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Satire In The Importance Of Being Earnest

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From 1837- 1901s, Queen Victoria took her reign in British history. Living under the rigid and strict social moral standards, Victorian upper class seems to emphasize the importance of their manners and the vital of pursuit the most serious and sincere intense conviction in their life. However, in reality, Victorian upper class conceals the morally questionable behavior and their flaws through certain writers in Victoria Era. They criticize hypocrisy and dishonesty of characteristic so that emphasize the needs for change and social reform taking place in the society. In the play, The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde uses the comedic convictions of exaggeration, understatement, and irony to achieve a satirical portrait of Victorian …show more content…

When Gwendolen meets with Cecily in the first time, she tells Cecily that “Something tells me that we are going to be great friends...My first impressions of people are never wrong”(34) However, when Gwendolen and Cecily believe that they are both engaged to Ernest, they are jealous each other in the tea service. Attempting to take control of the situation, Gwendolen says to Cecily that “From the moment I saw you I distrusted you... My first impressions of people are invariably right.”(38) The food fight mix with a series of class bias and romantic jealousies between Gwendolen and Cecily in the Victorian Society through their attitude changed. Later, after Gwendolen realize that they have both been fooled, she embraces Cecily and calls her “sister”. From the rapid change of Gwendolen’s words in the conversation, Wilde uses verbal irony to highlight hypocrisy, arrogant and pretentious among the upper class. Gwendolen’s contradictive words also show her vulgar nature and manners against the moral code. Wilde further mocks the idea that Gwendolen and Cecily are engaged in the name rather than the characteristic of a person in the marriage. This is also a dramatic irony since they do not know that they are engaged to two different men who are pretending to be same Ernest but the reader can correctly understand the situation. It is silly to embrace the ideal of the name and determine their marriage based on a name. In the end of play, Jack finds out his real name and states that “I have now realised for the first time in my life the vital importance of Being Earnest ”(54) Wilde applies the situation irony to point out that Jack’s Christian name is Ernest and he has been telling the truth all the time even if Ernest is his Bunbury at first. Eventually, Jack

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