As we all know, Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest often showcases the act of people not being trustworthy and earnest.
In Act II and beyond, the concept of death becomes more prevalent. Examples of this are when Jack explains to Miss Prism and Chasuble that Ernest had passed away and when *SPOILER ALERT* Algernon "killed" Bunbury. The latter showcased the playfulness of Oscar's style. Death in its usual connotation is simply disregarded and is turned into the meaning of convenience. Everyone just happened to die at the perfect time and death did not have any real somber consequences "or did they?"
My question is what other examples throughout the play could you all find where Oscar Wilde seems to stray away from the conventional meanings of serious things (and lightens them up a bit)?
3 comments:
One of the most obvious instances of this I've found is Wilde's bold comment on the authority of religion during that time. Both Algernon and Jack are clearly making a mockery of religion by simply using it as a vehicle to better their lives through second christenings. Neither of them seem to express any real or faith based reasoning for wanting to be re-christaned, but instead just using the ages old tradition as an excuse to change their names; and for women no less. The fact that they scheduled a time for the event, as if one were planning a meeting at a restaurant, even further downgrades the historical importance of the occasion. Out of all the radical critiques and subtle comments made about the norms of society, I'm surprised this one wasn't as closely focused on.
I thought that the concept of marriage seemed to be taken lightly in the play. For example, Cecily assumes she is engaged to "Earnest" before she even meets him, or Algernon who she believes is him. Although it may have been common in the late 1800's to have a hasty engagement, you would assume you would actually meet the person first at least. I think this example displays the comedic, or not so serious, views of marriage
A couple of passages stood out to me with regards to this question. Some lines that the characters say lead me to believe that they find predictability, or normality, to be somewhat disheartening. For starters, in Act I, Jack states "I am sick of cleverness. Everybody is clever nowadays" (610). At the beginning of Act II, Cecily says "I don't like novels that end happily. They depress me so much" (50-51).
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