In this day and age marriages are filled with an unprecedented amount of romance. Previously marriage was something to better one's social standing or to improve one's political connections. Never before have so many people chosen to marry because of the ridiculous notion of love. In the Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde shows a surprisingly late 20th century view of marriage. Marriage, as the couples in the book would have it, should be based entirely on love.
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First one must understand what the social norm of the day was concerning marriage. This play premiered in 1895. Although it is true that marriage was slowly becoming more as it is today it still had a Middle Age feel to it. The reason for getting married is the main theory this paper deals with. In the early 20th century men and women got married for a variety of reasons. In Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Lydia's marriage to Wickam was regarded as a scandal because they ran off to Scotland and eloped without telling anyone. Lydia's reason to marry is because she thinks it will be fun. People in the book treated it as something of unspeakable shame. However it is a marriage precisely like this one that is not only accepted but commonplace nowadays. Las Vegas is a place streaming with Lydias and Wickams. The reason that this marriage took place was very uncommon in those days. Another marriage was that of Lizzy to Darcy. This was also met with a good deal of resistance. People felt that because of their different social classes it was not fit that they should be wed. Alas, the loved each other and so it was. And that was their reason. Love. Another uncommon reason in the early 1900's but almost the only reason in the late. This is where Earnest comes in.
There are two marriages in this play. Each shall be dealt with separately. First, Algernon and Cecily. They, of course, decide to marry be cause they love each other. These two, in fact, fall in love and become engaged before the even meet.
As an ambitious young man, Oscar Wilde started his career in literature with poems, plays and books. ... Wilde's writing was scandalous for it's time. ... What does Wilde do? ... " Oscar Wilde, De Profundis. ... Oscar Wilde's writing mocks society. ...
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde, an acclaimed writer born on October 16, 1854, was born in Dublin, Ireland. William Wilde, Oscar's father, was 28 when he graduated as a doctor. ... Oscar's Mother, Jane Francesca Elgee, was a poet as well. ... Oscar Wilde is a curious modernist as well as in "neo-romantic." ... In Joseph Pearce's biography, The Unmasking of Oscar Wilde, Pearce recalls Wilde's perspective on the popular movement. ...
Society throughout history has influenced people and behavior, in the novel "The Picture of Dorian Grey," by Oscar Wilde we find this most prevalent. ... To the aesthete, the ideal life mimics art; it is beautiful, but quite useless beyond its beauty, concerned only with the individual living it" (Duggan, The Conflict Between Aestheticism and Morality in Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray). ... Duggan also explains, "Rather than an advocate for pure aestheticism, then, Dorian Gray is a cautionary tale in which Wilde illustrates the dangers of the aesthetic philosophy ...
And it is exactly his idealisation of homosexuality that appears to be the mask' that Oscar Wilde wore. ... Oscar Wilde said,"˜ Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. ... The Picture of Dorian Gray is Oscar Wilde's autobiography and there is a good part of Wilde's personality in each of the three characters. ... Oscar Wilde did not lack any of the required gifts. ... It is exactly this inconsistency that Oscar Wilde has sought to obtain in the novel, and has, of course, succeeded. ...
In the play "Lady Windermere's Fan" (1893) Oscar Wilde introduces a woman named Mrs. ... This indicates that Oscar Wilde's view is that women are inferior to men. ... Evidently, Oscar Wilde was able to look at himself and his career in a satirical light. ... Oscar Wilde criticises the Nightingale for being oblivious to human nature. This appears to reflect the negative effect society has posed on Oscar Wilde. ...
Oscar Wilde essayist, dramatist, novelist, and poet was better known for his scandalous lifestyle than his literary theories and their execution in his dramas. ... This is what aesthetic authors such as Oscar Wilde try to portray in their non conventional works packed with comedy and tragedy such as and The Importance and Being Earnest. ... Oscar Wilde hit the nail on the head when he said "Life is far too important a thing ever to take seriously". ... This is just putting into perspective the absolute non-caring that Oscar Wilde and other aesthetes have for life and the arguments it may hold...
Oscar Wilde uses his play, The Importance of Being Earnest, as a way of showing how ridiculous the Victorian era's views were, especially its views on marriage. ... Oscar Wilde conveys this idiocy through wit and satire given in the lines of the characters. Oscar Wilde has two male characters in his play that want to change their names to Ernest in order to obtain the love of two ladies. ... Wilde uses this word earnest to poke fun at Victorian society. ... Oscar Wilde was definitely brilliant in how he could criticize the nobles in his time with such humorous means. ...
The importance of being Earnest is a satire by Oscar Wilde where being earnest simply means having the name Earnest. The film dramatization of Wilde's renowned play is a comedy of manners and what is quite comic is the way it is structured. ... Oscar Wilde is criticizing the upper class in Britain in attempting to show its flaws and frailties. Wilde ridicules its behaviour and mannerisms and succeeds in revealing how absurd they are. ... I find it really interesting the way Wilde brings out his own opinions about the British upper class and the satire and irony surrounding it. ...
Oscar Wilde is another victim of his own conscience. ... Oscar Wilde had a belief that everyone lived a double life. The author, Oscar Wilde portrays his life through his novel. ... Oscar Wilde himself hid his identity. ... Therefore the work of Oscar Wilde has been created through his real life experiences. ...