Comedic element in the Importance of Being Earnest Essay

Throughout the play, Oscar Wilde portrays several binary program opposites using the characters and themes of the play, such as the townspeople and country, class, age, gender and morals. However I dont work out that the binary opposites are the main source of comedy in the play. The reason I amaze it absurdal is from the fact that the play is a comedy of adroitness as well as Wildes satirising of the Victorian morals. Wildes depiction of Victorian caricatures alike creates amusement for the audience. In the play, trivial things are regarded so seriously and the serious things in life are treated with sincere and studied triviality. This philosophy allows for a precise comic scene at the end of Act II, as it ends with Jack and Algernon eating and arguing over muffins instead of chasing after their beloved ones who demand found out the truth about them and seems like the marriage is off. So even though the binary oppositions in the Importance of Being Earnest put up comedy, I dont believe that they are the key comedic element in the play. A binary opposition is portrayed with the theme of gender and the short letter between male individual and female.The play is set during the Victorian era where men have greater influence than women. Usually men would make all the semipolitical decisions for the household and the women would be the mother and housewife. However, Wilde reverses gender roles by placing wench Bracknell in a position of authority and power in the house. And to add to this, he makes the male characters such as Jack and Algernon quite irresponsible. When Gwendolen is talking to Cecily about who she is, she talks about her father. Outside the family circle, papa, I am glad to say, is entirely unknown. I think that is quite as it should be. The home seems to me to be the proper sphere for the man.(Act II.266) Wilde uses Gwendolen to go against the traditional roles of men and women of the time by imp deceitfulness women shag also be oc cupancy people and work for the family instead of being only if a housewife. Oscar Wilde also reverses the typical characteristic of women in relationships of the Victorian times by having Gwendolen and Cecily the controlling person in their relationship.The man would usually court the woman but once again, this has been reversed by Wilde as the women (Gwendolen and Cecily) both chase after their loves. Gwendolen goes all the air to the country in secret which would be very surprising for a lady of high mixer class and technically speaking, Cecily created her own relationship with Ernest and Algernon just played along with it because it worked in his favour. You couldnt help but laugh at the fact she even cancelled the engagement at one power point simply to make it more exciting. But there are situations where the women act accordingly to traditional roles so that the play doesnt change the Victorian ideals and also that the play works out to follow the traditional happy ending with weddings after overcoming the obstacles that was set out by all the circumstances and other characters. other binary opposite is arrangementn through class and society. The contrast is between the upper class and lower class.Many of the plays characters are from the high social class and are aristocrats like Algernon. Then theres the lower class characters like Jack and the people of the manor and Lane who is Algernons servant. some all the characters in the play lie to or deceit another character but they rarely show any regret about doing so. In fact, there is more regret when telling the truth after lying. When Jack is forced to explain everything after Gwendolen and Cecily become suspicious about Ernest existing, he answers Gwendolen Cecily it is very pesky for me to be forced to speak the truth.It is the first time in my life that I have ever been reduced to such a painful position, and I am really quite inexperienced in doing anything of the kind.(Act II.348) This shows that Jack doesnt consider honesty to be very important as lying about things makes it easier for him to live his life. The lower classes in Earnest are less pretentious and more humble in comparison to the upper class. A study contrast in class is shown through Gwendolen and Cecily when they sit down for tea. After some heated words, they believe the other is nerve-racking to steal their love and they show some hostility towards each other. This exchange lets place in Act II. (308-314) Cecily May I offer you some tea, Miss Fairfax?Gwendolen (With elaborate politeness) Thank you. (Aside) offensive girl But I require tea Cecily (Sweetly) Sugar?Gwendolen (Superciliously) No, thank you. Sugar is not fashionable any more. (Cecily looks angrily at her, takes up the pair of tongs and puts four lumps of sugar into the cup.) Cecily (Severely) Cake or bread and butter?Gwendolen (In a bored manner) Bread and butter, please. Cake is rarely seen at the best houses nowadays. Cecily (Cu ts a very large slice of cake, and puts it on the tray.) Hand that to Miss Fairfax. Cecily takes advantage of Gwendolens obsession with fashion and appearance to others. To Gwendolen, these choices are important statements on ones stylishness and reputation amongst peers and to people in society. Here, Cecily takes advantage of her lower birth to insult Gwendolen. Gwendolen is of a high social class and a luxurious fosterage compared to Cecily who lives in the country with Jack as her guardian and under the care of Miss Prism. When talking about Gwendolen and Cecily, these two characters are used for another binary opposite of the town and the country. When one is in town, one amuses oneself. When one is in the country, one amuses others. It is excessively boring. Firstly theres Jack who is trying to personate away from the boring life in the country and into the town to spend time with Gwendolen even though he is using Ernest Worthing as his name and life sentence a double life unbeknownst to the people in the country as well as in town.Then theres Algernon who is trying to get away from the life in town as it has become routine and boring and he wants something different so he goes into the country. He uses the explicate that he has a sick friend called Bunbury on the verge of death. He himself calls this bunburying and believes that Jack is doing the same thing. However, after finding out that Jack has a beautiful, unfledged ward in the country, he goes out in to the country to try and get her to fall in love with him. This relates to the morals of the men of the Victorian times, which if was dead-on(prenominal) according to the play, was wrong and deceit was used to get out and have some fun implying the hedonistic lifestyle people had back then. Although all these can cause humour and several comedic situations, in my opinion, binary opposites arent the key comedic element in the play. The main reason the play is funny is because the play is a comed y of manners. The utilisation of stock characters, such as Algernon representing the schemer, as he secretly notes down Jacks country house address and visits Cecily.By imitating and trying to marry into the aristocracy, Jack is a traitor to his own class, and is the hypocritical stock character. And Lady Blacknell as the interfering old parent who will not allow the marriage of Jack and Gwendolen because Jack has no parentage and Lady Bracknell ultimately becomes the obstacle that the two must overcome. All these provide lots of comic exchanges throughout the play allowing for a traditional rom-com finale. The structure of the play is also vital as it contributes to comedy as the plot consists of rapid twists in events, a great deal precipitated by miscommunications. Ernest is really Jack. He lives two lives. He cant marry without parents. Algy chases Cecily. Gwendolen chases Jack. There is no Ernest. The marriages are off and then back on. Lady Bracknell comes and marriages are o ff again.Truth about Jack is revealed and he is actually Ernest. Everybody gets together with their love and marriages take place. Throughout all this, a lot of misunderstandings take place and lies come out in the open at the expense of the honour of others. Another counter argument that is a key reason to the supremacy of comedy in Importance of Being Earnest is Wildes use of satire on the Victorian morals and his depiction of Victorian caricatures which creates amusement for the audience. The unadorned example of this is Lady Bracknell even though she is the opposite of how a Victorian woman was. Summing everything up, Wildes use of binary oppositions contribute to quite a molybdenum of the humour from the play but after considering everything, I conclude that its not the key comedic element in the play. The fact it is a comedy of manners and the satire of the upper class and Victorian morals, is the reason I found it funny.Bibliographyhttp//www.shmoop.com/importance-of-being- earnest/gender-theme.html http//www.shmoop.com/importance-of-being-earnest/society-class-theme.html Wordsworth Classics, the Plays of Oscar Wilde, Oscar Wilde. The Importance of Being Earnest. (Text) The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) Directed by Oliver Parker. pen by Oscar Wilde (DVD)