what is the purpose of the importance of being earnest

Full Answer

What does The Importance of Being Earnest tell us about our society?

The Importance of Being Earnest reveals the differences between the behavior of the upper class and that of the lower class. Members of the upper class display a great deal of pride and pretense, feeling that they are inherently entitled to their wealth and higher social position.

Why did Wilde write The Importance of Being Earnest?

Earnest came at a time in Wilde's life when he was feeling the pressure of supporting his family and mother, and precariously balancing homosexual affairs — especially with Lord Alfred Douglas. The Importance of Being Earnest opened at George Alexander's St. James Theatre on February 14, 1895.

What are the major themes of The Importance of Being Earnest?

Critical Essays Themes in The Importance of Being Earnest. The aristocratic Victorians valued duty and respectability above all else. Earnestness — a determined and serious desire to do the correct thing — was at the top of the code of conduct. Appearance was everything, and style was much more important than substance ...

Why is Ernest important in The Importance of Being Earnest?

For Jack and Algernon, “Ernest” labels them as “suitable” for Gwendolyn's and Cecily's love, respectively. To Gwendolyn and Cecily, the name “Ernest” means Jack and Algernon, respectively, are “worthy” of their love.

What was Oscar Wilde's message?

Art for art's sake It stems from his role in the Aesthetics Movement, in which he advocated that art needed no justification or purpose. As he notoriously claimed in the preface to his dark novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, “All art is quite useless.” Wilde believed that art need not express anything but itself.

Who is the most moral in The Importance of Being Earnest?

The most moral character in, The Importance of Being Earnest, is Lady Bracknell. She thinks very highly of social status, believed who you married was important and needed high standards, to marry for money, and liked people based on their wealth.

What is ironic about The Importance of Being Earnest?

It is very ironic for two reasons. The first being that Earnest is not even the real name of her “true love.” Gwendolen is unaware that his name is, in fact, Jack. Then every other character is left very unaware that she even got the tattoo in the first place, but not the audience.

What is the conclusion of The Importance of Being Earnest?

Ultimately it is revealed that Jack is really Lady Bracknell's nephew, that his real name is Ernest, and that Algernon is actually his brother. The play ends with both couples happily united.

What is the thesis of The Importance of Being Earnest?

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple”, – says the writer in his play, which is a good thesis statement. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde shows the problem of having double standards through hypocritical tendencies displayed.

What does Ernest symbolize?

Ernest Symbol Analysis. Similar to Bunbury, Ernest represents deception, fiction, and escapism, but also idealism. While Algernon and Jack attempt to masquerade as the real Ernest, he is just as fictional as Algernon's Bunbury.

Why does Jack have two identities in The Importance of Being Earnest?

Both men come to possess false identities because Jack creates a fictional brother, while Algernon pretends to be this fictional character.

What does the name Earnest symbolize?

The name Earnest is primarily a male name of English origin that means Diligent, Truthful.

How is the theme of marriage portrayed in The Importance of Being Earnest?

In The Importance of Being Earnest, Algernon represents a modern mindset toward marriage because he is skeptical about the happiness of couples in marriage and has fears about committing to one woman—unlike Jack, who holds more traditional nineteenth-century views on marriage.

What does Ernest symbolize?

Ernest Symbol Analysis. Similar to Bunbury, Ernest represents deception, fiction, and escapism, but also idealism. While Algernon and Jack attempt to masquerade as the real Ernest, he is just as fictional as Algernon's Bunbury.

What does Gwendolyn represent in The Importance of Being Earnest?

More than any other female character in the play, Gwendolen suggests the qualities of conventional Victorian womanhood. She has ideas and ideals, attends lectures, and is bent on self-improvement. She is also artificial and pretentious.

How many acts did Wilde make in Earnest?

The theatre manager of the St. James where Earnest opened, George Alexander, asked Wilde to reduce his original four-act play to three acts, like more conventional farces. Wilde accomplished this by omitting the Gribsby episode and merging two acts into one. In doing so, he maneuvered his play for greater commercial and literary response.

What is the importance of being earnest?

Although the themes in The Importance of Being Earnest address Victorian social issues, the structure of the play was largely influenced by French theatre, melodrama, social drama, and farce. Wilde was quite familiar with these genres, and borrowed from them freely. A play by W. Lestocq and E.M. Robson, The Foundling, is thought to be a source of Earnest, and it was playing in London at the time Wilde was writing Earnest. The Foundling has an orphan-hero, like Jack Worthing in Wilde's play. A farce is a humorous play using exaggerated physical action, such as slapstick, absurdity, and improbability. It often contains surprises where the unexpected is disclosed. The ending of Earnest, in which Jack misidentifies Prism as his unmarried mother, is typical of the endings of farces. Farces were usually done in three acts and often included changes of identity, stock characters, and lovers misunderstanding each other. Wearing mourning clothes or gobbling food down at times of stress are conventions that can be traced to early farces.

What did Wilde do in 1890?

In doing so, he maneuvered his play for greater commercial and literary response. Marriage plots and social comedy were also typical of 1890s literature.

What are the conventions of Farces?

Farces were usually done in three acts and often included changes of identity, stock characters, and lovers misunderstanding each other. Wearing mourning clothes or gobbling food down at times of stress are conventions that can be traced to early farces.

Why was the importance of being earnest important?

James Theatre on February 14, 1895. On this particular evening, to honor Wilde's aestheticism, the women wore lily corsages, and the young men wore lilies of the valley in their lapels.

What were the social comedies of the stage?

Many of the comedies of the stage were social comedies, plays set in contemporary times discussing current problems. The white, Anglo-Saxon, male society of the time provided many targets of complacency and aristocratic attitudes that playwrights such as Wilde could attack.

What is the ending of Earnest?

It often contains surprises where the unexpected is disclosed. The ending of Earnest, in which Jack misidentifies Prism as his unmarried mother, is typical of the endings of farces.

How does Wilde expose the scandalous social beliefs and ideals of the aristocratic society?

In his work, Wilde exposes the scandalous social beliefs and ideals of the aristocratic society by derisively mocking their contemporary voguish ways. By creating a laughing stock of the false views of having to live an earnest life, the fact that many actually live a double life, and the hypocritical stance of their societal mores, ...

What is Oscar Wilde's view of Victorian values?

By mocking and satirizing Victorian’s views of having to live an earnest life, the reality that many live double lives, and their hypocritical societal mores, Oscar Wilde exposes the breakdown of Victorian values. The way he does so is his play is conceptually witty and entertaining. His characters show perfectly the falseness ...

What is the importance of being earnest?

Wilde displays this natural wittiness in his well-known play “The Importance of Being Earnest” which is a hilariously satirized caricature of the Victorian age and the hypocritical values that the people of that time held. In his work, Wilde exposes the scandalous social beliefs and ideals of the aristocratic society by derisively mocking their contemporary voguish ways.

What is the art of Bunburying?

This art of “Bunburying” grew as more and more people felt the need to live separate lives, one masked by earnestness and the other plain. Oscar Wilde reveals the hypocrisy of these strict social Victorian mores through many literary devices but most notably through inversions in the speeches of his characters.

How does Oscar Wilde reveal the hypocrisy of these strict social Victorian mores?

Oscar Wilde reveals the hypocrisy of these strict social Victorian mores through many literary devices but most notably through inversions in the speeches of his characters. Gwendolen, for example, exchanges the word “style” for “sincerity” when she says, “In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity is the vital thing” (Wilde 1768).

What does it mean to be earnest?

Being earnest or having earnestness can be most adequately defined as showing sincerity of feeling or being serious in intention, purpose, or effort. Simply put, it is the serious and determined desire to do the right thing. This entire idea of needing to be earnest was at the very top of the Victorian’s code of conduct even though many people lead corrupt lives.

What is the only really safe name in Wilde?

There is something in that name that inspires absolute confidence” (Wilde 1742). Gwendolen can also later be seen saying how “the only really safe name is Ernest” and that “it is a divine name” with “a music of its own” (Wilde 1742). The presence of earnestness in someone is not a bad thing but the fact that people started holding each other to this standard as if it was the only way is what caused the trouble.

What is the importance of being earnest?

Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest derives much of its comedic and thematic heft from the way in which it inverts the values of everyday life. The play constantly pokes fun at conventionally serious topics like love, death, and religion, while simultaneously handling trivialities (e.g., which teatime snacks are trendy this season) with the utmost seriousness. This irreverence takes its most perfect form in the dozens of epigrams and witticisms that make up so much of the play’s dialogue.

What is the British Library article on gender roles in the 19th century?

British Library article “ Gender roles in the 19th century ” explores societal attitudes towards gender in Victorian Britain, which Wilde parodies in The Importance of Being Earnest.

When Algernon tells Cecily that he lied so that they could meet, she declares,?

When Algernon tells Cecily that he lied so that they could meet, she declares, “I don’t [believe him.] But that does not affect the wonderful beauty of his answer.” What is Wilde’s opinion about honesty?

What is Jack's last line in the play?

The last line of the play is Jack declaring that he has just realized the “vital importance of being earnest.” Is he being ironic? Has anyone in the play really learned any sort of moral lesson?

Is Earnest ridiculous?

All of the characters in Earnest are ridiculous in their own unique ways, and yet we always laugh with them, never at them. What is the difference between the two, and why does it matter?

Who is Jack's best friend?

Reflect on Jack’s relationship with Algernon; they are best friends, and yet Algernon did not even know Jack’s real name! Moreover, neither seems all that troubled by this fact. Should they be? Are you?

Who was Oscar Wilde's friend?

George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde’s friend and fellow playwright, did not like Earnest, calling it Wilde’s “first really heartless play.”. Do you agree with this critique? What does it mean for a work of art to have “heart?”. Does a work of art need heart to be good?

What is the Bunburying ruse in Victorian life?

Algernon invents the term Bunburying, a ruse used by both Jack Worthing and Algernon. The two men have found a way to circumvent the strict responsibilities of Victorian life in which appearances are everything. Both have a person who constantly needs their help, which enables them to escape and go elsewhere. Wilde creates this escape hatch for both characters to regain some semblance of privacy and liberty to be a little bit naughty without anyone really finding out.

What is the importance of being Ernest?

In The Importance of Being Ernest, Oscar Wilde explores ways a statement could be interpreted aside from the obvious intention and uses one of the unintended interpretations and incorrect responses for humorous effect. An example of this comes in the first lines when Algernon asks his manservant Lane this question:

What is Wilde's writing style?

Wilde's writing style and intent are clear: wherever possible, grab a laugh. He has written the play to be a journey into the absurd for the sake of entertainment by showing the upper class as silly and shallow and with unrealistic and petty concerns and basically without any of the normal concerns that most people have. After all, Lady Bracknell gives the idea that the well-to-do have so little to do that even smoking is something she calls an ''occupation.'' And who is this entertainment for? Who, in the late Victorian Era, went to see plays but the wealthy? Through the play, Wilde lets the upper class have a laugh at themselves.

What degree did Oscar Wilde have?

He has a bachelor’s in education and master’s in applied linguistics from the University of South Florida and a master’s in creative writing from the New School in New York City. In 'The Importance of Being Earnest,' Oscar Wilde writes for laughs through timing, interpretation, and pure absurdity. In this lesson, you will learn about some specific ...

What does it mean to enroll in a course?

Enrolling in a course lets you earn progress by passing quizzes and exams.

What is Lane's obvious response to the wine?

The obvious response is that they are merely stealing the wine, but Lane responds drily:

Who sits down to ask Jack about smoking?

With this cigarette business fresh in the reader's mind, Lady Bracknell sits Jack down for questioning, and her first on the list is ''Do you smoke?''

What does Wilde say about style?

A witty wordsmith, Wilde exposes the hypocrisy of the Victorians’ strict social mores through puns, paradoxes, epigrams, and inversions in the characters’ actions and dialogue. For instance the characters often say and do the opposite of what they mean, or intend. Gwendolen flips “style” and “sincerity” when she says, “In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity is the vital thing.” One would expect that “sincerity” should take precedence over “style” in “matters of grave…

What does the name Ernest mean in the book?

Wilde subversively prods this question through the name of “ Ernest ,” a Christian name, or given name, as opposed to a family name. The name of “Ernest” comes to symbolize different things for different people. For Gwendolen and Cecily it “inspires absolute confidence” but also symbolizes the ideal husband/ lover. For Jack, “Ernest”…

What game does Wilde play in The Importance of Being Earnest?

In the game of love that Wilde plays throughout The Importance of Being Earnest, Jack and Algernon, who strive for love, are pitted against the fickleness of the women they desire.

What were the three Cs in Wilde's life?

Lady Bracknell’s interrogation of Jack’s proposal to marry Gwendolen demonstrates the three “Cs”—cash, class, and character.

What is the Pursuit of Marriage?

The Pursuit of Marriage. The pursuit of marriage is a driving force behind much of the play’s action. Similar to many Victorian novels of the period, the play reads as a marriage plot, documenting the errors in social etiquette and romantic upheavals that come about as Jack and Algernon stumble towards the altar.

What was Wilde's interest in art?

As a leader of the Aesthetic movement, Wilde was especially interested in the relationship between life and art , pondering the eternal question, “Does art imitate life, or life imitate art?”.

Why did Algernon and Jack invent alter egos?

The moralism of Victorian society—its smugness and pomposity—impels Algernon and Jack to invent fictitious alter egos so as to be able to escape the strictures of propriety and decency. However, what one member of society considers decent or indecent doesn’t always reflect what decency really is. One of the play’s paradoxes is the impossibility ...

What is the difference between Cecily and Algernon?

In contrast, Algernon and Cecily make up elaborate stories that don’t really assault the truth in any serious way or try to alter anyone else’s perception of reality.

What does "serious" mean in the play?

When characters in the play use the word serious, they tend to mean “trivial, ” and vice versa. For example, Algernon thinks it “shallow” for people not to be “serious” about meals, and Gwendolen believes, “In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity is the vital thing.”.

What is the importance of marriage in The Importance of Being Earnest?

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. The question of the nature of marriage appears for the first time in the opening dialogue between Algernon and his butler, Lane, and from this point on the subject never disappears for very long. Algernon and Jack discuss the nature of marriage when they dispute briefly about whether a marriage proposal is a matter of “business” or “pleasure,” and Lady Bracknell touches on the issue when she states, “An engagement should come on a young girl as a surprise, pleasant or unpleasant, as the case may be.” Even Lady Bracknell’s list of bachelors and the prepared interview to which she subjects Jack are based on a set of assumptions about the nature and purpose of marriage. In general, these assumptions reflect the conventional preoccupations of Victorian respectability—social position, income, and character.

Why is it important to not be earnest?

The Importance of Not Being “Earnest”. Earnestness, which implies seriousness or sincerity, is the great enemy of morality in The Importance of Being Earnest. Earnestness can take many forms, including boringness, solemnity, pomposity, complacency, smugness, self-righteousness, and sense of duty, all of which Wilde saw as hallmarks ...

Why does Jack apologize to Gwendolen?

At the end of the play, Jack apologizes to Gwendolen when he realizes he had been telling the truth all his life. She forgives him, she says, on the grounds that she thinks he’s sure to change, which suggests Gwendolen’s own rather cynical view of the nature of men and marriage.

What is the object of satire in the play?

Earnestness, which refers to both the quality of being serious and the quality of being sincere, is the play’s primary object of satire. Characters such as Jack, Gwendolen, Miss Prism, and Dr. Chasuble, who put a premium on sobriety and honesty, are either hypocrites or else have the rug pulled out from under them.

What is Lane's relationship with Algy?

Whilst this is a minor role, Lane is important in the establishment of the tone of the play. His relationship with Algy is apparently one of deference and politeness – the classic master–servant relationship. This appearance, however, is belied by ...

What kind of satisfaction does Lane provide?

The kind of satisfaction that Lane provides is to give perfect service whilst ironising the conventional power relationships between master and servant: Lane is Algy's conversation equal, if not his social peer. For most of Act I , Lane's role is confined to showing people in and out, and in serving tea or drinks.

What is Lane's role in Act 1?

For most of Act I , Lane's role is confined to showing people in and out, and in serving tea or drinks. He is a very reliable servant, demonstrated when he excuses the lack of cucumber sandwiches for Lady Bracknell on his own initiative, but he is not a servile servant.

Do servants have a forename?

It is noticeable in the play that none of the servants is given a forename. It was common throughout the Victorian period for servants – both male and female – to be addressed by their surnames alone. There is also ample evidence (for instance in The Diaries of Hannah Cullwick, a serving maid) that masters and mistresses often used merely generic names for their servants, calling all the maids 'Mary' for instance, no matter what their real names were.

What is Lady Bracknell's role in the importance of being earnest?

She represents women of the Victorian upper class society and believes that those of high class should be the ones in power. She has very little opinion of those with no title, or money and views the upper class society as being a ‘closed club.’ In other words, most people don’t deserve to be in it unless they were born into it. She appears as a guardian of society in that she forcefully dictates who should marry who in the play. In the first scene, Gwendolen is unable to defend herself from wanting to marry Jack when he proposes to her. Lady Bracknell firmly steps in saying, “Pardon me, you are not engaged to anyone. When you do become engaged to some one, I, or your father, will inform you.” Lady Bracknell is portrayed as a forceful character who leaves no room for opposition. Even though Gwendolen wants to oppose her, she hasn’t the strength to do so. Wilde uses Lady Bracknell to show a typical aristocrat who bends no rules of the upper class society. One example where he shows how values are inverted and emphasis is placed on more trivial matters is the scene where Lady Bracknell meets with Jack to discuss Gwendolen. In this scene we see that in stead of asking Jack if he loves Gwendolen (which would seem to be the most important question); Lady Bracknell focuses on the materialistic side of it. She questions Jack about his money, land, house and the area in which he lives. She makes it clear that it’s important for Jack to have a house in the town because Gwendolen cannot live in a country house. It is also seen here that Lady Bracknell treats the trivial things seriously, even though she’s supposed to be an upholder of the values of society. However, little attention is paid to moral values. In stead, Lady Bracknell is displeased with the side of which Jack’s town house is located- the unfashionable side. She thinks that everyone’s interest will be similar to hers and subtly tells him, “The unfashionable side. I thought there was something. However that could easily be altered.” The entire way in which Lady Bracknell meets with Jack is as though she is of a superior being than him. She takes down his answers to her questions in a notepad, as though it’s an interview rather than a personal meeting with her daughter’s love. The setting of the meeting reflects how Lady Bracknell views marriage. It’s more like interviewing someone for the job of being Gwendolen’s husband rather than getting to know the man her daughter is interested in. Upon the shock that Jack was found and he doesn’t know who his real parents are, Lady Bracknell immediately dismisses him, especially when she finds out that he was found in a handbag. The farce continues when she tells Jack,

Why does Wilde use farce in the play?

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.

Why is WhatsApp important?

WhatsApp logo. 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. Because it uses satire to ridicule these instituitions, it shows the deviance from the social order by making ridiculous the ideas of standards, morals and manners.

What does "earnest" mean in Wilde's play?

The title of this piece is even a play-on-word “Earnest” which can mean two different things. It can mean the obvious and be the actual characters name, but it also can mean a sense of seriousness and he then conveys that seriousness into reality for the characters. The two main characters in the play, Jack and Algernon, made every effort to be “Ernest” and “Earnest” in the play. They start their relationship based on the lies in the hope of marrying the girls that they love. There is irony in the play when they both call themselves “Earnest”, a name that suggests honesty and sincerity, yet they both create stories to escape something or the other. Jack creates a brother called “Ernest” in the city that he uses as a ‘scape goat’ to leave his prim and proper, respectable country life, whereas Algernon creates a friend by the name of “Bunbury” to escape his aunt’s high class society parties. He shows his lack of interest in such social events when he tells Jack,

Why is marriage considered an economic factor?

Marriage is viewed as an economic factor, whereby people marry for wealth or to conserve wealth in their families , especially Lady Bracknell who represents the guardian of an upper class society.

What is Jack's brother's name?

Jack creates a brother called “Ernest” in the city that he uses as a ‘scape goat’ to leave his prim and proper, respectable country life, whereas Algernon creates a friend by the name of “Bunbury” to escape his aunt’s high class society parties.

Why do the two girls call themselves Earnest?

They start their relationship based on the lies in the hope of marrying the girls that they love. There is irony in the play when they both call themselves “Earnest”, a name that suggests honesty and sincerity, yet they both create stories to escape something or the other.

Introduction

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