Oscar Wilde, the author of a very successful play, “The Importance of Being Earnest”, set the play in the 19th century, or the Victorian Era. Wilde’s purpose was to make a mockery of Victorian ideas, especially the idea of being earnest. Each of the four main characters are shown to be part of a Victorian society that Wilde is satirising. Jack invented a false individual known as Ernest. He is shown to be a liar while living an earnest life, which makes him a hypocrite. Thus, Jack is a hypocritical man living with a double identity. Algernon pretends to be Ernest to pursue the woman that he loves. Furthermore, he pretends to have a sick friend and used that as an excuse. Algernon is also shown to be a hypocrite as he is living a life of irresponsibility.
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The Victorian society did not accept homosexuals. Wilde mocked the society by using subtle hints in the text. An example of this is the name of the fake friend of Algernon, “Bunburying”. “Bunburying” was a code word that stood for illegal sexual activity such as homosexuality. The use of the term “Bunburying” is Wilde mocking society for forbidding homosexuality. The title also suggests the same idea about homosexuality. “Earnest” sounds similar to uraniste. Uraniste is defined as a homosexual man in …show more content…
Most of the situations occurs when an extra loses a prop or successfully annoyed the director. For example: “…an assistance director was forced to take the umbrella away from her; the woman, divested of her gimmick, then devoted her energies to shrieking.” (Alford, 1000). Alford’s thoughts are: “Yes……her work is particularly broad.”. “Broad” can be defined as “general; without detail” (oxforddictionaries.com). Alford is showing sarcasm. Therefore he actually means that her work is too detailed and trying too hard to gain attention. This is hypocrisy because Alford was bring too detailed with his previous prop, a camera.
I think Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of being Ernest” is more successful than Henry Alford’s “Big Kiss”. This is because “The Importance of being Ernest” seemed more like a satire. A satire is supposed to mock society. When we were reading, “The Importance of being Ernest” it seemed like Wilde was making fun of society. Alford’s “Big Kiss” was not very funny and did not seem like a satire. Therefore, I think “The Importance of being Ernest” is a more successful
The Victorian society did not accept homosexuals. Wilde mocked the society by using subtle hints in the text. An example of this is the name of the fake friend of Algernon, “Bunburying”. “Bunburying” was a code word that stood for illegal sexual activity such as homosexuality. The use of the term “Bunburying” is Wilde mocking society for forbidding homosexuality. The title also suggests the same idea about homosexuality. “Earnest” sounds similar to uraniste. Uraniste is defined as a homosexual man in …show more content…
Most of the situations occurs when an extra loses a prop or successfully annoyed the director. For example: “…an assistance director was forced to take the umbrella away from her; the woman, divested of her gimmick, then devoted her energies to shrieking.” (Alford, 1000). Alford’s thoughts are: “Yes……her work is particularly broad.”. “Broad” can be defined as “general; without detail” (oxforddictionaries.com). Alford is showing sarcasm. Therefore he actually means that her work is too detailed and trying too hard to gain attention. This is hypocrisy because Alford was bring too detailed with his previous prop, a camera.
I think Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of being Ernest” is more successful than Henry Alford’s “Big Kiss”. This is because “The Importance of being Ernest” seemed more like a satire. A satire is supposed to mock society. When we were reading, “The Importance of being Ernest” it seemed like Wilde was making fun of society. Alford’s “Big Kiss” was not very funny and did not seem like a satire. Therefore, I think “The Importance of being Ernest” is a more successful