Oscar Wilde, rather than focusing on the lower classes or social conditions as other authors of his time did, chose to satirize the life of the English aristocracy, a world with which he was personally familiar.
His characters are typical Victorian snobs; they are often arrogant, overly proper, formal, and concerned with money. Lady Bracknell in particular embodies the stereotype of the Victorian English aristocrat. Wilde focuses on the easy life of the wealthy, none of whom seem to work at all. Indeed, the main concern of all the characters in the play is something that Wilde viewed as rather trivial: marriage.
Of course, Wilde pokes fun at the institution of marriage, which he saw as a practice surrounded by hypocrisy and absurdity. The Importance of Being Earnest depicts marriage and social values as something often tied together in destructive ways.
Ultimately, the aristocracy does not see marriage as an organ of love, but rather as a tool for achieving or sustaining social stature. This is the major theme of the play.
After having read the first Act of IOBE; and taking into account the Introduction to this post, choose and comment on ONE of the following questions.
NOTE: PLEASE, mind language and grammar mistakes.
NOTE: PLEASE, mind language and grammar mistakes
Eventhough this is not an essay, your written ideas should always have the same structure (INTRODUCTION; DEVELOPMENT AND CONCLUSION). All future entries with similar objectives (written opinion or analysis) will be considered as part of your evaluation and GRADED as such.
Only one warning: NO PLAGIORISM WILL BE ADMITTED. The blog is meant for you to express your own views. If you consider something somebody else has said interesting and you want to share it, ACKNOWEDGE the source. This will be so for every assignment in our subject.
Good luck!
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1) Put Gwendolen's "ideals" together with Lady Bracknell's requirements for her suitor and try to explain the importance of marriage in this play.
2) Play around with the account Jack gives of his birth. What is significant about his having been discovered in an ordinary handbag lost in the cloakroom of a railroad car?
3) Jack claims at one point that he is tired of living in a society of wits. What do you think is the function of all the witty paradoxes and epigrams in this play?
4) Keep your eye on the status of the females in this play. What is the role of women in this play, and how does this role reflect 'real' women of the times?
14 comentarios:
Marriage was a very important aspect of Victorian Times. The selection was made carefully as it is showed in the play, it had to a assure your future and that's why the ladys in the play are so strict within marriage.The economic situation of your couple had to assure your future life and wealth was quite important so the families made the selection with patience and knowing that marriage was serious matter.
FEde
2) Lady Bracknell thought that being born, or at any rate bred, in a hand-bag seems to her to display a contempt for the ordinary decencies of family life.
So she told Jack to "produce" parents or at least only one, of either sex.
As Fede said, marriage was a serious matter during that time . That's why Gwendolen's mother was so strict about Jack's origins because she couldn't stand that her son was going to get married with someone who didn't know who his parents were. Lady Bracknell had to decided patiently if her son was going to marry Jack or no, because if she got married with him, as her mother said,she was going to give a bad impression about her family.
Manesh.
1) Put Gwendolen's "ideals" together with Lady Bracknell's requirements for her suitor and try to explain the importance of marriage in this play. I understand why Gwendolen's mother was so worried and strict about what kind of people was her son going to married, Jack. He even didn't know who his parents were.
As Manesh saidm " ... she was going to give a bad impression about her family" At that time, it was also very important the impression of the family, how the family shows their values to the society.
Mary RL
As Fede and Manesh said, marriage was a very important and serious matters at that time.
4)The role that women had in victorian times can be seen through the play. Women were ment to be married and that was the unique aim of their lifes. In the play, characters as Gwendolen or Cecily are shown as shallow and silly girls who spent all day thinking who they were going to marry or staring at the weather. And this was what women were supposed to do in Victorian times, to accept how the society was and dont try to understand it.
Mary C
I absolutelly agree with what Mery said. Women`s only aim of existance was to get married, have a good social and economic position and to satify men`s needs. They were supossed to marry a wealthy man, no matter his character, in order to have material prosperity. Men, in the other hand, didnt care if women were intelligent or not, they just got married beacuse that was what it was used to do, so women didnt mind to improve their intelligence or not. Thay just spent their time imaginbing thei marriage.
Mecha
Marriage was really important because at thoes times, women were only thinkig about who was going to be the men of their life's, ther wew all the time waiting for her boys. Gwendolen and Cecily, were two examples of this girls.
scopo
At victorian times, the rol of women was very different to the one in our days.
Woman was seeing as an object; they had no place in discussions about politic or any other topic, and they had to accept everything as they were told.Their main goal in life was to marry a wealthy man, who could support them financially.
In short, they weren´t considered as intelligent people; they were seen as inferior to men in almost every aspect.
Ingrid
As some of the girls said before, women at those times had a totally different role in society that the one they have now.
This can be seen all through the novel, especially by their attitudes and behaviour. This means that they acted in a really silly and childish way, only thinking about who they would marry or just talking about nothing. But there were other women, Lady Breknell in the book, that would not only care to get her daughter married, but also to engage her with a well positioned men. That way of thinking was very common in those days too.
To conclude I can say that women's only role on society was to bring up their kids and to take care of their homes, and they were not taken seriously neither by their husband nor by any male figure in the family.
Marina
2) Lady Bracknell thought that being born in a hand bag was too ordinary, so she asked him to invent a new past with wealthy parents so she would let her marry Gwendoleen.
For Lady Bracknell it would be a disgrace to have someone that has born in a handbag as family.
This play shows marriage was very important at that time; not only marriage, but a proper one.
It was very important for a woman to marry with a man of a wealthy economic and social position and it was also important for a man to marry a woman with a good income.
In the play we see Gwendolen wants to get married with Jack ("Earnest") and how her mother doesn't let her make such a desition (at that time women did not decide their marriage by themselves, their parents did and by convenience) because of Jack's origins although he had quite a good economical position.
2) it is significant the fact that he does not know who his parents are, and the silly manner which he talks about them
sebastian
Sebas: Don't you think that's a bit too short!!!!!!! And besides, those are the same exact words I told you when you asked me what the question really meant!
So, I'd say you give it another try...because this answer is not really satisfactory.
Thanks
Try again!
ALdana
As everyone said, marriage was a very important fact in Victorian times. It was dissgraceful to ones family to marry a poor girl or man. It didn't matter how that person was, but how much money they had.
Pato
4) the role of woman is reflected though out the play. Woman did nothing and only waited for their man to appear and propose to them. They were mainly thinking about that. For example, Cecily was always thinking in this knight that would appear and propose to her. This was the role of woman, always thinking about appearance, and do nothing but marry
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