The Absurdity Of The Victorian Upper Class Society

Nora Abushaaban Marietta Reber EWRT 2z November 25, 2016 The Absurdity of the Victorian Upper-Class Society Sans irony, the title of the play, The Importance of Being Earnest - A Trivial Comedy for Serious People, by Oscar Wilde probably would have been called â€Å"The Insignificance of Being Earnest.† This is because throughout the play all the major characters lied and were not the least bit earnest. This comedy is a satire on the mannerisms of the Victorian upper-class society in the late 1800s. As it is a satire, Wilde’s intent was to poke fun at the aristocrats of his time by exaggerating their behavior to criticize how substanceless their lifestyles were. Wilde incorporates various elements of literature including genre, symbolism, and characterization to challenge the Victorian upper class’ arrogant lifestyle. They key literary device Wilde used to popularize his critique of the Victorian upper-class was genre. As this was a play, the genre would fall under drama. This type of drama was specifically known as a farce: a comedic dramatic work with absurd events. This play was a comedy in the traditional sense because it is a satire with a happy ending, as well is in the modern definition in that it is humorous. â€Å"Inseparable from any definition of satire is its corrective purpose, expressed through a critical mode which ridicules or otherwise attacks those conditions needing reformation in the opinion of the satirist† (Harris). In this case the satirist would be Wilde.Show MoreRelatedThe Importance Of Being Earnest By Oscar Wilde980 Words   |  4 Pageshypocrisy. Set in Victorian England, the two bachelors, Algernon and Jack, fight over which one of them will take the name Ernest in order to win their own girl. Wilde circumvents conventionalism and employs superior satirical st rategy to not only teach the importance of being earnest, a characteristic held dear by Victorian society, but he also chastises his world for the hypocrisy between man and woman and between upper and lower classes. Earnest does more than criticize Victorian society: the play remainsRead MoreThe Significance Of Being Earnest, By Oscar Wilde1305 Words   |  6 Pagesexaggeration around a core of society.† Satire exposes the absurdity embedded in society through exaggerated extremes of social norms. Satire is the hyperbolic expressions of absurdity, which provides clarity through sarcasm and offensive exaggerations to project a society’s ethics. In Oscar Wilde’s play, The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde exposes the absurdity of Victorian aristocratic social propriety. Wilde utilizes numerous ironic puns and sarcasm in order to satirize Victorian social responsibilitiesRead MoreThe Importance Of Being Earnest By Oscar Wilde1418 Words   |  6 Pagesthe people of the Victorian Era act. The play itself follows Algernon Moncrieff and Jack Worthing, and their quest to get acquainted with their future fiancà ©es, Cecily Cardew and Gwendolen Fairfax. Additionally, Wilde wrote t he play during the aestheticism movement, which promoted the creation of art for art’s sake. Through the use of humor, irony, and sarcasm, Wilde highlights the artificiality of Victorian society. From this, two major themes arise: people from the Victorian Era place significanceRead MoreThe Victorian Age : An Upper Class Society1049 Words   |  5 Pages2015 The Victorian Age: An Upper Class Society The Victorian Period, the years between 1837 and 1901, was named after the reign of the great Queen Victoria in English civilization. It was during her regime that England gained economic prosperity, experienced the rapid growth of the empire, encountered dramatic changes and religious beliefs. Various social classes represented the population of England, comprising of the upper class, the middle class, the working class and the under class. Social orderRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Alice s Adventures 1293 Words   |  6 Pagesas a children’s story, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has remained a mainstay with children and adults for well over one hundred and fifty years. Adults and children today can see the faults of government and society with Carroll’s use of logical nonsense to satirize Victorian era society, morality, and their sense of justice. One reason Carroll’s novel Alice in Wonderland remains in the hearts of both children and adults after so much time is due to Carroll’s keen ability to write both logic andRead MoreOscar Wildes Use Of Criticism In English Literature1107 Words   |  5 PagesA central theme of English literature in the Victorian Era was the criticism of various facets of the society. With all the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution, authors such as Charles Dickens used their work to express their views on the social system and stratification of classes. Likewise, Oscar Wilde was a playwright whose criticism, expressed in the form of satire, mostly targeted the upper classes. His famous play The Importance of Being Earnest provides a prime example of the useRead MoreThe Importance Of Being Earnest By Oscar Wilde1086 Words   |  5 Pages The Importance of Being Earnest, written by a fascinating Oscar Wilde reveals a story of social class and hierarchy during the roaring Victorian time period (1837-1901). Focusing his writing on the social classes, the play becomes comical when he exposes the flaws held by the upper class during this time. Wilde saw earnestness as being a key ideal in Victorian culture for much of British society struck Wilde as dry, stern, conservative, and so â€Å"earnestly† concerned with the maintenance of socialRead MoreRussell Jackson ´s Review of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde 1307 Words   |  6 Pagesof society To what extent is Wildes play critical of society? The Importance of Being Earnest: a Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play written by, author, poet and playwright Oscar Wilde in 1894 and debuted at St Jamess Theatre in London in 1895. The Importance of Being Earnest is Wildes most eminent work and renowned for its abundant quips and entertaining satirical views on Victorian values, marriage and love. He continuously mocks the hypocritical and superficial views of upper-classRead More Satirical Social Construct Theories in Carolls Wonderland Essay1275 Words   |  6 Pages The Victorian Era held many common beliefs that contrast to everything modern society holds as true.These beliefs ecompassed such areas as social theory, class differences, racial prejudices, the effect of capitalism in society, and the role and extent of education Lewis Carroll challenges and satirizes these social constructs in his novels Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by the use of fantasy characters and settings. He confronts the reade r indirectly through Alice; as the fantasyRead MoreThe Importance of Being Earnest Essay1237 Words   |  5 PagesOscar Wilde is set in England in the late Victorian era. Wilde uses obvious situational and dramatic irony within the play to satirize his time period. According to Roger Sale in Being Ernest the title has a double meaning to it and is certainly another example of satire used by Wilde. With a comedic approach, Wilde ridicules the absurdities of the character’s courtship rituals, their false faces, and their secrets. (Sale, 478) In the Victorian era, courtship rituals were slightly different