‚ 6). The street-cars‚ desire and cemeteries‚ are symbolic to Blanche’s character
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The Importance of Being Earnest Questions Themes (Feel free to see the questions related to the themes at http://www.shmoop.com/importance-of-being-earnest/) Lies and Deceit Marriage Respect and Reputation Society and Class Gender Versions of Reality: Romance Love Foolishness and Folly Epigrams Define an epigram. What do the following epigrams say? Keep track of epigrams in the play. “Education is an admirable thing‚ but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing
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Literature critical reading THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST‚ A TRIVIAL COMEDY FOR SERIOUS PEOPLE by the Irish writer and poet Oscar Wilde‚ is a comedy about the customs and seriousness of society around Victorian values of that time. THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST is an excellent example of what a satire is‚ by the use of satirical devices such as irony‚ sarcasm and farce to show the society in a ridiculous way. In the play‚ Wilde often satirizes the Victorian society and all the rules that weren’t
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The Importance of Not Being Earnest Oscar Wilde’s hilarious play‚ "The Importance of Being Earnest‚" is based in Victorian England and follows the story of Mr. Jack Worthing; a lovesick man who lies regarding his identity so he may escape to the city. While his lies start unraveling‚ chaos breaks out. In the last line of the play‚ Jack claims that‚"he has learned the vital importance of being earnest." This conclusion brings the reader to wonder‚ does a tiger ever change it’s stripes? Does the
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In Oscar Wilde’s play‚ The Importance of Being Earnest‚ the conversations between characters reveal a lot about their relationships and create a language. The relationship of Earnest and Gwendolen is primarily based on a surface characteristic; his name. Gwendolyn is only attracted to Earnest because of his name‚ because she is so consumed by what others will think. Cecily is portrayed as the wholesome girl in this play who is attracted to the devious and mysterious Algernon. However‚ their relationship
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Sonia Kaur Professor McLaughlin ENG 102 TH 7 C Topic: Research Paper on The Importance of Being Earnest Essay 4 How does Oscar Wilde satirize Victorian society in his play The Importance of Being Earnest? What is the genre of the play? Sure‚ it is a comedy‚ but where does Wilde put the emphasis on? Social satire. Social satire is a weapon using comedy in order to take a subject‚ in this case the Victorian Era‚ and ridicule it. In this sense‚ comedy is not only to entertain but also educate. Thus
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In his play‚ The Importance of Being Earnest‚ Oscar Wilde portrays his beliefs by satirizing the beliefs and values of his society. Within Act I‚ Algernon states that “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” Wilde’s witty epigram projects a major theme within the play. It attacks the perception of fixed truth. The major target of Wilde’s scathing social criticism is the hypocrisy that society creates. Often in Victorian society‚ its participants acted in overly sincere‚ polite ways while
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