THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST By Oscar Wilde

A SERIOUS COMEDY FOR TRIVIAL PEOPLE A TRIVIAL COMEDY FOR SERIOUS PEOPLE

LIFE IS TOO IMPORTANT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY.

EPIGRAM - a short, witty, often paradoxical saying designed to surprise an audience

“I ALWAYS PASS ON GOOD ADVICE. IT IS THE ONLY THING TO DO WITH IT. IT IS NEVER OF ANY USE TO ONESELF. ”

“I CAN RESIST EVERYTHING EXCEPT TEMPTATION. ”

IRREVERENT REMARKS POKE FUN AT CONVENTIONALLY SERIOUS TOPICS SUCH AS LOVE, DEATH, RELIGION AND MARRIAGE.

HOMOPHONES Ernest – a name given to a male Earnest (adj. )– serious in intention, purpose , or effort; showing depth and sincerity of feeling

VICTORIAN CULTURE Earnestness was valued as a character trait. Wilde ridicules the value structure of polite society through characters who are flippant about matters that usually provoke sincerity, such as marriage and religion. Wilde sees that Victorian respectability forces people to lead “double lives, one respectable, one frivolous, neither earnest. ”

FARCE A play intended primarily to make people laugh, using buffoonery and presenting ludicrously improbable situations

ROMANTIC COMEDY - typically involves an idealized pair of lovers who seem destined to be kept apart by circumstances or social conventions.

COMEDY OF MANNERS - a play that presents a contrived plot in which the artificial terms of a sophisticated society are exposed and satirized. The dialogue is light, witty and cynical.

WORDPLAY - the witty exploitation of the meanings and ambiguities of words, especially in puns

NEOLOGISM - An invented word - Ex. Bunburyist

DUALITY - an instance of opposition or contrast between two concepts or two aspects of something; a dualism.

CITY - Associated with sophistication and social obligations - Ernest is self-indulgent

COUNTRY - Associated with simplicity and idleness - Jack is morally upright

ANTITHESIS - a person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else

INNUENDO - an allusive or oblique remark or hint, typically a suggestive or disparaging one.

CONCEIT - a kind of metaphor that compares two very unlike things in a surprising and clever way. Often, conceits are extended metaphors that dominate an entire passage or poem.

RUSE - an action intended to deceive someone; a trick.

STAGECRAFT - the technical aspects of theatrical production, which include scenic design, stage machinery, lighting, sound, costume design, and makeup.

PARODY - an imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect.

Romantic Comedy – typically involves an idealized pair of lovers who seem destined to be kept apart by circumstances or social conventions. The lovers ultimately unite after the good are rewarded and the evil are punished. A conventional ending would entail each character learning a valuable lesson: be honest and truthful from the outset and everything will work out. In Wilde’s play, however, no lessons are learned and although lies lead to more lies, they also lead to a happy ending. Therefore, there are no morals and values upheld.

In Wilde’s play, however, no lessons are learned and although lies lead to more lies, they also lead to a happy ending. Therefore, there are no morals and values upheld.