I chose the “First World Problems” and “But Thats None Of My Business” memes to satirize through Oscar Wilde. Each of these memes speaks not only to social issues during Wilde’s time, but also to those still occurring today. These memes create a bridge between Wilde’s criticism of his own society and our own modern way of satirizing current issues. The “But Thats None Of My Business” meme is unique in that it is used to satirize both the subject and speaker of the meme. Within it, the speaker is attempting to antagonize their subject by “calling them out”, whether they are a person, group, or event. In doing so, they are needling them for whatever situation they see as ridiculous, foolish, or worthy of judgement. It most cases, these actions
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The first issue satirized is Gwendolen and Cecily’s refusal to marry a man whose name was not Ernest. The second is a summarization of the people around them who are overtly concerned with their attempted engagements. Gwendolyn and Cecily both claim to love their fiancees passionately, and say their love for them will never end. Shortly after, however, they also say that they could only marry an Ernest- for as passionate as their love supposedly is, it cannot cross the boundary of a different first name. This is satirized through the meme by effectively calling attention to their folly and needling them for it. It also shows their hypocrisy; the girls claim to love their fiances passionately, but if they really did, they would not require them to be named Ernest to marry. The “but that’s none of my business” and “but I’m just sipping tea” ideas are presented by others reactions to each couple’s relationship. Lady Bracknell is a prime example of a character who is far too concerned with the couples, and judges them for their actions. Miss Prism and Constable Chasuble are others who are engaged with judging and commenting on the relationships, though their own proposed relationship is seen as improper and unallowed by the church (thus making them hypocritical in their actions). This draws on Wilde’s themes of social gossip in society, the overwhelming concern society holds about other people’s lives, and the hypocrisy displayed within this
The first issue satirized is Gwendolen and Cecily’s refusal to marry a man whose name was not Ernest. The second is a summarization of the people around them who are overtly concerned with their attempted engagements. Gwendolyn and Cecily both claim to love their fiancees passionately, and say their love for them will never end. Shortly after, however, they also say that they could only marry an Ernest- for as passionate as their love supposedly is, it cannot cross the boundary of a different first name. This is satirized through the meme by effectively calling attention to their folly and needling them for it. It also shows their hypocrisy; the girls claim to love their fiances passionately, but if they really did, they would not require them to be named Ernest to marry. The “but that’s none of my business” and “but I’m just sipping tea” ideas are presented by others reactions to each couple’s relationship. Lady Bracknell is a prime example of a character who is far too concerned with the couples, and judges them for their actions. Miss Prism and Constable Chasuble are others who are engaged with judging and commenting on the relationships, though their own proposed relationship is seen as improper and unallowed by the church (thus making them hypocritical in their actions). This draws on Wilde’s themes of social gossip in society, the overwhelming concern society holds about other people’s lives, and the hypocrisy displayed within this