The Importance of Being Earnest

(1895)

This is a witty outlook on the Victorian upper class, exposing a world of shallow indifference to true love. The young Jack Worthing and his good friend Algernon find themselves in a ridiculous situation after their fiancées learn they are coincidentally engaged to the same man. A glorious rendition of mistaken identity, Wilde's play is sure to get people of all ages and social class grinning, if not realizing themselves the importance of being earnest.

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Difficulties in Reading the Importance of Being Earnest (4-act version)

Difficulties in Reading the Importance of Being Earnest (4-act version) Need help. When reading through the Original 4-act play of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, I was baffled by some lines, the meaning of which I can’t quite make out. Please help me. I. Jack: Good heavens! And what nonsense are you reading, Algy? The Army List? Well, I don’t suppose you knew it was the Army List. And you’ve got it open at the wrong page. Besides, there is the thing staring you in the face. M. Generals … Mallam – what ghastly names they have – Markby……(Act IV) What does “Besides, there is the thing staring you in the face” mean? Does “the thing” allude to Cecily, and thus the line means “besides, Cecily is staring you in the face”? Or is it a set-phrase of something? II. Lady Bracknell: That is not the destiny I propose for Gwendolen. Algernon, of course, can choose for himself. Come, dear, we have already missed five, if not six, trains. To miss any more might expose us to comment on the platform. By “To miss any more might expose us to comment on the platform”, does the author mean “leave them to be commented or humiliated by others on the platform” or “leave them on the platform complaining in vain”? III. ALGERNON: My departure will not long be delayed. I have come to bid you good-bye, Miss Cardew. I am informed that a dog-cart has been already ordered for me. I have no option but to go back again into the cold world. CECILY: I hardly know, Mr. Worthing, what you can mean by using such an expression. The day, even for the month of July, is unusually warm. MISS PRISM: Profligacy is apt to dull the senses. ALGERNON: No doubt. I am far from defending the weather. I think, however, that it is only my duty to mention to you, Miss Prism, that Dr Chasuble is expecting you in the vestry. Here, does “I am far from defending the weather” mean “I’m far from dull in sensing the weather” or does “defending” here simply mean defend in sense of protection? IV. What is a “Novel with a purpose”? Does it refer to any meaningful novel in broad sense or does it refer to motivating or inspiring ones? V. In Act IV, when everyone is skimming books to find out Jack’s Christian name, Jack didn’t assign Gwendolen any book, saying that “Gwendolen—no, it would agitate you too much. Leave these researches to less philosophic natures like ours.” What does “Philosophic natures” mean? Looking forward to your opinions, thanks very much.

Posted By zla336688 at Thu 1 May 2008, 9:30 AM in The Importance of Being Earnest || 0 Replies

149

When Lady Bracknell is making the interview to Jack when he tells her the number of the door at his city house he says 'number 149' and she comments 'Ohhh the unfashionable side'... What did she (Wilde) meant with that? I thought soemthing about the floors, but in the first floor they were actually the richest people who live at the first one.. so why did she mean with it?

Posted By Laporis at Tue 15 May 2007, 1:51 PM in The Importance of Being Earnest || 3 Replies

TIOBE is a satire on the follies and foibles of the upper class in England

TIOBE is a satire on the follies and foibles of the upper class in England during Oscar Wildes time this is a topic on which i have to write a paper the problem is that TIOBE is a farce any ideas on how i can attempt the answer? also if anyone has any interesting insignts, links to helpful sites etc i would really appreciate ANY help!! thanks

Posted By lightgodess at Sun 13 May 2007, 5:21 AM in The Importance of Being Earnest || 0 Replies

The Importance of Being Earnest

Hello, Since this is my first post, I may as well introduce myself here. My name is p0w3r 7ur7l3. Done. lol. ;) Actually, this thread is of a more serious nature. I have signed up in order to ask questions of, what appears at any rate, to be a community where the average intelligence level is quite a bit higher than at, say, sparknotes. I decided to create my own thread instead of necroposting some of the other IoBE threads since my questions are of a somewhat different nature. And, before you ask and flame, yes I am writting an essay for an english course; no I don't want you to write it for me, yes I have given thought to the issues at hand before I took 15 minutes to sign up here and post and then wait for intelligent replies. Thank you. The basic topic of my essay will be to compare the clown characters within Marlow's Faustus to the characters of Miss Prism/DD Chasuble in IoBE and analyse their contribution to any relevant themes. I have only two issues: I am having a *very* hard time finding solid source material dealing with these points (ie: journals, literary critiques, etc...). I am also having a hard time with an in-depth look at Mrs. Prism. I understand the metaphor inherent with her name, and the reference to Dickens' earlier work (with Mrs. General) but aside from the prunes'n'prisms reference there isn't much (in the way of verifiable quotations) to substantiate the use of Mrs. Prism as the object of satire. I'd like to use her to contrast with Algy and Jack and to reafirm their critique of all things fashionable and with 'class' but I need some academic sources. I would be most in debt to you if anyone could shed some light onto a deeper interpretation of Mrs. Prisms/DD Chasuble's characters and/or provide links or article names to any academic sources that may be relevant to my point of view. I have access to all the standard journal databases and so forth that any university would, so if all you have is an article name that you found online at your own campus, odds are that I will be able to find it. Thank you very much for your help, I am...uh... earnestly awaiting your response. - Ryan TL : DR = I need help finding academic sources/articles/quotations to aid me in my characterizing Mrs. Prism and comparing said characterization to a smiliar comparison to the clown characters in Dr. Faustus.

Posted By p0w3r_7ur7l3 at Fri 30 Mar 2007, 7:17 PM in The Importance of Being Earnest || 2 Replies

Feminism in I.O.B.E.

does anyone know of any knowledgeable links for critical commentary on this topic? thank you.

Posted By indieriotgrrrl at Fri 15 Dec 2006, 9:00 PM in The Importance of Being Earnest || 0 Replies

Modernizing this wonderful play--possible?

I'm in a class on the impact of humor in society, and we've got a final creative project due in a few weeks. It's pretty wide open, but it's encouraged that they relate to one of the plays we've studied--among them, 'The Importance of Being Earnest'! Of COURSE, I postively love this play, and I got an interesting idea... what if I tried 'modernizing' a scene, or maybe an abridgement of the entire play? I fully realize how challenging this could be, since so much of the humor and plot relies on the age and locale. That's kind of why it's tempting! I'm not sure, though, whether I might be in way over my head. Does anybody here have thoughts on whether this is even possible, and if it is, some hints on how to go about it?

Posted By SummerSolstice at Thu 2 Nov 2006, 12:22 PM in The Importance of Being Earnest || 16 Replies

Good literature?

Hi folks - today my colleagues and I discussed at university if "Bridget Jones' Diary" is good literature. Some said no, some said yes and when someone compared it with "The Importance of Being Earnest", we were all confused - I believe that "The Importance of Being Earnest" IS good literature and Bridget is not, even though they are both, in a way, comedies. Now, I need your help: it's been quite a while that I read Wilde's play and I don't have enough time to spend on analysing it. Why is "The Importance of Being Earnest" good literature? What are the elements that make it good? Do the same elements occur in Bridget Jones (I'm sure they don't - but what do you think?) I thank you very much for your replies in advance.

Posted By Galdalay at Wed 3 May 2006, 1:11 PM in The Importance of Being Earnest || 4 Replies

Oscar Wilde's "Treatment of the Absurd"??

I have a academic research paper on Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest due in 5 days and I have hardley been able to start it because I don't understand my professors question directed to the topic. Basically, what I am to be writting on is: "Explain Oscar Wilde's treatment of the absurd in The Importance of Being Earnest . However, I do not understand what he means by "treatment of the absurd". What aspect of absurdity should I be focusuing on? If anyone has any thoughts PLEASE let me know!!! It would be great help!!!!! :brickwall

Posted By Tiauna91 at Sat 18 Mar 2006, 2:52 PM in The Importance of Being Earnest || 0 Replies

come on, read my post, sienfeld to wilde

common guys, lets get moving on this. i only have a 2 days. how are my ideas? have any others which I can cite from you?

Posted By JohnnyXYZ at Sun 20 Nov 2005, 10:21 AM in The Importance of Being Earnest || 1 Reply

sienfeld to wilde comparison

I am attempting a Sienfeld to Wilde, Importance of Being Earnest, comparison for my oral presentation on Tuesday. I already have some ideas, which may or may not be lousy, including the facts that: -- aestheticism was basically the same as making a show about nothing, as it tried to escape from the trappings that literature should have a moral attatched to it. Seinfeld did the same with his show. --The characters in both are incredibly self absorbed, they really don't even care about each other. --They have no moral consicience. --There is repition of jokes or punchlines that have already been used for comedic effect. --They are both a reflection of popular culture. --They all say or do things that are the opposite of what would be considered normal or right. Remember the Opposites episode(hilarious)?-- Couldn't you imagine Oscar Wilde coming up with Sienfeld's concept of, "regifting?" plus more. Any ideas, people?

Posted By JohnnyXYZ at Sat 19 Nov 2005, 7:29 PM in The Importance of Being Earnest || 3 Replies

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The Importance of Being Earnest

(1895)

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