The importance of being earnest a trivial comedy for serious people - Oscar Wilde

Thèmes abordés

The importance of being earnest a trivial comedy for serious people, Oscar Wilde, society, pitiless society, superficial society, Wilde

Résumé du document

Painters like Gustave Doré, Luke Fildes or Mary Osborne represented the Victorian society in their realistic paintings in order to criticize it : full of injustice, this society was hypocritical and forced people to follow the rules to be decent ; the poor, the women and the children being the victims of this era.
Oscar Wilde, who was a novelist, a poet and a playwright also described this society. In 1895, he published The importance of being earnest : a trivial comedy for serious people, a play that was represented at the St James theatre in London.

Extraits

[...] He's at the bottom of the ladder and it's going to be very hard for him to climb it inasmuch he's got nothing on what to base himself on but the man who adopted him. Finally, the narrative throws into relief the tragical aspect of the text and the will of Jack to be worth something as Lady Bracknell tells him to do impossible things, such as making a definite effort to produce at any rate one parent before the season is quite over it is noticeable that Jack is distraught as he replies : Well i don't see how i could manage to do that he has no idea of how to please her the narrative techniques Jack speaks a lot more than Lady Bracknell, which creates a dichotomy and draws our attention on what Jack says. [...]

[...] death or life of his parents are not important lack of compassion, interest. Her incomprehension and her lack of pity also show through her reaction : she's shocked but not sad, and asks him to find one parent it's so surprising that it becomes funny. She's really stupid. The answer of Lady is cynical. She sees people like objects, as lose can have two meanings + as if he as responsible foir the loss of his parents narrative techniques dichotomy between characters, she's shocked but he finds it normal. [...]

[...] In 1895, he published The importance of being earnest : a trivial comedy for serious people, a play that was represented at the St James theatre in London. This play has had a lot of success as it was working within the social conventions of late Victorian London, and its major themes are the triviality with which it treats institutions as serious as marriage, and the resulting satire of Victorian ways. Its witty dialogue have helped to make The Importance of Being Earnest Wilde's most enduringly popular play. [...]

[...] The more Jack tells about his life, the more she realizes that he can't marry her daughter, and the reader is also aware of this process : the way she reacts indique to the reader what's going on in her mind Pathos that is used in order to create emotions within the reader realistic names of locations, really detailed brings us closer to the text, we can experience it even more and feel sad for jack the atmosphere The atmosphere itself enhances the tragical aspect of the scene : the reader and Lady Bracknell are both told that Jack lost his parents at the beginning of this excerpt : this sets a gloomy atmosphere. Parents, family are strong values in the victorian society, and still today this is not a common loss and it draws the reader's pity. There's a lot of tension, of suspense Lady Bracknell herself cannot believe what Jack is telling her, so she feels the need to repeat what he says. This process shows that she wants to know more the reader also wants to. [...]

[...] He was bred by an old gentleman, but his childhood has been different from the others' as he doesn't even know where he comes from, and can't find his parents this is tragical. There's no issue for him, it's not like he was adopted because his parents died or couldn't take care of him : he doesn't even know what they look like and what their names are : his own family name is false and was invented by Thomas Cardew, the man who adopted him he named him Jack Worthing because he had to go to this city. [...]