The importance of being Earnest is a satire by Oscar Wilde where being earnest simply means having the name Earnest. The film dramatization of Wilde's renowned play is a comedy of manners and what is quite comic is the way it is structured. It is a series of verbal fencing matches where all the characters are trying to make their own respective points. The story takes place in both London and the English Country Side. It all starts in Algernon's apartment ... Jack, who for reasons embodying the farcical nature of the play adopts an identity "Earnest", wants to marry his cousin Gwendolen. Jack...

• Word Count: 345
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... society struck Wilde as dry, stern, conservative, and so "earnestly" concerned with the maintenance of social norms and the status quo that it had become almost inhuman. In the figure of Lady Bracknell in particular, The Importance of Being Earnest lightly shows the limitations and unhappiness produced by such a way of life. The play mocks this earnestness; it is the characters who do not act earnestly who are rewarded with love, and who are ... proven not to have been acting dishonestly at all. With this, The Importance of Being Earnest makes a tentative further claim: that perhaps Alg...

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... their difference was that Wild used it to define an aesthetic point and Shaw used it to present ideas. As far as "The importance of being Earnest" is concerned,the play satirizes the aristocracy of the time,the upper class.Who's life's are concerned with manners and customs.The characters lie to be rewarded with love and better social status but later they find out that they haven't been lying at ... underpaying and overworking women in the capitalistic society. Some of the differences between the two plays are that in Wild's "The importance of being Earnest" the criticism comes in camo...

• Word Count: 1116
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... or philosophy. Oscar Wilde was one of the greatest writers during the late nineteenth century. Instead of focusing on the lower classes and social conditions, Wilde chose to ridicule the life of the English aristocracy. This attitude can be clearly seen in his play The Importance of Being Earnest'. In this piece of work, some of the important themes discussed are that of marriage and respectability. Indeed, one ... was not a symbolic emotion. It was a tool used to climb up the social ladder. Instead of coming from the heart, it was decided for the girl on the basis of social status. As ...

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• Approx Pages: 2

The Importance of Being Earnest (A Trivial Comedy for Serious People) Oscar Wilde said "We should treat all the trivial things of life seriously and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality." This essay investigates how far "The Importance of Being Earnest" reflects this view on life. Oscar Wilde subtitled his play "A Trivial Comedy for Serious People". The play is a comedy of manners satirising the attitudes and behaviour of the upper classes. The humour in the play makes social ... Ernest and Algernon truly is his brother. Lady Bracknell suddenly takes a liking to ...

• Word Count: 2564
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Discuss how Oscar Wilde uses the characters of Cecily and Gwendolen in Act Two to satirise the behaviour and values of the upper classes Oscar Wilde uses wit and sarcasm to create humour in his play "The Importance of Being Earnest", to satirise English upper classes. The characters of Cecily and Gwendolen play a significant role in this. As the two girls both determined to marry someone named Earnest, Cecily and Gwendolen provide a comical dispute, in ... which they exchange politely spoken witty insults. This light-hearted humour mocks the conduct and practices of upper class society. The c...

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... humour masks its social satire. There is much verbal wit in The Importance of Being Earnest - Algernon to servant, Really, if the lower orders don't set us a good example, what on earth is the use of them? They seem, as a class, to have absolutely no sense of moral responsibility' (Act 1, page 2) In the final act of The Importance of Being Earnest, Jack Worthing says of Miss Prism (who he mistakenly believes to be his long-lost and ... 1, Scene 1, page 6). Though The School for Scandal focuses on the elite (work being an anathema to the world of Society), much like Wilde's The Importanc...

• Word Count: 1627
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... contain very conservative and moral ideologies. All three practices stress the importance of moral values such as peaceful, egalitarian interactions, respect and concern for others, and dignity. Confucius stems out to expand his definitions of the three practices, but the main traditional concepts remain the same. Filiality involves placing great importance on the care one has of their family members, and treating non-family members as if ... Confucius wrote "A young man is to be filial within his family and respectful outside it. He is to be earnest and faithful, overflowing in his love...

• Word Count: 1171
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate