Thinking activity: importance of being earnest

 ⚫ which of the female characters is the most attractive to you among lady Augusta Bracknell,  Gwendolen Fairfax, cecily cardew and miss prism ? Give your reasons for she being the most attractive among all .

⚫ Introduction ⚫

Oscar Wilde

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, the early 1890s saw him become one of the most popular playwrights in London. He is best remembered for his epigrams and plays, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, and the circumstances of his criminal conviction for gross indecency for consensual homosexual acts, imprisonment, and early death from meningitis at age 46.

Wilde's parents were Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. A young Wilde learned to speak fluent French and German. At university, Wilde read Greats; he demonstrated himself to be an exceptional classicist, first at Trinity College Dublin, then at Oxford. He became associated with the emerging philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles.

⚫ Importance of being earnest ⚫

The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae to escape burdensome social obligations. Working within the social conventions of late Victorian London, the play's major themes are the triviality with which it treats institutions as serious as marriage, and the resulting satire of Victorian ways. Some contemporary reviews praised the play's humour and the culmination of Wilde's artistic career, while others were cautious about its lack of social messages. Its high farce and witty dialogue have helped make The Importance of Being Earnest Wilde's most enduringly popular play.

The successful opening night marked the climax of Wilde's career but also heralded his downfall. The Marquess of Queensberry, whose son Lord Alfred Douglas was Wilde's lover, planned to present the writer with a bouquet of rotten vegetables and disrupt the show. Wilde was tipped off and Queensberry was refused admission. Their feud came to a climax in court, where Wilde's homosexuality was revealed to the Victorian public and he was sentenced to imprisonment. Despite the play's early success, Wilde's notoriety caused the play to be closed after 86 performances. After his release from prison, he published the play from exile in Paris, but he wrote no further comic or dramatic work.

⚫ women's Characters in "importance of being earnest" 

"The importance of being earnest" was written by the famous Irish author Oscar Wilde. The Play represents Wilde's late Victorian view of the aristocracy, merriage,wit and social life during the early 1900's.  His Characters are typical Victorian snobs who are arrogant, overly proper, formal, and concerned with money . The women are portrayed as sheltered , uneducated, and some of dominating figures over the men in their lives . There is no sense of identity for Cecily and Gwendolen , the only women within the Play that clearly stands out is the Governess , Lady Bracknell .

⚫The Wit of Cecily and Miss Prism⚫

Cecily makes a witty remark when she says that human memory records things that have never happened and that could not possibly have happened. Another witty remark that she makes is as follows : “When one is going to lead an entirely new life, one requires regular and wholesome meals.” Cecily’s wit is quite biting in the course of her dialogue with Gwendolen. For instance, when Gwendolen says that she hates crowds, Cecily makes the following sarcastic remark to her : “I suppose that is why you live in town. Miss Prism is witty too, and her wit is often caustic as in her remarks about Jack’s supposed younger brother. She also amuses us when she says that she can understand a misanthrope but not a womanthrope*. Another witty remark that she makes is that no married man is ever attractive except to his wife.

⚫Both Gwendolen and Cecily in Love With the Name “Ernest”

In certain respects, as has been already pointed out, these two, girls are alike. Both readily accept the proposals of marriage from their respective lovers. Both are fascinated by the name Ernest. Gwendolen says that it was always her cherished ideal to love someone of the name of Ernest. It is a divine name with a music of its own, and it produces vibrations, she says. Cecily likewise says that it had always been a girlish dream of hers to love someone whose name was Ernest. Both the girls think that there is something in the name Ernest which inspires absolute confidence. Of course, the reaction of each of these girls to the name Ernest is absurd, but absurdity is the very keynote of this play. Cecily’s account of how she had fallen in love with Ernest (who is actually Algernon) is even more absurd than her enthusiastic reaction to the nare. She fell in love with her guardian’s younger brother without even having seen or met him ; she got engaged to, him in her imagination ; and she even bought herself an engagement ring in his name.

click here for full movie  "importance of being earnest" by Oscar Wilde

⚫Each Woman Distinguishable From the Others

It is not for his portrayal of human character that Wilde is famous as a playwright. His strength as a dramatist lies neither in character-portrayal nor in his plots which are deficient in action. His strength lies in his dialogues which amuse us greatly by their humour and wit. However, that does not mean that Wilde fails altogether in the portrayal of his men and women. The four women in The Importance of Being Earnest, for instance, have been drawn with a fair degree of success.

The four women are Gwendolen, Cecily, Miss Prism, and above all Lady Bracknell. Each of these women has clearly been differentiated from the others. Of course, the talent for making witty remarks and observations is common to all these women. In respect of wit they are almost all alike, though Lady Bracknell can be singled out as the wittiest of all and as the most pungent in her wit. Between Gwendolen and Cecily too there are certain similarities, and in some respect one echoes the other. But there are also certain distinguishing features of each of them. On the whole, then, we can safely affirm that each of the four women has been individualized and been made to live before us, though Lady Bracknell occupies a commanding position.

⚫ Lady Bracknell ⚫

Wilde creates Lady Bracknell to represent society during the 1900's . Her tone

Is Always earnest: She is arrogant and she speaks in commands , judgements and pronouncements . She is always serious and authoritative , being the adult figure in the Play ; she imposes the rules and authority . However much of  what she says is ridiculous , hypocritical, self -contradictory. Lady Bracknell contradicts herself when she wonders about the possibility of Algernon and Cecily get merried and she does not agree with mercenary marriage , but she herself married into the same situation .

" But I do not approve my mercenary marriages. When I merried lord Bracknell I had no fortune to any kind ." Lady Bracknell is always thinking of money when it comes down to these circumstances .

If Algernon and Cecily get married , they will share her considerable amount of wealth . "A hundred and thirty thousand pounds! And in Funds! Miss cardew seems to more attractive to me a most attractive lady , Now that I look at her."she also finds long engagements not acceptable as, " they give the people opportunity of finding out each others Character before marriage,". Lady Bracknell has this idea of making someone look something that they are really not . As long as you look good ,  that is what is important. This causes the women in the Play such as cecily and Gwendolen to live sheltered and uneducated lives.

Simply put Cecily as a country girl, while Gwendolen is a city girl; with that in mind that similarly portrayed by Wilde. Both women lead a very sheltered life , which in turn takes away from their educations. The women are far from stupid, but they are not well informed with the ways of the world, foremost the ways of the society they live in. Gwendolen is sheltered by her mother, Lady Bracknell, who does not approve of education in England, as she puts it, "fortunately in England,at any rate, education produces no effects whatsoever." Most likely did not sent her daughter to any educational institute other than a manner's school for a women.

Gwendolen herself understands what her mother tries to do to her , " mamma , whose views on education are remarkably strict, has brought me up to be extremely short-sighted". Cecily is sheltered aswell, but her locating is the reason for it. She resides the country and even though an education is offered, she is not interested,"but I don't like German. It isn't at all a booming language. I know perfectly well that I look quite plain after my German lesson." Both women lead sheltered lives which creates boredom and imagination within their minds.

Cecily and Gwendolen have both fallen in love with a name, which is part of their fantasy that they have imagined because of their utter boredom. Wilde makes a point to show that these "important" women in society talk more than they actually do. Nothing is truer when it is revealed what is written in Cecily's diary," you can see the entry of you like."today I broke off my engagement with earnest. I feel it is better to do so . The weather still continues charming." Everything in her diary has been imagined with the exception of the weather. There is no difference with Gwendolen as she too keeps a fictional diary on hand to keep her occupied.

👉 Here is the video of  "importance of being earnest"

   

Both women keep their diary's also as records to their lives, although most of the information in them is imagined; they still believe in what is written and both use it to figure out who is actually engaged to earnest. Both women do not work, do not host social gatherings, or do not go to school, so they find themselves with much time on their hands and both have a active imagination. They have both imagined an earnest in their minds and no other man will do, both have said the name inspires confidence. Wilde is making a statement to society that women should not be treated in this manner and they should be treated as equals to men, which during the 1900's a movement towards equality started.

Wilde portrays women in his Play " The importance of being earnest" in many lights; a strong authority figure in Lady Bracknell , who dominates the men and women in her life Gwendolen who is the helpless sort-sighted city girl, who has imagined a life outside her own and the same can be said for Cecily from the country. Wilde showed that Cecily and Gwendolen lacked an identity and that is because they have lived no life to contribute to giving them one. The irony to their lack of identity is they both imagined and loved a man who only had a name and no identity as well earnest.

 It’s is beautifully eloquent and extremely witty. The films and theatre performances are always good to watch to see how the characters are portrayed.

The 1952 Antony Asquith film production is the best portrayal in my opinion. Asquith films are always good but this was compounded by brilliant acting from Joan Greenwood, Michael Denison and Redgrave and the wonderful Margaret Rutherford. It makes me smile just thinking of it.

Wilde was a brilliant social critic and commentator with a command of the English language which is seldom equalled. In fact I’m going to get my old dvd out !

⚫ Characters

11885

⚫ Words

2003

⚫ Sentences

113

⚫ Paragraphs

33