One might think aristocrats would see the error of their ways and try to be more virtuous in a moral sense. Lane’s views on marriage as “somewhat lax.” His own views are relentlessly Because Jack does not know his parents, Lady Bracknell suggests he find a parent — any with the right lineage will do — and find one quickly. John Worthing, J.P. Algernon Moncrieff Rev. Wilde seems to be taking to task a social class that thinks only of itself, showing little compassion or sympathy for the trials of those less fortunate. Chasuble's pious exterior betrays a racing pulse for Miss Prism: "Were I fortunate enough to be Miss Prism's pupil, I would hang upon her lips." Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. two different but related ideas: the notion of false truth and the "I have often spoken to the poorer classes on the subject [of christenings]. The popular attitudes of the day about the French, literary criticism, and books are also subjects of Wilde's humor. So, while a person could lead a secret life, carry on affairs within marriage or have children outside of wedlock, society would look the other way as long as the appearance of propriety was maintained. paradox. Nearly all of the main characters express ideals that reverse both social norms and common sense by expressing these ideals as if they were widely known truths. For Wilde, the word earnest comprised Oscar Wilde was an established writer of the late 1800’s who had a gift of being witty. Paulun relies on exemplification, literary devices, analysis, and argumentativeness in order to advance this claim. Wilde's contention that a whole world exists separate from Victorian manners and appearances is demonstrated in the girlish musings of Cecily. mean “trivial,” and vice versa. He rounds out the deception with costumes and props, and he does In-depth explanations of The Importance of Being Earnest's themes. The play, The Importance of Being Earnest’, is a comedy of manners, written in a satirical tone. Chasuble can rechristen, marry, bury, and encourage at a moment's notice with interchangeable sermons filled with meaningless platitudes. of marriage and whether it is “pleasant or unpleasant.” Lane remarks casually If the eccentric or unusual is to be replaced with correct behavior and thought, human sympathy and compassion suffer. and Jack discuss the nature of marriage when they dispute briefly It is also a subject of philosophical debate and speculations. The theme of triviality or, lack of seriousness in subjects considered of high value in Victorian Society is a predominant theme in the play. He mentions a sermon he gave for the Society for the Prevention of Discontent Among the Upper Orders. Appearance was everything, and style was much more important than substance. Themes for Importance of Being Earnest Earnestness Nature of Marriage Victorian Society Class Differences --Primary force motivating plot --Subject of philosophical debate & speculation --Part of the humor of the play is the debate about the nature of marriage...is it pleasant or Marriage means the end of freedom, pleasure, wickedness, and the beginning of duty and doing what is expected. For example, Algernon thinks it When Jack and Algernon realize their marriages will end their pursuit of pleasure, they both admit rather earnestly, "You won't be able to run down to the country quite so often as you used to do, dear Algy," and "You won't be able to disappear to London quite so frequently as your wicked custom was." One of the play’s paradoxes is the impossibility of actually being either Algernon thinks the servant class has a responsibility either hypocrites or else have the rug pulled out from under them. and though we are aware of the deception, they, of course, are not. CliffsNotes study guides are written by real teachers and professors, so no matter what you're studying, CliffsNotes can ease your homework headaches and help you score high on exams. The Importance of Being Earnestuses the principle of reversal to satirize Victorian conventions. The Importance of Being Earnest is considered to be the most famous and his most original work. It tells the story of Jack Worthing, a man who leads a double life to pursue the pleasure he lacks in his own life. out. When she hears that Jack's "wicked" brother Ernest is around, she is intensely desirous of meeting him. Characters such as Jack, Gwendolen, Miss Prism, The story had its fair share of appraisals favouring the … Toggle navigation. “shallow” for people not to be “serious” about meals, and Gwendolen However, the play truly pivots arou… modern culture depends on what one shouldn’t read,” Algernon points are not morally equivalent characters. take many forms, including boringness, solemnity, pomposity, complacency, "Illness of any kind is hardly a thing to be encouraged in others. Even using the name Ernest for his secret life is ironic because Algernon is not being dutiful — earnest — in living a secret life. The double standards for women become noticeable via Algernon’s quips. Health is the primary duty of life." Oscar Wilde Biography. Although she asks for bread and butter, Gwendolen is given a large slice of cake. Earnestness, which refers to both the quality of being The Importance of Being Earnest A Trivial Comedy for Serious People THE PERSONS IN THE PLAY. When Algernon explains that he plans to become engaged to Jack's ward, Cecily, Lady Bracknell decides, "I think some preliminary enquiry on my part would not be out of place." Wilde gives examples again and again of the aristocrat's concern for propriety, that everything is done properly no matter what those good manners might be camouflaging. Such reversals start with the play's earliest exchange: Algernon's servant, Lane, says he didn't think it polite to listen to Algernon's attempt to play the piano, and Algernon says that anyone can play the piano accurate… Not only is Algernon like Wilde in assumptions about the nature and purpose of marriage. Wilde exposes this divide in scenes such as when Gwendolen and Cecily behave themselves in front of the servants or when Lady Bracknell warms to Cecily upon discovering she is rich. Appearance was everything, and … The Gist of The Importance of Being Earnest Algernon, an aristocratic young Londoner, pretends to have a friend named Bunbury. Wilde was also infamous for writing duplicate content. themes in the importance of being earnest February 24th, 2021 Posted by Uncategorised No Comment yet Posted by Uncategorised No Comment yet If strict moral values leave no room for question, a society loses much of what is known as humanity. Her marriage proposal must be performed correctly, and her brother even practices correct proposals. They do it so well in the daily papers." As the good reverend says, "I fear that hardly points to any very serious state of mind at the last." Faceted Browser ; Sparql Endpoint ; Browse using . Even Algernon's aesthetic life of posing as the dandy, dressing with studied care, neglecting his bills, being unemployed, and pursuing pleasure instead of duty is an example of Victorians valuing trivialities. The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. These restrictions and assumptions suggest a strict code ofmorals that exists in Victorian society, but … Pre-AP English 10 December 23, 2012 The Realities of Romance. Lady Bracknell finds his answer satisfactory because it means that he is a Tory, or a conservative. When Algernon discovers that his friend, Ernest, has created a fictional brother for whenever he needs a reason to escape dull country life, Algernon poses as the brother, resulting in ever increasing confusion. Canon Chasuble is the symbol of religious thought, and Wilde uses him to show how little the Victorians concerned themselves with attitudes reflecting religious faith. Algernon thinks the servant class has a responsibilityto set a moral standard for the upper classes. Because Victorian norms were so repressive and suffocating, Wilde creates episodes in which his characters live secret lives or create false impressions to express who they really are. He led a miserable life due to personal problems, marital issues, imprisonment, harsh criticism, and trails because of homosexuality. Literary criticism is for "people who haven't been at a University. notion of false morality, or moralism. But they don't seem to know what thrift is." When Gwendolen requests no sugar, Cecily adds four lumps to her cup. The tea ceremony in Act II is a hilarious example of Wilde's contention that manners and appearance are everything. respectability—social position, income, and character. The chief instruments are irony, sarcasm, abuses, wit, and humor. Jack thinks readinga private cigarette case is “ungentlemanly.” “More than half ofmodern culture depends on what one shouldn’t read,” Algernon pointsout. serious and the quality of being sincere, is the play’s primary When Jack fabricates his When characters Snobbish, aristocratic attitudes further preserve the distance between these groups. The question of the nature of marriage appears for the first time cynical until he meets and falls in love with Cecily. Gwendolen Fairfax Cecily Cardew Miss Prism, Governess THE SCENES OF THE PLAY. Love is the thing that people of any social class aspire to, and marriage can be the logical consequence of it.In the play, marriage is discussed in the context of plot progression and as a subject for theoretical assumption and discussion. The Importance of Being Earnest Summary Algernon Moncrieff prepares for the arrival of his aunt, Lady Bracknell, and her daughter, Gwendolen, in his stylish London flat in 1895. In general, In On Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, Marek Paulun argues that gender roles have more or less evolved from their depiction in The Importance of Being Earnest and that morality is a divisive and malleable concept. Algernon and Jack may create similar deceptions, but they Gwendolen is the paragon of this value. In fact, she explains, "The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Even Lady Bracknell mentions that christenings are a waste of time and, especially, money. She tells Cecily, "I never travel without my diary. the great enemy of morality in The Importance of Being Earnest. Earnest. of Being Earnest, both as a primary force motivating the OpenLink Faceted Browser; OpenLink Structured Data Editor The aristocratic Victorians valued duty and respectability above all else. When Lady Bracknell hears that Bunbury died after his doctors told him he could not live, she feels he has — in dying — acted appropriately because he had the correct medical advice. © 2020 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Thinking causes discontent, and discontent leads to social revolution. But there … He tells Algernon, however, Morality and the constraints it imposes on society isa favorite topic of conversation in The Importance of BeingEarnest. The play’s central She forgives him, she says, on the grounds that she thinks Earnestness, which implies seriousness or sincerity, is smugness, self-righteousness, and sense of duty, all of which Oscar Wild's play, "The Importance of Being Earnest", mainly revolves around the moral and social values of the Victorian society about marriage, gender, social status and morality. and Lady Bracknell touches on the issue when she states, “An engagement For this reason, Wilde questions whether the more important or serious issues of the day are overlooked in favor of trivial concerns about appearance. The Importance of Being Earnest is a comedic play written by Oscar Wilde. in the opening dialogue between Algernon and his butler, Lane, and Removing #book# Wilde wittily asserts that Victorians believe that nothing good comes from France, except for (in Wilde's mind) the occasional lesbian maid. In this play, he satirizes and mocks the Victorian socie… First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae to escape burdensome social obligations. Duty and Respectability. Gwendolen is also appalled to find that Cecily is living in Jack's country home, and she inquires about a chaperone. about what people should and shouldn’t do. Art can bring about such thoughtfulness. should come on a young girl as a surprise, pleasant or unpleasant, Algernon themselves as though life is a work of art. One that has had a lot of controversy in recent years is gender equality. The very title of the Oscar Wilde wants them to do something good for the people. Duty (not joy, love or passion) is important, further substantiating Algy's contention that marriage is a loveless duty: "A man who marries without knowing Bunbury [an excuse for pleasure] has a very tedious time of it." The moralism of Victorian the opposite of earnestness: irreverence. not Jack, is the play’s real hero. It is very romantic to be in love. The strict Victorian class system, in which members of the same class marry each other, perpetuates the gulf between the upper, middle and lower classes. Through Jack’s search for his origins and family name, Wilde satirizes the Victorian Era’s intense scrutiny of cash, class, and character. The aristocratic Victorians valued duty and respectability above all else. Two areas in which the Victorians showed little sympathy or compassion were illness and death. The Importance of Being Earnest is a subversive comedy of manners with the intention to give a satirical portrayal of social and moral conventions and create humour for the audience. earnest (meaning “serious” or “sincere”) or moral while claiming He is acting hypocritically. The guise of correctness is the framework for war. Merriman, Butler Lane, Manservant Lady Bracknell Hon. Much of the humor in this play draws a fine line between the outer life of appearances and the inner life of rebellion against the social code that says life must be lived earnestly. that he believes it to be “a very pleasant state,” before admitting Morals and Morality Much of The Importance of Being Earnest 's comedy stems from the ways various characters flaunt the moral strictures of the day, without ever behaving beyond the … He takes the opportunity to insert many examples of popular thought, revealing bias, social bigotry, thoughtlessness and blind assumptions. The examples of other plays in this genre can be found here. Morality and the constraints it imposes on society is misunderstanding between myself and a young person.” Algernon regards It is written by Oscar Wilde, the great’ playwright during the Victorian period in English language and literature. prepared interview to which she subjects Jack are based on a set of He considers himself a Liberal Unionist. don’t really assault the truth in any serious way or try to alter anyone The French Revolution is held up as an example of what happens when the lower class is taught to question its betters. bookmarked pages associated with this title. Canon Chasuble, D.D. While concerns of the next world would be an appropriate topic for people of this world, it seems to be shoved aside in the Victorian era. To conclude, Oscar Wilde has focused on reality. Once Algernon marries he will have suffocating rules and appearances to keep up. When Lady Bracknell pummels Jack with questions about parents, politics, fortune, addresses, expectations, family solicitors, and legal encumbrances, his answers must be proper and appropriate for a legal union between the two families to be approved. with questions of what is and isn’t moral. and Dr. Chasuble, who put a premium on sobriety and honesty, are Of course, Jack and Algernon could continue to don their masks after they marry Gwendolen and Cecily, but they will have to be cautious and make sure society is looking the other way. Free, fun, and packed with easy-to-understand explanations! Algernon: “Nothing will induce me to part with Bunbury, and if you ever get married, which seems to me extremely problematic, you will be very glad to know Bunbury. Oscar Wilde felt these Victorian values were perpetuated through courtship and marriage, both of which had their own rules and rituals. Wilde's characters allude to another life beneath the surface of Victorian correctness. Appearance, once again, is everything. The theme of triviality or, lack of seriousness in subjects considered of high value in Victorian Society is a predominant theme in the play. These other lives allow them to neglect their duties — in Algernon's case — or to leave their duties and pursue pleasure — in Jack's case. The thought of meeting someone who lives outside the bounds of prudery and rules is exciting to naïve Cecily. Synopsis of The Importance of Being Earnest. view of the nature of men and marriage. society—its smugness and pomposity—impels Algernon and Jack to invent Bunbury loves in the country and is frequently in ill health: Whenever Algernon wants to avoid an unwelcome social obligation, he makes an ostensible visit to his “sick friend”. In some ways, Algernon, Lady Bracknell approves of ignorance. The concept of marriage has been given preeminence in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. Themes in The Importance of Being Earnest The Nature of Marriage. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square." decent or indecent doesn’t always reflect what decency really is. to set a moral standard for the upper classes. The play generally takes a comical tone in exploring the lifestyles of the people and the social values upheld at the time. Marriage was a careful selection process. ( Log Out / This is mainly … he’s sure to change, which suggests Gwendolen’s own rather cynical of the whole Victorian idea of morality as a rigid body of rules Every page, every line of dialogue, every character, each symbol, and every stage direction in The Importance of Being Earnest is bent on supporting Wilde's contention that social change happens as a matter of thoughtfulness. Marriage is presented as a legal contract between consenting families of similar fortunes; background, love, and happiness have little to do with it. The Importance of Being Earnest draws on elements of farce and melodrama in its depiction of a particular social world. The Importance of Being Earnest is a subversive comedy of manners with the intention to give a satirical portrayal of social and moral conventions and create humour for the audience.
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