The Importance of Being Earnest is very comical play that satirises the conventions and ideals of 18th century society. The characters were all societal cliché's defined by their status and revealed in their relations throughout the play. The comical conventions, which Oscar Wilde uses in the play, are neat epigrams. Either a character's very short statement that pointedly mocks a certain moral or social attitude or a simple paradox that associates two contradictory statements in one. The ideas expressed in the play are that people should treat any trivial matters in life very seriously and anything of importance with 'sincere and studied triviality'-Oscar WildeAn example of t ...view middle of the document...
London society is full of woman of the very highest birth who have, of their own free will, remained thirty-five for years."I think it highlights the deception and fiction of the society they are living in. The women are more concerned with their age being attractive than with honesty.The characters also have been created with the clichés of society in mind and so are easily recognisable to the reader.- The witty, opinionated man who has a high salary yet no status as far as birth, has a soft heart and takes himself very seriously-The witty, manipulative young man who lives for pleasure who has spent all his money and is quite spoilt. He also aims to marry a nice rich girl.- The daunting/formidable mother-in-law who wants to marry her daughter off very nicely- The stylish, 'woman of the world' who is sophisticated and knows what she wants and lives under the deception of the same ideals as her mother- The sweet, innocent, pretty, young girl who is uncorrupted by experiences of the modern world and who's 'bloom of ignorance has not been touched'The characters' ulterior motives combine and collide repetitively with Jack being the pillar of the story that follows his quest to marry Gwendolen.Jack and Algernon are perfectly matched and I find it quite ironic that they turn out to be brothers as they act like siblings right from the first act. They feed of each other's humour and absurdity and together create a seemingly polished surface."Come, old boy you had much better have the thing out at once""My dear Algy, you talk exactly as if you were a dentist. It is very vulgar to talk like a dentist when one is not a dentist. It produces a false impression.""Well is that not what dentists do?"Jack diverts Algy's attention from his demand for knowledge by concentrating on the pun in "having the thing out". Then continues by making a comment about vulgarity, which is then deflected by Algy who picks up on the pun of 'false impression'. This is a perfect example of the tidy and perfect wit which they both use in conversation with other characters. It portrays a very cocky male nature, which is recognisable of any society.When J...
