The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde has a unique title and tons of irony in the play. Throughout the play both Algernon and Jack impersonate someone named Earnest, but they are both ironically not earnest. Specifically how they act frivolously, irreverently, and manipulate others. The definition of earnest is “showing depth and sincerity of feeling.” Throughout the play, the way Algernon acts frivolously makes him not earnest. In the first act, Algernon knows that bringing Jack to his house in the country is a bad idea. Algernon states “Yes, that is all very well; but I am afraid Aunt Augusta won’t quite approve of your being here” (act one) Algernon knows that Jack and Gwendolen have been flirting around, and that this angers Lady…

saying, "Jack?... No, there is very little music in the name Jack, if any at all, indeed. The only really safe name is Ernest." Wilde deliberately uses farce in the play to exaggerate the mind frame of the upper class. It is seen here that Gwendolen loves Jack, but she places greater importance on silly, superficial and trivial matters such as a name, something a person has no control over. Similarly, Cecily also dreams of loving someone called "Ernest." She clearly states to Algernon, "There is…

Annotated Bibliography: The Importance of Being Earnest Reinert, Otto. "Satiric Strategy in the Importance of Being Earnest." College English 18.1 (1956): 14-18. National Council of Teachers of English. JSTOR, Oct. 1956. Web. 5 July 2015. The main idea in this analysis of Wilde’s satire is to prove that Wilde does not just use satire for the sake of having his play being called a “farce,” rather he uses satirical strategy to enhance the experience of the play and how it differs from “normal”…

Oscar Wide reveals that it is difficult to tell the truth even if try to, because the truth will never be so simple. Once all of the lies been told who would believe the truth. Oscar Wilde wrote comedy melodrama play “The Importance of Being Earnest” which is his perception of the rigid Victorian social norms and values. Also the word “Earnest” plays a significant role in the play. According to Brigitte Bastiat, Oscar Wilde uses his characters to express’s his deviance of the Victorian social…

conflict and resolution to weave a story of deceit and confusions. “The Importance of Being Earnest” draws on elements of charade and play in its description of a social situation. In Oscar Wilde’s play the use of satire makes fun of people who put much importance on things that are not important. The setting is important because during the Victorian age the idea marriage and love had certain imagines to pretend. The story takes place in England were been proper is part of the culture. Part of…

The play The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde was one of Wilde’s bestselling plays. Oscar Wilde’s play is about a group of upper class friends named Algernon and Jack who imitate a made up character named “Earnest”. Throughout the play, not only does Wilde include many examples of irony, but he also criticizes the upper class. In The Importance of Being Earnest Wilde exposes the lack of responsibility in the upper class through the use of bunburying and petty arguments about…

In the importance of being earnest, Wilde suggests that marriage in the Victorian era was not worth it because it was only for family alliances. After jack proposes to Gwendolen because she told him to, Lady Bracknell comes into the room and interrupts saying that she is not engaged to him and that she will be told by her or Gwendolen's father when she will be engaged to someone. Lady Bracknell says she will interview Jack to put him on the list of eligible men for Gwendolen. As she interviews…

The quote, “Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about it,” stated by Oscar Wilde constructs interesting assumptions about his drama, “The Importance of Being Earnest” and Wilde himself. Because he was in touch with his feminine side, he was accused of being homosexual during the late 1800s which led the case being the “trail of the century” which condemned him to two years of hard labor. This play was published during the Victorian era, an era where homosexuality and…

Webster’s dictionary defines earnest as a serious and intent mental state. This definition of earnest brings to mind many respected people who have influenced society in a positive manner. Oscar Wilde takes advantage of these initial reactions to the thought of being earnest to spin a story of Victorian Era upper class practices to challenge the world he lived in. Through his play The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde uses the notion of being earnest to display the absurdity that is…

young man came to light (Biography). With this knowledge, The Importance of Being Earnest takes on an entirely new meaning aside from being a mere farce. The play revolves around the idea of identity, and the process of coming to terms with that identity. Two men who adopt the persona of “Ernest” both lie about…