Oscar%20Wilde%20The%20Importance%20of%20Being%20Earnest%20A%20Trivial%20Comedy%20for%20Serious%20People

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Oscar WildeThe Importance of Being EarnestA
Trivial Comedy for Serious People
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The Victorian Age

• In the Victorian Age, which encompassed the last
  quarter of the nineteenth century, England was at
  its climax of power. The British Empire extended
  all over the world, coining the phrase, "The sun
  never sets in the British Empire."
• The era saw the flourishing of the English
  aristocracy, but the rise of the elite created a
  huge wealth disparity between the very rich and
  the very poor.
• Wilde, a respected member of the upper-class,
  concentrated his satirical efforts only on the
  aristocracy.

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Victorian Age continued

• The Victorians were interested in order and
  manners.
• This emphasis on manners grew from the idea that
  life would be improved if it became more refined,
  more rationally organized, better policed, and
  therefore safer.

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Timeline
The Importance of Being Earnest
Oscar Wilde dies
Oscar Wilde is born
1800
1900
2000
M. Thatcher
Elizabeth II
Victoria
World War I
World War II
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"Oscar took the ball of talk wherever it happened
to be and played with it so humorously that
everyonewas soon smiling delightedly.
(Frank Harris)
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The Author
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Introduction

• With The Importance of Being Earnest (1895),
  Irish-born Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) created
  his final and most lasting play in every
  respect, a masterpiece of modern comedy.
• A century later, it produces a wonderful balance
  by remaining both a respected and studied piece
  of literature, as well as a favorite with
  audiences.

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Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

• Next to his literature, Wilde is largely
  remembered for his flamboyant lifestyle and
  outrageous behaviour, at least as measured by the
  times in which he lived.
• Educated at the University of Oxford, he wrote
  poetry, studied the classics and adopted a
  philosophy of "arts for arts sake". It wasnt
  uncommon to see him strolling through Picadilly
  Circus in London, outfitted with a velvet coat,
  knee breeches, and shoulder-length hair, carrying
  a lily.

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Wilde and his Play

• On Feb. 14, 1895, was the opening night of the
  original production of The Importance of Being
  Earnest at the St. James Theatre in London. It
  was a major social event, partly due to the
  stunning popularity of Wilde The Importance of
  Being Earnest was his fourth play in only three
  years.
• While Earnest was in rehearsal, Wilde was in the
  middle of his troubled but long-term relationship
  with Lord Alfred Douglas, and was being pursued
  by Douglass father, the homophobic marquess of
  Queensberry.

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Wilde and his Play

• Two weeks later, Queensberry left a calling card
  in Wildes mailbox, accusing Wilde of being
  homosexual.

Wilde decided to take legal action and sued
Queensberry for libel, a step that would
backfire. While Queensberry was acquitted, Wilde
was tried and convicted of homosexual practices,
and subsequently sentenced to two years hard
labor, in what was called the trial of the
century,
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Wilde and his Play

• Upon his release in 1897, Wilde moved to Paris.
  With broken spirit and empty pockets, he lived
  out the remainder of his life in poor health,
  relying on the charity of friends.
• On Nov. 30, 1900, at the age of 46, Wilde died of
  cerebral meningitis. During the height of Wilde's
  controversial trial and imprisonment, Earnest
  closed down.

It was revived in 1902, without the disgraced
playwright's name on the program. Only in a 1909
revival after his death, was Wilde's name
returned to the bill, and the play had the long
and commercially successful theatrical run that
it deserved.
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And alien tears will fill for himPitys long
broken urnFor his mourners will be outcast
menAnd outcasts always mourn
(Wildes tombstone)
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The Dramatis Personae
Jack Worthing
Algernon Moncrieff
ward of
Y
Gwendolen Fairfax
Cecily Cardew
aunt of
mother of
Lady Bracknell
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• A "comedy of manners" is defined as A comedy
  concerned with the social actions and behavior of
  members of a highly sophisticated, upper-class
  society.

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Genre Notes

• Oscar Wilde, rather than focusing on the lower
  classes or social conditions, chose to satirize
  the life of the English aristocracy, a world with
  which he was personally familiar.
• His characters are typical Victorian snobs they
  are often arrogant, dont seem to work at all,
  are overly proper, formal and concerned with
  money.

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• One of the ways Wilde's wit manifests itself is
  in puns Running throughout the entire play is
  the double meaning behind the word earnest, as a
  male name and as an adjective for seriousness.
• Wilde saw earnestness as being a key ideal in
  Victorian culture. Much of British society struck
  him as dry and conservative, and so concerned
  with the maintenance of social norms that it had
  become almost inhuman. The Importance lightly
  shows the limitations and unhappiness produced by
  such a way of life.

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• Also fundamental to Wilde's wit is his use of
  epigrams short, witty sayings.
• We see this type of humor at work, for instance,
  as Jack announces that he has come to town to ask
  Gwendolen to marry him and Algernon responds "I
  thought you had come up for pleasure? I call that
  business. I really don't see anything romantic in
  proposing. It is very romantic to be in love. The
  very essence of romance is uncertainty. If I ever
  get married, I'll certainly try to forget the
  fact."

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• The Importance has many goalsIt pokes fun at
  the aristocracy, the literary world, marriage and
  love, English manners and customs, women and men
  in modern society.
• Furthermore, it does so in a lighthearted fashion
  while creating some of the most memorable
  characters in the history of English theater. It
  has always been a huge commercial success because
  both its humor and its themes are as timely today
  as they have ever been.

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It is awfully hard work doing nothing.
(Algernon, Act I)
"
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Sources / Links

• http//www.hoboes.com/html/FireBlade/Wilde/earnest
  /The full text of The Importance of Being
  Earnest
• http//together.net/theatre/earnest/synopsis.htm
  A short synopsis and analysis of Earnest
• http//www.english.upenn.edu/cmazer/imp.html
• Wilde, Society, and Society Drama an essay
• http//www.sparknotes.com/lit/earnest/
  information for pupils
• http//ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/govind/earnest.html
  questions and quotes
• http//www.showgate.com/tots/gross/wildeweb.html
  the world wilde web
• http//www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/8889/poetr
  y/mp-wilde.htm The Monty Python Oscar Wilde
  Sketch
• http//www.oscariana.net/ Oscariana a wonderful
  fan site