The 'wicked aristocrat' and the 'virtuous maiden' are common characters in Victorian plays. Explore Wilde's purposes in his presentation of Lord Illingworth, Mrs Arbuthnot and Hester Worsley.
The 'wicked aristocrat' and the 'virtuous maiden' are common characters in Victorian plays. Explore Wilde's purposes in his presentation of Lord Illingworth, Mrs Arbuthnot and Hester Worsley. Wilde uses these types of character to present many of his key themes. Lord Illingworth represents Aesthetism and shows the characteristics of the Dandy. His character also shares aspects of personality with Wilde as he shows that Aesthetism is not actually bad through changing the character of Lord Illingworth towards the end. In contrast Hester is a very religious and moralistic character who, compared to Mrs Arbuthnot, seems to be too moralistic in her views. Again, this character changes towards the end of the play to portray Wilde's thoughts on society. Together, the characters of Mrs Arbuthnot and Lord Illingworth show the theme of marriage and the views about it in Victorian society. Also they show how the roles of men and women change through the power alteration we see between them. The 'virtuous maiden', one of them being Hester, also shows the ideas of the New Woman. She is very different to the other characters seen in high society, in a lot of her views she believes in equality between men and women, as did Wilde. She states that 'nothing should be out of the reach of hope' showing that she believes anything, such as equal opportunities for women, should be possible. This
What do we learn of Wilde's view of the English Country House Weekend Parties in Late Victorian Society in Act 1 of "A Woman of No Importance"?
What do we learn of Wilde's view of the English Country House Weekend Parties in Late Victorian Society in Act 1 of "A Woman of No Importance"? Wilde was known to use his plays to express his views and opinions of society. In the late Victorian age a striking feature of the theatre was its faithful reflection and endorsement of social class and this was also a striking feature of Wilde's plays, including 'A Woman of No Importance'. The play, 'A Woman of No Importance' by Oscar Wilde starts with the comment that there are no country houses in America. This comment instantly illuminates the theme of the contrast between the old society of England and the new society of America. One huge contrast between America and England, which is of great relevance to this play, is their difference of the way they look on to those below them in social status. Hester is used as a vehicle in this play to show the difference between these two societies; 'LADY CAROLINE ...In my young days, Miss Worsley, one never met anyone in society who worked for their living. It was not considered the thing. HESTER In America those are the people we respect most.' This shows the great difference between the two societies and for me the fairness of the American society compared to that of the English society. It also shows that the social status of a person in England is of much more importance than
To love or not to love; that is not the question?
To love or not to love; that is not the question? Victorian English are famous for being hypocritical. England at the time is now regarded as having too many regulations for ladies and gentlemen. Therefore, it is reasonable enough to infer that people at the time would find some ways to escape from the superficial reality. In "The Importance of Being Earnest", Oscar Wilde delightfully uses many satires, motifs and paradoxes to explore the contradiction between the appearance and nature of marriage, while concerning social status and morality, during the Victorian Era. At the same time, the tendency of hypocrisy is also revealed in this farce. Intentionally or not, Oscar Wilde uses various motifs, namely recurring structures and contrasts, to show readers the appearance of marriage versus its nature. The most obvious repeating structure might be the pairs of Jack-Gwendolen and Algernon-Cecily. In Act I, Jack Worthing proposes to Gwendolen Fairfax, who later on confesses that it is only the name Ernest which makes her desperate to marry, as Wilde writes, "There is something in that name that inspires absolute confidence. The moment Algernon first mentioned to me that he had a friend called Ernest, I knew I was destined to love you. (p. 23)" And then in order to marry Gwendolen successfully, Jack determines immediately to be christened again, not even concerning the seriousness
Humorous in The Importance of Being Earnest
Y10 English Thao Nguyen Ms. Valdez March 2009 How does Oscar Wilde make 'The Importance of Being Earnest' humorous for the audience? Many play writers uses figurative language to make their story worthwhile watching or reading. They use this type of technique because it makes the audience alert and interested in the play. It also helps them to understand the characters' personality and traits better. The Importance of Being Earnest is one of Oscar Wilde's famous plays because it is a comedy of manners and farce. Wilde focuses on the higher class and satirises the life of the English aristocracy. He cleverly makes fun of aspects of the upper class society, and makes the comedy funny and special. In the play, Oscar Wilde's greatest device is language itself. It helps the audiences/readers to understand more about the Victorian society, in order to get a laugh out of them. The first technique that appears in the play is puns - a play on words. The first pun we notice is the title of the play - The Importance of Being Earnest. This is a very clever play on word - "earnest". On one hand, it functions as a name. On the other hand, it is an adjective and means, to be sincere, determined and serious. This is hilarious because it relates to how Jack and Algernon are rewarded with marriage even though they were the ones who did not act earnestly
The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde.
The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde We may be experiencing an Oscar Wilde resurgence; not quite as dramatic as the flurry of Jane Austen inspired films of the nineties, but something is going on. Wilde's farce of social position and courtship revolves around two friends who secretly share a tendency to use deception to avoid boredom. Jack Worthing is known to his London friends as Ernest, not Jack. Jack has a country estate where his ward Cecily Cardew and her governess, Miss Letitia Prism, reside. When they become tiresome, Jack claims that his younger, troublesome brother, Ernest, as gotten himself into yet another dreadful scrape and requires his aid in town. When in London, Jack simply assumes the identity of Ernest. Algernon Moncrieff - Algy to his friends - has invented a fictional character of his own, an invaluable invalid named Bunbury. Whenever Algy wishes to escape a particularly unwelcome invitation, he claims to have been called to his sickly friend's side in the country. Jack is in love with Gwendolyn Fairfax, Algy's cousin and the daughter of the authoritative Lady Bracknell . When Jack realizes that Gwendolyn fancies him as well (she insists that she was destined to marry an Ernest and will have a man by no other name), he proposes. Lady Bracknell objects. No daughter of hers shall marry without the suitor getting a thorough grilling interview,
'The Importance Of Being Earnest' and the reasons why.
'The Importance Of Being Earnest' and the reasons why Oscar Wilde, a rich upper-class gentleman wrote the play 'The Importance Of Being Earnest' to try and establish a number of different factors. The play does relate to modern life today, sharing its problems, humour and irony with everyone. It is a respected and studied piece of literature, with very serious morals. The play is filled with wonderful twists and turns. It tells a tale of Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, who in order to fulfil their wants bend the truth and add excitement into their lives to avoid boredom. Jack invents an imaginary brother, who goes by the name of Earnest, whom he uses to escape the pure and natural surroundings in the country. Algy creates an invalid friend Mr Bunbury who provides a useful excuse to leave the town whenever he feels like it. However, there is trouble when their paths meet and the lies that they tell are really the truth, yet they don't know this until the end of the play. Both fear the loss of their romantic pursuits: Jack of his love, Gwendolen Fairfax and Algernon of his belle Cecily Cardew. The title in itself resembles a number of different points. From simply reading the title it displays a need to be honest and truthful. Yet we get different insight whist reading the play. Once we have discovered Jack and Algy's double life, comparing their lies with the title we
How does Wilde use linguistic, literary and structural devices to create effective social comedy?
How does Wilde use linguistic, literary and structural devices to create effective social comedy? 'The Importance of being Earnest' is a comical play. The characters and the plot are both comical, but the play may be best described as a social comedy, a comedy of manors. Wilde uses many comic devices to make the play funny but I think the main focus is on using irony in this particular play. One type of irony Wilde uses is dramatic irony. Wilde withholds information from certain characters whilst the audience are fully aware of what is really going on. It is funny because of the ironic situation and the ways the characters react. One example of this is the first conversation between Jack and Gwendolen. Gwendolen: My own Ernest! Jack: But you don't really mean to say you couldn't love me if my name wasn't Ernest? Gwendolen: But your name is Ernest. This is dramatic irony because we as the audience are fully aware that Jack's real name is Jack and not Ernest but Gwendolen is completely oblivious so we find it funny. In this way Wilde has created humour with the use of dramatic irony. Another form of irony that Wilde uses is Situational Irony. Wilde uses situational irony when Jack discovers he is Algernon's brother at the end of the play. The audience find it funny and it is categorized as situational irony because Jack had, earlier in the play, pretended to have a
"...an attempt to mirror life in a form remote from reality" (Wilde).
"...an attempt to mirror life in a form remote from reality" (Wilde). How far can this be said to be true of Oscar Wilde's fairy tales? Oscar Wilde uses conventional elements in his fairy tales to show different things such as love between the swallow and the reed and the student and the professors daughter from "The Happy Prince" Wilde also uses conventional elements in his happy endings such as in "The Happy Prince" the talking bird and the statue both get their rewards in a different way as they get their rewards after they have died in heaven for doing all their good deeds. Wilde shows poverty and inequality in "The Happy Prince" in several ways. Here are a few: Director of theatre: "There is no fire in the grate, and hunger has made him faint." Match Girl: "Her father will beat her if she does not bring home some money, and she is crying." Wilde shows the importance and value of good deeds and compassion in "The Happy Prince" The Swallow and "The Happy Prince" are both rewarded at the end of the story. The value of good deeds and compassion is shown by the swallow saying that he felt warm inside when he helped a boy that was ill and his mother, it is also shown when this is said: "Bring me the two most precious things in the city," said God to one of his angles; and the angel bought him the leaded heart and the dead bird." In the "Happy Prince" Wilde shows
What makes the play ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ funny?
What makes the play 'The Importance of Being Earnest' funny? Oscar Wilde's clever use of language, characters, dramatic irony and absurdity makes his play 'The Importance of Being Earnest' very funny. Wilde wrote the play with intentions of making a mild mockery of his contemporary upper-class society's manners and values. He does this very successfully by having his upper-class characters over-expressing their manners and their language to such an extent his characters are seen to be quite absurd. However, not all of the humour comes from mocking upper-class manners and values. The plot is quite ridiculous and so adds to the laughter of his audiences. The final result of adding all the funny parts about the play together is a play that cannot fail to make one laugh, even though it was not written for a modern audience. The language of the play is probably the most notable point about the play. Oscar Wilde was very renown for his witty use of puns and epigrams. There is in fact a pun in the play's title, 'Earnest' being a description of good morality and also being a Christian name 'Ernest'. To extend the pun further, Wilde incorporates the two meanings so that it is suggested that someone called Ernest is actually earnest: "You look as if your name was Ernest. You are the most earnest-looking man I ever saw in my life." To take the point to the extreme Jack Worthing
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1854 to his parents William and Lady Francesca Wilde. In 1871 Wilde entered Trinity College in Dublin where he excelled at his studies. Oscar Wilde wrote several books and plays. Here are some of his works include: The Picture of Dorian Gray , Lady Windermere's Fan , An Ideal Husband, and his last but what some consider his greatest play The Importance of Being Earnest. (Wayne, David 2002). The Importance of Being Earnest is a witty comedic smear of the rigidity and greediness of the Victorian era. To begin we will look at some of the more important characters of the play to better get a feel for what will be happening in the play itself. We will start with Jack Worthing the play's protagonist. Is a responsible young man who leads a double life? At his country estate at Hertfordshire, Jack is known as Jack. In London he is known as Ernest. As a baby, Jack was found in a handbag in the cloakroom of Victoria Station by an old man who adopted him and made Jack guardian to his granddaughter. Jack is in love with his friend's cousin Gwendolyn Fairfax. (sparknotes.com/lit/earnest/characters.html). Next is Algernon Moncrieff who is Jacks friend who like jack has invented an imaginary friend who appears to be very sick. His friend "Bunbury" allows him to escape from boring or unpleasant things.