The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde

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The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde
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Introduction Background Discussion Starters
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The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde

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The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde
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The Importance of Being Earnest Introduction
Algernon and Jack may look like proper young
Victorian gentlemen.
But eachunknown to the other
is leading a double life.
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The Importance of Being Earnest Introduction
Algernon has invented a sickly friend named
Bunbury.
When Algernon wants to escape his social
obligations in London, he goes Bunburying.
That is, he pretends to visit the ailing Bunbury
in the country.
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The Importance of Being Earnest Introduction
Jacks situation is even more complicated.
A wealthy bachelor, he lives an upright life in
the country.
He wants to set a proper example for Cecily, his
young ward.
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The Importance of Being Earnest Introduction
But Jack wants to have some fun too.
So he invents a wild brother named Ernest.
When Jack wants to go to London, he pretends he
has to bail Ernest out of trouble.
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The Importance of Being Earnest Introduction
In London, Jack pretends to be the bad boy Ernest.
Are you confused yet?
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The Importance of Being Earnest Introduction
Imagine how Ernests fiancée, Gwendolen, feels
when she learns he is really someone else!
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The Importance of Being Earnest Introduction
Imagine how Cecily feels when she finally meets
the charming Ernest,
but he turns out to be Ernestsor rather,
Jacksfriend Algernon!
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The Importance of Being Earnest Introduction
The confusion and misunderstandings are all part
of the fun.
Will Gwendolen marry Jack even though he is not
Ernest?
Will Algernon win the hand of the beautiful
Cecily?
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The Importance of Being Earnest Background
Life is far too important a thing ever to talk
seriously about. Oscar Wilde
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The Importance of Being Earnest Background
Oscar Wilde liked to make fun of upper-class
Victorian society.
In this play he pokes fun at

• strict Victorian social rules

• the shallowness of the idle rich

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The Importance of Being Earnest Background
Wilde also pokes a bit of fun at himself.
Like Wilde, Algernon and Jack are dandies.
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The Importance of Being Earnest Background
In Victorian times only men could be dandies. An
authentic dandy

• enjoyed fine clothes and expensive habits

• used refined language

• spent most of his time socializing

• lived to have fun

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The Importance of Being Earnest Background
A well-bred Victorian woman, on the other hand,
was modest and reserved.
Few kinds of enjoyment were open to her outside
the home.
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The Importance of Being Earnest Background
Moreover, to achieve the fashionable 18- to
20-inch waist,
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The Importance of Being Earnest Background
her corset often was so tight that she could
barely breathe!
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The Importance of Being Earnest Discussion
Starters

• Discuss (1)
• What qualities do you look for in friends and
  loved ones?
• Which of these standards are truly important?
• Which could you let go of for the right person?

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The Importance of Being Earnest Discussion
Starters

• Discuss (2)
• What do you do when a social obligation conflicts
  with what you really want to do?
• Have you ever gotten into a scrape over a
  seemingly harmless white lie? How did you resolve
  the situation?