Marriage In Oscar Wilde's Much Ado About Nothing
One of the themes that Oscar Wilde includes in the play is the nature of marriage. The idea that marriage is treated as a business is expressly shown by multiple characters. The most recognizable example is Lady Bracknell after she learns that Jack proposed to her daughter, Gwendolen. “Lady Bracknell: I feel bound to tell you that you are not down on my list of eligible young men, …However, I am quite ready to enter your name, should your answers be what a really affectionate mother requires. (Wilde, pp 20)” Lady Bracknell then proceeds to ask Jack a series of questions about his financial status, his properties, and family. The fact that Lady Bracknell already had a list of eligible bachelors and a prepared interview shows that she is handling the situation as a business matter. Moreover, Algernon also sees marriage as a business rather than a pleasure and says so. “Jack: I am in love with Gwendolen. I have come up to town expressly to propose to her. Algernon: I thought you had come up for pleasure? ...I call that business. (Wilde, pp 4)” When Jack arrives to Algernon’s flat and calls his proposal to Gwendolen a “pleasure”, Algernon disagrees with him and calls it “business”. Additionally, there were opposing views on marriage between the characters. Lady Bracknell, for instance, thinks that marriage should be used to improve social status. “Lady Bracknell: You can hardly imagine that I and Lord Bracknell would dream of allowing our only daughter—a girl brought up with
Marriage In William Faulkner's Essay
1123 Words | 5 PagesWilliam Faulkner shows how committed Emily is to her family’s beliefs, in which she refuses to let go of the men in her life. The customs of her family has taught that marriage is an important part of life. It’s almost as if her family holds marriage higher than most or any other beliefs for the matter. Faulkner shows how an obsession with a person could intensify even after their death. Faulkner explains the importance of marriage in Emily’s life.
Literary Analysis Essay On The Great Gatsby
1208 Words | 5 PagesIt is assumed that men and women, for the most part, only married within their social upbringing. Wealth was the goal, but old money was the unreachable dream for some. Throughout the novel a major theme that is apparent is that morals
Religion In Oscar Wilde's The Picture Of Dorian Gray
756 Words | 4 PagesSome feel very strongly about what they know to be certain. Some feel certain about religion, others about love. In Oscar Wilde’s book The Picture of Dorian Gray a character, Lord Henry Wotton, says this, : “The things one feels absolutely certain about are never true. That is the fatality of Faith, and the lesson of romance” (181). The truth one knows does not always prove to be certain.
Marxism In The Importance Of Being Earnest
919 Words | 4 PagesOn several occasions, characters in the play express their indifference to matrimony: Lane, Algernon’s servant, mentions in conversation with Algernon that his marriage was “consequence of a misunderstanding between myself and a young person”, undermining the importance of intimacy in marriage. Lady Bracknell backs up this idea in Act III, where she tells Cecily Cardew and Algernon that: “I am not in favor of long engagements. They give people the opportunity of finding out each other’s character before marriage, which I think is never advisable”, displaying the belief that one does not actually need to be acquainted with the person they are to marry. Lady Bracknell also refers to another characteristic of Victorian marriages, which was their establishment as a predestined business transaction. In Victorian society, arranged marriages were more often a rule than an exception, and children had little to no say about these matters.
The Importance Of Being Earnest Rhetorical Analysis
920 Words | 4 PagesNot only do individuals change to meet the higher class standards, but they also change to meet the needs of the average class. “You are my little cousin Cecily, I’m sure” (60). Algernon wanted to marry Cecily and the only way of doing that, he thought, was by making a second identity. The last example how Wilde used exaggeration to show individuals couldn’t make decisions without the impact of society is when Lady Bracknell constantly lied regarding Jack being apart her family. Jack has never known who his mother or father was.
The Importance Of Marriage In Romeo And Juliet
746 Words | 3 PagesIn Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, the young couple gets married when Juliet is fourteen years old. In the fifteen century, during Romeo and Juliet’s time, marriage at a young age was extremely common, whereas in modern times many people get married close to thirty. Age is not the only wedding custom that differs today. Unlike the fifteenth century, in today’s society people are able to marry anyone they choose, people marry for much different reasons, and what is expected from the couple’s families have changed. Romeo and Juliet shows that marriage in the fifteenth century is between a man and women, and must be approved by the two families coming together in matrimony.
Love And Love In Oscar Wilde's The Importance Of Being Earnest
1137 Words | 5 PagesLove is a complicated affair, it involves the two lives of the couples and the lives of everyone around them. There are many factors that could break or make a relationship, for one to be successful they must be able to succeed in all of those factors. Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest delves into these factors regarding love and marriage. Wilde stresses the importance of social status and gender expectations as a key guideline for a successful marriage. For Wilde, social status is defined as birth, wealth, and power.
Being Earnest: Oscar Wilde's Criticism On The Upper Class
1059 Words | 5 Pagesarch 2018 The Importance of Being Earnest: Oscar Wilde’s Criticism on the Upper Class Using humor, cleverness, and style, Oscar Wilde illustrates the lives of the Victorian upper class in The Importance of Being Earnest. More specifically, the “Trivial Comedy for Serious People” reveals in a satirical manner the insignificant concerns of Great Britain’s aristocracy. In the introduction of The Picture of Dorian Gray and Other Writings, editor Richard Ellmann creates an overview of Wilde’s best known work.
What Are The Obstacles In The Relationship Between Elizabeth Bennett And Mr. Darcy
715 Words | 3 PagesAfter hearing stories of Mr. Darcy treating him unfairly Elizabeth begins to fall for Mr. Wickham. Along with a bad first impression of each other, another obstacle they face is Mrs. Bennett’s interest in Elizabeth marrying for money and not for love. Mrs. Bennett wants her daughters to have the wealthiest husband they can find, which is why her daughters went to Mr. Bingley’s
Relationships In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing
922 Words | 4 PagesShakespeare’s play, Much Ado About Nothing, is a play about multiple relationships. Hero and Claudio are the first relationship, and Beatrice and Benedick are the other relationship. The play talks about the ideal traits of a couple in the Shakespearian time period. Times have changed, as couples have evolved and have generally become less “traditional”. Back in the day, the female would submit to the male.
Gender Roles In Oscar Wilde's The Importance Of Being Earnest
928 Words | 4 PagesWilde’s representation of the British upper class, its values and opinions, is presented most notably through Lady Augusta Bracknell. She is a dignified aristocratic residing fashionable London society circles. On the surface, she is very typical Victorian woman. As a mother to Gwendolen Fairfax, she has a great authority over her controlling her life. She has even a list of ”eligible young man” whom she is ready to interview in order to select a suitable partner for her daughter.
Marriage In Oscar Wilde's The Importance Of Being Earnest
1653 Words | 7 PagesFor instance, Lady Bracknell’s hypocritical nature is exposed when the topic of marriage is brought up. “Lady Bracknell: But I do not approve of mercenary marriages. When I married Lord Bracknell, I had no fortune of any kind. But I never dreamed for a moment of allowing that to stand in my way (Wilde 78).”
Charlotte Lucas Pride And Prejudice Analysis
974 Words | 4 PagesDuring the 19th century, marriage was generally based on social standards and materialistic commodities rather than sentimental attraction. Pride and Prejudice is a novel that analyzes women and their contradicting attitudes towards marriage. Charlotte Lucas is a character that believes happiness is not a necessity as long as she is financially stable. Similarly, Jane Bennet is practical about her economic state while still recognizing the value of true love. In contrast, Lydia Bennet is young, immature and blinded by the idea of being admired.
Essay On Feminism In Jane Austen's Sense And Sensibility
2036 Words | 9 PagesDid you ever see her? A smart, stilish girl they say, but not handsome. I remember her aunt very well…she married a very wealthy man” (Austen 184). Willoughby despite loving Marianne marries Miss Gray for her money because of his financial state. Instead of love, money becomes a determiner for the choice of marriage, making it a commodity rather than a
The Importance Of Being Earnest Satire Analysis
1876 Words | 8 PagesWilde mocks at the superficiality of a Dandy in the mouth of Algernon, ‘I hate people who are not serious about meals. It is so shallow of them’ (303). The apparently absolutized tone on expressing his hatred unveils Wilde’s intention to mean the contrary: it is food that is not a serious matter, and people who are solely serious on food are so shallow of them. However, members of the idle upper class members were interested in nothing else
More about Marriage In Oscar Wilde's Much Ado About Nothing
Marriage In William Faulkner's Essay
1123 Words | 5 PagesLiterary Analysis Essay On The Great Gatsby
1208 Words | 5 PagesReligion In Oscar Wilde's The Picture Of Dorian Gray
756 Words | 4 PagesMarxism In The Importance Of Being Earnest
919 Words | 4 PagesThe Importance Of Being Earnest Rhetorical Analysis
920 Words | 4 PagesThe Importance Of Marriage In Romeo And Juliet
746 Words | 3 PagesLove And Love In Oscar Wilde's The Importance Of Being Earnest
1137 Words | 5 PagesBeing Earnest: Oscar Wilde's Criticism On The Upper Class
1059 Words | 5 PagesWhat Are The Obstacles In The Relationship Between Elizabeth Bennett And Mr. Darcy
715 Words | 3 PagesRelationships In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing
922 Words | 4 PagesGender Roles In Oscar Wilde's The Importance Of Being Earnest
928 Words | 4 PagesMarriage In Oscar Wilde's The Importance Of Being Earnest
1653 Words | 7 PagesCharlotte Lucas Pride And Prejudice Analysis
974 Words | 4 PagesEssay On Feminism In Jane Austen's Sense And Sensibility
2036 Words | 9 PagesThe Importance Of Being Earnest Satire Analysis
1876 Words | 8 Pages