I thoroughly enjoyed the clever social satire and charming wit of Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest". Wilde subtly makes a mockery of the aristocratic conventions of the time using intricate wordplay and extremely misled but immediately likable characters. Lady Bracknell, despite her pious obedience to England's rigid social structures, is possibly my favorite, her statements inspiring the most laughter from me:
Lady Bracknell, to Cecily: "Pretty child! your dress is sadly simple, and your hair seems almost as Nature might have left it. But we can soon alter all that."
To Algernon: "Never speak disrespectfully of Society, Algernon. Only people who can't get into it do that."
To Jack: "I have always been of opinion that a man who desires to get married should know either everything or nothing. Which do you know?"
I found the scene between Jack and Algernon where they are discussing how women never marry the men they flirt with and that was the reason for the large numbers of bachelors in England. I think that Wild was most certainly mocking the social structures of the time with this work. Among many things he makes fun of the institution of marriage is one that he goes after with a particular vigor. I see the whole play as a mockery of the rigid norms of the time.
ReplyDeleteI love how Wilde portrays the upper class as such under-educated yet entitled individuals. I talked about this a little bit in our groups in class, but I wonder exactly how educated the upper class were in this period. In "Earnest", Algernon scoffs at education in saying that "Anyone can read/play music accurately, but I play with wonderful expression." In saying this, he is implying that the true level of skill in playing music cannot simply be learned and taught. Also, when Lady Bracknell is interrogating Jack, she asks if he knows everything or if he knows nothing - to which Jack replies "I know nothing." She praises him for this answer and proclaims that "Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone."
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how, as sophisticated as these aristocrats are, they speak of education as almost a vice - something that separates them from the lower class. They are proud of their ignorance and that is kind of hilarious.