Gender in the importance of being earnest Essay examples

To what extent is gender the main comic creator in the play of ‘The Importance of being Earnest’? Comedy originated in the 6th century BC in ancient Greece at the Dionysian festival. Comedy was first designed to provoke laughter and to entertain the audience. The ancient Greeks used the word comedy to describe a play with a happy ending much the same as the play the ‘Importance of being Earnest’. The play uses elements of old comedy for example; it is a satire of the Victorian era that is most importantly applied through the use of gender and role reversal (ridicule to expose traditional gender value) it also weaves in strands of new comedy, where young lovers typically undergo endless vicissitudes. ‘The importance of being Earnest’ is†¦show more content†¦Lady Bracknell also comments on education â€Å"education produces no effect† this shows that she is still a woman of Victorian society as women at the time wouldn’t of had as many right to education as men would have done, this is rather ironic as she is playing out a male rol e. Moreover Lady Bracknell makes a remark on voting an politics â€Å"oh they count as Tories they dine with us or come in the evening† this shows off her masculinity as women at the time did not have the right to vote, this makes her seem as though she is putting on a facade; pretending to know of politics, and to exercise her power, again this creates comedy as women had very little power, so it is completely absurd. Gender and role reversal also creates comedy through more characters that just Lady Bracknell. When Algernon proposes to Cecily and she replies with â€Å"we have been engaged for the past three months† Cecily then proceeds to tell him; Algernon completely complaisant in this part of the act, about their fantasy love affair, whilst he was in London entirely unaware of the situation. This creates comedy because again it is a female dominating a male character and announcing their engagement, when it is traditionally a man’s role to propose, and the absurdity and unlikelihood of the situation. Gwendolen illustrates that men posses many female traits â€Å"and certainly once a man begins toShow MoreRelated Gender In A Doll’s House And The Importance Of Being Earnest2015 Words   |  9 PagesGender In ‘A Doll’s House’ And ‘The Importance Of Being Earnest’ A Doll’s House and The Importance of Being Earnest were both written in the late nineteenth century at a period in time when gender roles in society were not only significant to the structure of society but were restrictive and oppressive to individuals. This was particularly true in the case of women who were seen as the upholders of morals in polite society and were expected to behave accordingly. A Doll’s House and The ImportanceRead MoreEssay on Gender and Consistency in The Importance of Being Earnest1819 Words   |  8 PagesThe Importance of Being Earnest is regarded as one of the most successful plays written by Oscar Wilde, a great 19th century playwright. Oscar Wilde deals with something unique about his contemporary age in this drama. It addresses Victorian social issues, French theatre, farce, social drama and melodrama. All these factors influenced the structure of the play in a large scale. This play is basically a Victorian satirical drama showcasing the social, political, economic and religious structural changesRead MoreCompare and Contrast How Gender Roles Are Presented in the Importance of Being Earnest and a Doll’s House in Light of Ibsen’s Statement That â€Å"There Are Two Kinds of Moral Laws, Two Kinds of Conscience, One for Men and1252 Words   |  6 PagesCompare and contrast how gender roles are presented in The Importance of Being Earnest and a Doll’s House in light of Ibsen’s statement that â€Å"there are two kinds of moral laws, two kinds of conscience, one for men and one quite different, for women.† According to Ibsen’s statement, he states that moral laws are divided into two, one for women and the other for men. He’s claiming that the â€Å"moral laws† that society has implanted has double standards. Ibsen and Wilde present gender roles through moralityRead MoreSatire in â€Å"The Importance of Being Earnest† by Oscar Wilde Essay example716 Words   |  3 Pagespiece of work that is designed to ridicule or tease a group or organization, generally for the purpose of being humorous. â€Å"The Importance of Being Earnest,† a play by Oscar Wilde, is a satire, ridiculing class, gender, and marriage. This essay will describe some points from each of these sections, as well as give a brief synopsis of the play these examples come from. The Importance of being Earnest includes three acts, with seven major characters. In act one, we start with a conversation between JackRead MoreThe Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde1107 Words   |  4 PagesThe Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde’s comedy, The importance of Being Earnest, is a farcical critique of contemporary societal attitudes towards social institutions. The play is centered on the importance of the protagonists being called Earnest without actually being earnest. The Paradoxical structure of the play combines trivial situations with formal language to complicity ridicule traditional standards on issues like marriage and social class. These expectations are deemed meaningfulRead MoreThe Effects Of Victorian Society s Unrealistic Expectations Of The Individual887 Words   |  4 PagesThis source is an essay examining how Wilde shows â€Å"the impact of Victorian society’s unrealistic expectations of the individual† in both The Importance of Being Earnest and The Picture of Dorian Gray. In the article, she talks about gender roles and societal expectations along with the ways characters in the play conform to or reject them. Although the essay is written by a student at McKe ndree University, the writing is not difficult to understand. This essay is well-documented and seems unbiasedRead MoreThe Importance of Being Earnest Essay1439 Words   |  6 PagesA Trivial Comedy for Serious People Oscar Wilde mocked his audience while he entertained them. Perhaps his most loved and well-known work, The Importance of Being Earnest, satirises the manners and affections of the upper-class Victorian society. Satire is a literary tone used to ridicule or make fun of human vice or weakness, usually with the intent of changing or correcting the subject of the satirical attack. The play focuses on the elite, while making fun of the ludicrousness and extremityRead MoreThe Twelfth Night, By Oscar Wilde1158 Words   |  5 Pagesnaturally produces standards, that people are preferred to follow. Gender, arguably is basis from which all following norms branch from. Pierre Bourdieu writes in his boot â€Å"Masculine Domination†, â€Å"The social world constructs the body as a sexually defined reality and is the depository of sexual defining principles of vision and division† (Pierre 11). These divisions produce gender roles that are based on the patriarchy. Traditionally, ge nder roles states that men are the leaders in society and the familyRead MoreWildes Use of Binary Opposites Is the Key Comedic Element in the Impoprtance of Being Earnest. to What Extent Do You Agree with This View?1615 Words   |  7 PagesWilde’s use of binary oppositions is the key comedic element in the Importance of Being Earnest. To what extent do you agree with this view? Throughout the play, Oscar Wilde portrays several binary opposites using the characters and themes of the play, such as the town and country, class, age, gender and morals. However I don’t think that the binary opposites are the main source of comedy in the play. The reason I find it comical is from the fact that the play is a comedy of manners as well as Wilde’sRead MoreGender and Class in Oscar Wildes Play1575 Words   |  6 PagesGender and Class in Oscar Wilde’s Play A Marxist critic uses an approach that treats literary texts as material products describing them in broadly historical terms. In Marxist criticism, the text is viewed in terms of its production and consumption, as a product of work that does identifiable cultural work of its own (Chaucer, 297). Gender, is in other words, a construct, an effect of language, culture and its institutions (Austen, 427). Many gender critics are interested in how a culture constructs