Justin Reeder
Ms. Kavanagh
Humor in Literature
April 17, 2008
The Importance of Being Earnest
In Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest there are many different forms of comedy used throughout the play. Wilde uses examples of Low comedy, Farce, Comedy of Manners, and Comedy of Ideas. Many of Oscar Wilde’s Humoristic comments and examples are still relevant and it’s been over a hundred years.
Throughout the book Wilde shows many examples of Low Comedy. One example of Low Comedy being showed is when Gwendolen gets a tattoo of Jacks name, but she really thinks his name is Earnest. This is in Low Comedy because it would be considered dirty and makes you laugh the most. I would consider that a mishap and that is in the Low Comedy section. Another example of Low Comedy is when Algy says that all women turn out like their mothers. I would consider this low comedy because it makes you laugh the most. The third example of Low Comedy is the old people crushing on each other. This is an example of Low Comedy because it makes you laugh a little and Low Comedy does that.