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Essay / Wilde's critique of Victorian society in The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde uses parody to ridicule social norms of marriage, love and mentality that was inflexible in the Victorian era. Since he uses parody to mock these institutions, he shows the aberration from social demand by making thoughts of principles, ethics and habits strange. In attempting to address the flaws of the characters in this play, this play also serves as an incredible form of criticism. “The piece really owes something to the custom of the salvage comic. » Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Wilde was an ace at transforming the English language to suit his sarcastic subjects and in this piece he achieved it to a high standard. level. The title of this piece is even a play on words “Earnest” which can mean two separate things. It can mean what is visible and be the name of the real character, but it can also mean a feeling of seriousness and it then conveys that reality into reality for the characters. The two main characters of the play, Jack and Algernon, went out of their way to be "serious" and "serious" in the play. They begin their relationship relying on lies in the expectation of marriage to the young girls they love. There is an incongruity in the play when they both call themselves "Earnest", a name that suggests authenticity and seriousness, while they both make up stories to get around one or the other. other. Jack has a brother called "Ernest" in the town whom he uses as a "scapegoat" to leave his wise and legitimate life in a good nation, while Algernon makes a companion named "Bunbury" to get away of the high-class society parties. He shows his lack of enthusiasm for such a meeting when he tells Jack: "She will place me next to Mary Farquhar, who is always flirting with her own husband at the table." It's not very pleasant. It looks so bad. It's simply washing your clean clothes in public. The Importance of Being Earnest highlights two main couples, Jack and Gwendolen and Algernon and Cecily. Both Gwendolen and Cecily long for a spouse named “Ernest”. They both notice the emphasis on something as insignificant as a name. As Jack struggles to reveal to Gwendolen that his real name is "Jack" and not "Ernest", she responds by saying, "Jack". No, there is almost no music in the name Jack, if any, of course. (Wilde,)The main extremely safe name is Ernest.' Wilde intentionally uses imposture in the play to distort the minds of high society. We see here that Gwendolen adores Jack, however, she gives greater importance to senseless, superficial and minor issues, for example a name, something over which an individual has no influence. Additionally, Cecily also dreams of adoring someone called "Ernest". She clearly tells Algernon: “There is something in this name that seems to evoke a supreme certainty. I pity every poor married woman whose spouse is not called Ernest.'(Wilde,). Once again, Wilde caricatures the organization of marriage, because it did not depend on adoration, but on increasingly vain superficial criteria. Despite the fact that this situation is twisted to ridicule the vanity of the privileged, Wilde still raises the point that Gwendolen and Cecily might not have married the "men they always wanted" if their names weren't known. it's not "Ernest". In the third act of the play, when Cecily asks if he would holduntil she is thirty-five years old to marry (Wilde), despite the fact that Algy is telling the truth, Cecily gruffly reveals to him that she cannot. I don't stay there all the time. I hate standing there for even five minutes for anyone. This makes me rather angry. "(Wilde) One might imagine that as a result of contemplating so much about the man she claims to adore, waiting to get married will be a little support in finding out. In fact, Wilde uses another couple, Miss Prism and Mr. Chasuble, as a foil to show the difference between a relationship based on adoration and one based on other materialistic and superficial qualities. Miss Prism is obviously the leading lady who has no further thought process in the play when it comes to marriage and love. Indeed, even Algernon seems to have later thought processes. He has never met Cecily, but when he sees her, he becomes hopelessly in love with her in a split second. Additionally, his negative outlook on marriage in the opening scene, where he calls it "discouraging", suddenly seems to change when he meets Cecily. We can very well assume that Algernon Chapter 11 has an impact on his appreciation for Cecily. Both Jack and Algernon are determined to dedicate themselves to getting Gwendolen and Cecily. This also gives a certain degree of vanity to men, as they are not even somewhat irritated that women put so much emphasis on their names. These couples appear to be wearing covers as they all seem in the same direction, however, they seem to have hidden intentions behind their activities. Both Gwendolen and Cecily appear as women when they first meet, referring to themselves as sisters: “My first introductions to individuals are rarely out of place. Yet when they accept that they have locked themselves into the equivalent “Ernest,” a sudden frigidity sets in between them. Gwendolen said wryly to Cecily, “I am happy to report that I have never observed a cat. Obviously, our social circles are usually unique. (Wilde) This is called "camouflage" because the characters are not actually wearing a cover, but allegorically, they are overall pretending to be someone they are not. There is a division between truth and character and this shows that sometimes certain laws in the public space allow individuals to have a dual existence. Woman Bracknell is the main driving force behind the plot of The Importance of Being Earnest. She speaks to the ladies of Victoria's privileged society and accepts that those from the upper class should be in charge. She has almost no evaluation of those who have neither title nor money, and perceive privileged society as an “exclusive club”. ultimately, a large number of people only have the right to be there if they have been naturally initiated into it. She presents herself as a guardian of society in that she strongly directs who should marry who in the room. In the main scene, Gwendolen cannot protect herself from having to marry Jack when he proposes to her. Woman Bracknell intervenes firmly, saying, “Excuse me, you’re not locked into anyone. When you find yourself connected to someone, I or your father will tell you. Lady Bracknell is portrayed as an intense character who excludes all restrictions. Despite the fact that Gwendolen needs to restrain her, she does not have the solidarity to do so. Wilde uses Lady Bracknell to show an unremarkable blue blood who does not distort any norms of high society. One pattern in which he shows how esteems are changed and emphasis is placed on increasingly trivial matters is when Lady Bracknell meets with Jack to talk about Gwendolen. In this scene,we see that instead of asking if he cherishes Gwendolen (which seems to be the more meaningful inquiry); Lady Bracknell focuses on her materialistic side. She questions Jack about his money, his land, his house and the territory in which he lives. She points out that it is important for Jack to have a house in the city since Gwendolen cannot live in a national house. It is also observed here that Lady Bracknell treats petty things with truth, despite the fact that she should be a defender of society's estimates. There is little emphasis on virtues anyway. Instead, Lady Bracknell is disappointed in the old-fashioned side of Jack's household. She imagines that everyone's advantage will be like hers and discreetly lets him know: “The old-fashioned side. I thought there was something. Either way, this could be changed without much difficulty. The manner in which Lady Bracknell meets Jack is quite like that of a person without equal to him. She writes down the answers to her questions in a notebook, just as it is a meeting rather than a one-on-one encounter with her daughter's adoration. The setting of the gathering reflects Lady Bracknell's view of marriage. It's a bit like talking someone into being Gwendolen's partner instead of getting to know the man her daughter loves. Surprised by the fact that Jack has been found and has no idea who his real guardians are, Lady Bracknell immediately rejects him, particularly when she discovers that he was found in a satchel. The imposture continues when she tells Jack, I strongly advise you, Mr. Worthing, to try to acquire connections as early as possible and to make a definite effort to produce at least one parent, of both sexes, before the season. This is a completely unimaginable solicitation from Lady Bracknell, as it is clear that Jack has no information about his true guardians. Although he realizes that he urgently needs to marry Gwendolen, he does not hide his surprise at Lady Bracknell's solicitation: "Well, I don't see how I could figure out how to do that." I can create the bag at any time. This basically shows how insignificant important things are to Lady Bracknell and how unimportant things are to her. This is an important point on which Oscar Wilde focuses in this satire of habits, esteems are completely turned upside down. Another instance of Lady Bracknell's numbness towards non-privileged people is when she is willing to choose not to see Cecily when she learns that Algernon is locked inside her. She is quick to judge Cecily based on how Jack is her caretaker. Regardless, his perspective immediately changes when Jack reveals that Cecily has a hundred and thirty thousand pounds in reserves: “A hundred and thirty thousand pounds! Miss Cardew seems to be a very attractive young lady ever since I looked at her. Once again, the emphasis is on an individual's wealth rather than their character, seriousness or empathy for others. Marriage is seen as a financial factor whereby individuals marry to enrich themselves or to oversee their family's wealth, particularly Lady Bracknell who addresses the gatekeeper of high society. She's a show-off anyway and uses social ethics to her advantage. For example, she won't give Jack a chance to marry Gwendolen because of his social foundation, but she attempts to legitimize a broke Algernon marrying the wealthy Cecily. Her social lyrics come to the fore when she also admits that she wasn't rich when she married her partner. “Never speak rudely about society, Algernon. Only people who can't.