The Importance Of Being Earnest Satire Analysis

The term satire comes from the root word Sartre. The target of satire has been to reform a society by exposing the vices and follies of it. Satire deals with that which a man tries to hide. It is like a glass or a mirror that reflects its ultimate target that is self-deception and brings the hypocrisy and deception of a society to the foreground. The satirist himself condemns the social evils and ills. There is a beauty that can come out of the representation of the evil. This beauty, which is the object of satire, is seen as an artistic form in itself. The Victorian society had its foundations resting upon respectability, certain moral codes and values based on financial status, property, birth, education etc. An individual residing in such restrictions was bound to have the utmost desire to escape from such a regulated society in the pursuit of pleasure. This paper would focus on the witticism in Oscar Wilde’s play, The Importance of Being Earnest, which exposes the dualities of identities in a society where the social relationships are rooted on false notions of deception. The play is a parody on the …show more content…
Erlyne in Lady Windermere’s Fan, who is not accepted wholeheartedly in the society and so, has to take up the role of a blackmailer for Lord Windermere for being able to gain a respectable position in the society. She is a calculating woman with a past, whose sole purpose was to get to see her daughter and safeguard her daughter’s marriage so that history isn’t repeated again. The purpose of the struggle in the above mentioned plays are like two different paths having the same destiny which is a sense of concern to save a