The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde

  " The Truth is rarely Pure and Never Simple." 

                   - Oscar Wilde

" The Importance of Being Earnest " 

        ' Thinking Activity ' 

Welcome readers! Here, I am going to write down an another blog on Oscar Wilde 's play  - ' The Importance of Being Earnest.' This blog is inspired by Dr.Dilip sir barad as a part of thinking activity. In this Particular blog I am going to discuss about two important questions.

  So , Let us have a brief look about the author and his Famous Play.

                        Oscar Wilde:- 

  Oscar Wilde , in full Oscar Fingal O' Flahertie Wills Wilde, ( born on 16th October , 1854 in Dublin) Was an Irish Wit, Poet and dramatist. He was a Spokesman for the late 19th Century Aesthetic movement in England , Which advocated art for art's sake.

  He was the Object of Celebrated Civil and Criminal Suits involving homosexuality and ending in his imprisonment in the Years - 1895 - 1897.

                 About the Play :- 

' The Importance of Being Earnest ' in full "The Importance of Being Earnest : A Trivial Comedy for Serious People " - Play in three acts by Oscar Wilde. This Play Perfomed in the year - 1895 and Published in 1899. A Satire of Victorian Social hypocrisy , the witty play is Considered as Oscar Wilde 's greatest dramatist achievement. 

 In this Play Wilde arranges the events of the dramatic action in Such a Way that he Continuously keeps the audience engaging and guessing as to Whether or not the Young men will be able to marry the girls. Oscar Wilde also Causes an improbable situation in which the girls in the Play Says that she can love only a man named as - ' Earnest .' 

  This Play First Performed on 14th February in 1895 at St James's Theatre in London.

   Here I am placing one Video about the Summary of this Play. Watch this Video for your better Understanding about it. So Further it will help you in understand my answers.

  Some Important Characters of this Play:-

 • Jack Worthing ( Earnest ) - a Young Gentleman from the Country.

 • Algernon Moncrieff - a Young Gentleman from London, the Nephew of Lady Bracknell.

 • Gwendolen Farifax - a Young Girl, also known as Miss Farifax.

  • Lady Augusta Bracknell - an Upper Class Society lady, Gwendolen 's mother.

  • Cecily Cardew - a Young Girl, the ward of Jack Worthing.

  • Miss Prism - Cecily's  governess.

  • Dr. Chasuble - The Priest of Jack's parish.

   • Lane - Algernon's butler.

   • Merriman - Jack's Servant.

  

  Question 1 :- How does the title of the Play -   'The Importance of Being Earnest ' and its Subtitle - ' A Trivial Comedy for Serious People' establish the Work as a Satire ? 

Answer :-  The title of the Play Carries the Sense of Satire. The qurreling for the only name - ' Earnest ' makes the Play Comedy of manners. Other elements in the Play Such as a Ciggerate case with inscription, diary writing also have contributed in making this Play a Comedy of manners.

   " A Comedy of manners is a descriptive term applied to a play whose Comedy Comes from Social habits of a Specified Society." 

 A funny aspect of this Play is its Subtitle, Which assumes a different kind of interest to the Subtitle of the Play. According to them the Subtitle of the Play - " A Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' reveals basic Clues as to the intended target of the Playwright.

 This Play is referred to as a Comedy of manners because it ironically describes the Conduct of the Victorian Upper class. This play describes the behaviour of Characters in a hypocritical manner. Oscar Wilde uses Satirical language to turn their Values Upside down and make us laugh Considering the way they judge things by apperance only. The language used in the Play is - Funny and Witty.

  • ' The Importance of Being Earnest as a Satire :-'

  Oscar Wilde was a master at the art of turning the English language around to fit his Sarcastic themes and in this Play he accomplished that to a high level. The two main Characters in the Play , Jack and Algernon both made every best effort to be - 'Earnest ' in the Play. There is an irony in the Play When they both call themselves - Earnest - a name that suggests honesty and Sincerity. The entire Play Focuses on the two main Couples.

      1. Jack and Gwendolen

      2. Algernon and Cecily

    Both the girls in the Play yearns to have a husband called - ' Earnest '. They love with the name , and not the Person. We can Understand that they both emphasis on Such a trivial matter such as a name. When Jack attempts to tell Gwendolen that his name is really ' Jack ' and not ' Earnest ' she replies him by saying that , 

      " No , there is Very little music in the name Jack , if any at all , indeed." 

 So, Jack realised that the only really safe name is Earnest because, he truly loves Gwendolen and wants to marry her. Similarly, On the Other hand Cecily also dreams of loving Someone called - Earnest. She Clearly states to Algernon that; 

    " There is Something in that name that seems to inspire absolute Confidence." 

    " I pity on any Poor married Woman Whose husband is not Called Earnest." 

  Oscar Wilde deliberately uses Farce and Satire in this Play to exaggerate the mind frame of the Upper class. It is seen here in the Play that Gwendolen loves Jack but she places greater importance on Silly, Superficial and trivial matter such as a name, Something a person has no Control over it. 

  Wilde is Satirizing the institution of marriage, as it is not based on love but on more vain Superficial criteria. Gwendolen and Cecily both may have refused to marry the ' men of their dreams ' if their names were not ' Earnest.' 

 Conclusion:- To Conclude, This play Focuses on those of the Upper class society and the Vanity of the aristocrats who place emphasis on trivial matters Concerning marriage. So, this Play is a perfect example and masterpiece of a Social satire by Oscar Wilde.

 

 Question 2 :- Which of the Female Character is the most attractive to you among Lady Augusta Bracknell, Gwendolen Farifax, Cecily Cardew and Miss Prism? Give your reasons for she being the most attractive among all.

 Answer :- Oscar Wilde - a man of great not only for Writing drama but also for delineated characters. In this Play - The Importance of Being Earnest there are Four Female characters that are totally different from one another.They all have different Personalities. But Wilde creates these Female characters very minutely as well as artistically.

  Four Female Characters in the Play dominant the Whole Play in every Place of the drama. They are Witty, trivial and absurd. Oscar Wilde Portrayed them very well, Which make us laugh.

Now I will discuss about one of the Female Character from the Play Which I personally found attractive among all..

  Oscar Wilde 's Fantastic Character that is why this Play is alive and attractive.She is a Character whose name is  lady Bracknell. She is dominated as well as authoritative Character. She is very much class conscious, belonging to Upper Class Society and very talkative woman. She can hold her house without her husband. At one Place in the Play she describes very clearly that she does not involve her husband in domestic matters.

   When she Found that Jack is an Orphan Child.  She reveals her Class status before him. As a mother she will never allow her daughter - Gwendolen to marry with a person who is an Orphan Child and doesn't know about his Parents.

   Her authority can be easily shown when she shows authoritative behaviour on her own daughter so that she may keep her away from Jack's Cunning. She is a lady who is very unkind when she hears the news that Bunbury has lost his life her remarks that creates an unusual feelings. She says that it is so good that he has gone to this world otherwise be has to Suffer a lot.

  Lady Bracknell is Powerful, arrogant, ruthless to the extreme, and Conservative.In many Ways, she represents Wilde 's opinion of Victorian Upper Class negativity, repressive value and Power.

 Conclusion :- To Conclude,We can understand that through the character of Lady Bracknell, Wilde manages to satirize the hypocrisy and Stupidity of the British aristocracy. She is narrow minded. She is a type of character who created an impact on the audience.

    

    I hope that this blog is Useful to you..

    Thank you for Visiting..

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