The Importance of Being Ernest Essay

The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde, ca. 1894 “Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about.” - Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan Oscar Wilde liked to write plays that pointed at the aristocracy and nouveau riche in a critical way, but of course, written in a funny way so that his work became satirical. Oscar Wilde was therefore a brilliant writer of comedies of manners, the entertainment form that satirizes the manners of a social class, in Wilde’s case, the high upper class, as previously mentioned. “The Importance of Being Earnest” is a great example of this, as Wilde in this play, repeatedly mocks Victorian traditions, such as the pursuit of love, which we see in both Gwendolen and Cecily, who both have put their faith in the Christian name of Earnest, quite unlike the mother of Gwendolen; Lady Bracknell who is much more methodical and analytical of whom her daughter…

Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest was his ultimate breakthrough. Wilde’s novel targets the way of life of the elite during the Victorian era through satire. Oscar Wilde’s satiric novel The Importance of Being Earnest ridicules the aristocratic society of the Victorian which can be observed in his use of irony, humor and metaphors throughout the novel. Wilde uses irony in emphasizing satire and sarcasm in his novel. An example is his use of puns throughout his play. One obvious…

The Importance of Being Earnest, is an enjoyable and hilarious adaption of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. In the film, Colin Firth plays John “Jack” Worthing, a carefree young gentleman, is the inventor of a fake brother, “Ernest,” whose evil ways afford John an excuse to leave his house in the country from time to time and journey to London, where he stays with his close friend and confidant, Algernon Moncrieff. Algernon has a cousin, Gwendolen Fairfax, with who John is deeply…

In The Importance Of Being Earnest, the play by Oscar Wilde, he brings out serious issues through humor and slapstick style of comedy. The cucumber sandwiches scene really brings out the slapstick style of the play. In the play when Jack was eating the cucumber sandwiches and his buddy was trying to get some, he said it was improper to eat the sandwiches. When his buddy asked him why it was okay for Jack to eat the sandwiches he replied with “Well she’s my aunt”. Which is actually ironic…

Satire is designed to criticize or tease a certain subject or thing, usually for the reason of comedy. “The Importance of Being Earnest,” by Oscar Wilde includes lots of satire, criticizing social class, gender, and marriage. I will give some examples from each of the ACT’s, and also give a description of the points that showcase satire in this piece. There is many examples of satire referring to class. The first is the simple fact that what side of the street you live on determines how your…

Essay outline The Importance of Being Earnest Thesis statement: Oscar Wilde’s play, The Importance of Being Earnest, criticizes the society’s sense of priority regarding knowledge, intelligence and honesty, as education is depicted as superficial and invaluable compared to characteristics such as physical appearance and social status. Topic Sentence #1: Wilde asserts that education is a negligible factor of success; one’s knowledge is less important than one’s physical appearance and social…

Has one tried to act in a different manner than they usually act and thus portray that they are flipping their gender roles? In the play, The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde does such a task by portraying the character’s to represent something other than themselves. Furthermore, the author, Oscar Wilde is mocking and making fun of gender roles in The Importance of Being Earnest, by critiquing the period of the Victorian era and how these roles were portrayed during this time that the…

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple. Modern life would be very tedious if it were either, and modern literature a complete impossibility!”(Act I). The film, The Importance of Being Earnest, is an enjoyable and comical interpretation of Oscar Wilde’s, The Importance of Being Earnest. This phenomenal film stars Colin Firth, Rupert Everett, Reese Witherspoon, and many more talented actors and actresses. In the film, Colin Firth play John Worthing, a responsible and respectable young man.…

In Oscar Wildes comedic play, The Importance of Being Earnest, the secrets kept and maintained by Jack Worthing, his friend Algernon Moncrieff and his abandoner Miss Prism completely influence the plot. In the play we are opened to multiple different types of characters. Many of these characters are put into situations which reveals to the audience the true meaning of the play. Often in a play, the characters success usually comes with some secret keeping from other characters. In The Importance…

aimed at being perceived as extremely moral and proper; however, in the reality, the fact of being seen as moral by other members of society overshadowed being moral itself. Oscar Wilde in his “Importance of Being Ernest” satirizes the intent of people to be loved and admired for what they are not, “You look as if your name was Ernest. You are the most earnest-looking person I ever saw in my life” (Wilde 6). For Cecily and Gwendolen it is absolutely non-important who their admirers are actually…