However, she knows the importance of money. So, Wilde sketches a social class that thinks only of itself, showing little compassion or sympathy for fewer fortunate. To exemplify, Earnest flees from his house and enjoys luxuries of life. It seems that Oscar Wilde has presented her in the play to create humor but it is also true that the primary purpose of her is to tell people about the foolishness of Victorian Society. Chasuble’s pious exterior betrays a racing pulse for Miss Prism. Gwendolen is the paragon of this value. It is not the person who is charming but the name itself. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); He calls this practice ‘Bunburying’. Various characters in the play allude to passion, sex, and moral looseness. Appearance or visibility was everything and style was a much more important substance. It is undeniable fact that “Importance of Being Earnest” is a social satire. In an interesting manner, he, in hidden words, says those things which can never be said directly to the people. The Importance of being earnest Themes Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. Introduction: If strict moral values leave no room for question, a society loses much of what is known as humanity. Both these ladies are representative of young girls of Wilde’s era. He has created a fictional character named “Bunbury” to save himself from obligations and duties. magnate0137-Posted on November 20, 2017 April 6, 2019. popular tags. Both women forgive the men for their … Moreover, they focus on self-improvement. Remarks of Canon Chasuble about Miss Prism are full of sexuality. Snobbish, aristocratic attitudes further preserve the distance between these groups. Miss Cardew seems to me a most attractive young lady, now that I look at her. Somewhere he talks about her lips and somewhere about her hairs. Canon Chasuble is the symbol of religious thought and Wilde uses him to show the little and so-called religious attitude and belief of the Victorians Chasuble can re-christen bury and encourage but his interchangeable sermons are filled with meaningless banality. Gwendolen who learns from her mother is totally self-absorbed and definite about what she wants. She is another of Wilde's inventions to present his satire on these subjects. The concept of marriage has been given preeminence in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. Canon Chasuble maybe is the minor character of this play but his role is important. Even Lady Bracknell mentions that christenings are a waste of time and especially money. Passion, sex, and moral looseness. Title of the play “Importance of Being Earnest” itself is a social satire. Every page, every line of dialogue, every character, each symbol, and every stage direction in The Importance of Being Earnest is bent on supporting Wilde's contention that social change happens as a matter of thoughtfulness. In a usual manner, “Importance of Being Earnest” is a direct attack on Victorian Society. He likes to read books. Both the girls of this play are in love with the person having name “Earnest” instead of his moralistic qualities. John Donne as A Metaphysical Poet | What is Metaphysical Poetry? The play is full of witty dialogues; every dialogue and each action reveal the hidden talent of Oscar Wilde. As a result, he has written this play to give some morality to the audience. Oscar Wilde is aware of the general principle that it is prime duty of every artist to satirize the society in case it is crossing its limits. His articles are marvelous and attractive. Perhaps, the only purpose of “Importance of Being Earnest” was to uncover the stupidity of society. Marriage is of paramount importance in The Importanceof Being Earnest, both as a primary force motivating theplot and as a subject for philosophical speculation and debate.The question of the nature of marriage appears for the first timein the opening dialogue between Algernon and his butler, Lane, andfrom this point on the subject never disappears for very long. “Were I fortunate enough to be Miss Prism’s pupil, I would hang upon her lips.”, Here Wilde’s satire is gentle and humorous to rebuke a society for its self-importance. He has nothing to eat but his dresses are up-to-date. Through farcical comedy, he has exposed the reality of so-called upper-class Victorian society. Or, Bring out the use of wit & paradoxical statements in the Importance of Being Earnest. Answer: The Importance of Being Earnest written by Oscar Wilde is a social satire.Not only does Wilde blast against the snobbery, self-importance, ignorance, and idleness of the upper-class Victorian society, but he also targets plenty of ideals that were as ridiculous as they were nonsensical, using irony and paradoxes to insinuate the problems and faults found … It also moralizes the audience and compels them to think twice on their attitude in case the audience belongs to the upper class. But the play satirizes social conventions about class, relationships, acceptable behavior, and art. The importance of being earnest by Oscar Wilde uses satire to ridicule the cultural norms of marriage love and mind-set which were very rigid during the Victorian Age. In summary, Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest is a satire of the ideals of the Victorian era. In that age, when people become wise, Lady Bracknell has become foolish. He has nothing to do with responsibility. The Importance of Being Earnest Latest answer posted September 20, 2018 at 7:59:01 PM Compare the characters of Jack and Algernon in Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. Algernon stuffs his face to satisfy his hunger. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The Importance of Being Earnest can be read with different lenses with a Marxist or a Queer lens being a few examples. The picture of Dorian Gray: in inglese. When Miss Prism chides the lower classes for producing so many children for Chasuble to christen, she is the advocate of class discrimination on this subject. The vanity of the upper class is the most important satirical topic of the play “The Importance of Being Earnest”. He is working with us from last two years. She tells Cecily: “I never travel without my diary. By this I mean that one can read the play and recognize a criticism of the class system that divided Europe then and continues to do so in modern society. She rejects Jack because his parentage is unknown. The jokes satirize the social conventions of free choice. Jack explains to Lady Bracknell that he has no politics. For instance, in a dialogue, he says: “Were I fortunate enough to be Miss Prism’s pupil, I would hang upon her lips.”. Oscar Wilde uses satire to ridicule Victorian concepts of earnestness, marriage, and female independence. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde is definitely a social satire. The second reason is that the Victorian Society used to flee away from its responsibilities. The word earnest is loveable. In order to achieve his goal, Oscar Wilde freely uses artistically techniques like epigrams, humor, and paradoxes. The character of Algernon Moncrieff is also of the same kind. Oscar Wilde has targeted the Victorian Society of England in his own language. The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. Marriage is of paramount importance in The Importance of Being Earnest, both as a primary force motivating the plot and as a subject for philosophical speculation and debate. As a ruthless social climber and spokesperson for the status quo, Lady Bracknell's behavior enforces social discrimination and excludes those who do not fit into her new class. It is no exaggeration to say that “Importance of Being Earnest” is a social satire. His own dialogue is also referable. The diaries are the acceptable venues for passion and Miss Prism’s three-volume novel are all examples of an inner life covered up by suffocating rules. Wilde satirically reveals how superficial Gwendolen and Cecily are for putting emphasis on something as trivial as a name. Her daughter's unsuitable marriage is an excellent example of how she flexes her muscles. Tags : Evaluate “The Importance of Being Earnest” as a social satire.Oscar WildeThe Importance of Being Earnest as a social satire, You may use these HTML tags and attributes:
, Copyright @ 2020 | All Rights Reserve PRC Foundation. To summarize, Algernon’s actions also prove that “Importance of Being Earnest” is a social satire. His humor in The Importance of Being Earnest relies on creating absurd situations and characters whose lack of insight causes them to respond to these situations in … Oscar Wilde, through this play, tries to cover each and every aspect and manner of life, spent by people of his own era. Question: Evaluate “The Importance of Being Earnest” as a social satire. Much of the humor in this play draws a fine line between the outer life of appearance and the inner life of rebellion against the social code that says life must lie earnestly.