Oscar Wilde vigorously attacks the institution of heterosexual marriage in his play "The Importance of Being Serious" by employing light comedy in order to portray characters who are The marriage is superficial, immature and unaware of the commitment they are about to embark on The marriage is also harshly criticized in Susan Glaspell's play "Trifles", a play which. explores the difficulties women face within the institution of marriage and the ensuing tragedy a woman is past her breaking point Both plays harshly criticize the institution of marriage, one at. through one light satirical comedy and the other through a tragic story about a failed marriage However, the dark impact of the more realistic story of "Bagatelles" offers a harsher understanding of the institution of marriage. does comedy, which its audience can easily make fun of.Say no to plagiarism Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayIn. In Wilde's “The Importance of Being Earnest,” the characters treat marriage as something frivolous. What they consider important are esoteric social norms, name connotations, and insignificant details. Cecily and Gwendolyn only want to marry Algernon and Jack because they believe their names are Ernest. As Gwendolyn says to Jack at the beginning of the play: “…My ideal has always been to love someone named Ernest. There is something about this name that inspires absolute confidence. From the moment Algernon first mentioned to me that he had a friend named Ernest, I knew I was destined to love you” (10). In another part of the play, Cecily meets Algernon for the first time and believes him to be Jack's brother, Ernest. She confesses her love to him and tells him how they got engaged; she bought herself a ring in his name and wrote love letters to herself pretending they were from him (32). The women base their love entirely on the belief that the men are named Ernest, which reveals their naivety about marriage. The frivolity with which these women fall in love suggests that the relationships are also frivolous. Jack and Algernon diminish the institution of marriage in another way. During an initial conversation about marriage proposals, Algernon says, "I really don't see anything romantic about proposing." It's very romantic to be in love. But there's nothing romantic about a specific proposal. Well, we can accept one. One is usually, I believe. Then the excitement is over. The very essence of romance is uncertainty. If I ever get married, I will certainly try to forget him” (3). This dialogue indicates that Algernon believes that commitment is something that ruins romance and perhaps, by extension, love – hardly a ringing endorsement of marriage. Lady Bracknell's idea of ​​marriage is equally cynical. When Gwendolyn and Jack tell her that they are engaged, Lady Bracknell tells Gwendolyn: "An engagement should be a surprise to a young girl, pleasant or unpleasant as the case may be. This is hardly a matter she should be allowed to resolve for herself…” (12). She then questions Jack about his education, assets and family to find out if he is suitable for his daughter and society. Lady Bracknell does not see love in marriage; rather, marriage is an institution that must maintain wealth and social class. Although Wilde's play offers a very negative view of the institution of marriage, it does so in a light-hearted way. The characters behave ridiculouslyextremes, and we can therefore laugh at Wilde's criticisms of marriage. Susan Glaspell's play, "Trifles," takes the opposite approach. Although it is not primarily about marriage, it does discuss the negative effects of marriage on women. The play is a tragic story of how Mrs. Wright was able to murder her husband. The emotional impact of the play forces its audience to take its subject seriously. "The Importance of Being Serious", "Trifles" is not directly about marriage - the subject of marriage is subtly hinted at through the devices of dialogue and of the setting rather than overtly displayed by the characters' mannerisms. The audience learns about Mrs. Wright by seeing Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale walk through her house, recognizes the symbolism of Mrs. Wright's affairs, and hears the comments the men make to the women in the play. When the party first arrives at the house, the pots under the sink aren't washed, there's a loaf of bread outside, and things in the house aren't finished. The disorder in Mrs. Wright's household chores seems to indicate a disorder in her life. When Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters look at her quilt, Mrs. Hale observes, "Here, this is the one she was working on, and look at the stitching!" Everything else has been so nice and even. And look at this! They are everywhere! Well, it looks like she didn't know what she was talking about! » (1679). Mrs. Hale begins to take it off and sew it back on, then she asks, "Why do you think she was so nervous?" The implication is that something happened at that moment where her seams weakened – perhaps her husband was being verbally abusive or aggressive at that time. Additionally, the women find a broken birdcage and Mrs. Wright's dead bird in her sewing basket. The bird's neck had been twisted and Ms Hale thinks it was Mr Wright who did it. The bird was loved by Mrs. Wright – Mrs. Hale infers that she was going to bury it in the “pretty box” in which they found it (1681). If Mr. Wright did indeed twist the bird's neck, that could be an indication of abuse. The bird can be seen as a symbol of Mrs. Wright herself; indeed, Mrs. Hale refers to her as a “songbird” at the beginning of the play. Mr. Wright's killing of the bird therefore suggests a suffocation of Mrs. Wright also socially and mentally. The killing of the bird motivates Mrs. Wright to kill her husband and confirms that their marriage has failed. The dialogue between the women also helps us paint a picture of the type of marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wright had, as well as their own marriage. understanding of the difficulties of marriage for women in this place and time. Mrs. Hale describes Mr. Wright as having been a "hard man" (1680) - she tells the court lawyer that she has not visited Mrs. Wright's house for a year because it "never seemed a very happy place” and that “…I do not think a place would be more pleasant for John Wright” (1676). She also expresses her guilt for not coming to see Mrs. Wright because things were not happy in the house. She expresses empathy for what Mrs. Wright must have felt: “I could have known she needed help! I know how things can be – for women. I'm telling you, it's weird, Ms. Peters. We live close to each other and we live far from each other. We all go through the same things – it’s just a different kind of the same thing” (1682). Mrs. Peters expresses similar feelings when they discover Mrs. Wright's dead bird. She recounts the death of her first baby and how she “knows what calm is” (1682). Through this dialogue, we learn of the serious trials of marriage that the women had to endure – the issues are true to life and entirely believable, and the dialogue has a.