This blog is written as part of assignment of semester 1, assigned by Dr. Dilip Barad, Department of English, MKBU. In this blog I am going to discuss The Importance of Being Earnest as Comedy of Manners.
Name:- Trushali Dodiya
Roll No:- 21
Semester:- 1(Batch 2022-24)
Enrollment number:- 4069206420220011
Paper No:- 104
Paper name:- Literature of the Victorians
Paper code:- 22395
Topic:- The Importance of Being Earnest as Comedy of Manners
Submitted to:- Smt. S. B. Gardi Department of English, Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University
Email Address:- trushalidodiya84@gmail.com
'The Importance of Being Earnest' as Comedy of Manners
Table of content
- Introduction
- Comedy - General Introduction
- Comedy of Manners
- Brief Introduction of the Playwright Oscar Wilde
- Importance of Being Earnest
- Characters
- Major Conflict
- Importance of Being Earnest as a Comedy of Manners
- End of the Play
- Conclusion
★ Introduction:-
'The Importance of Being Earnest' is a play written by an English author Oscar Wilde. It was first performed in 1895 and published in 1899. It is being considered as the greatest dramatic expression of Oscar Wilde. Its full title is The 'Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People', which is written in three acts containing the content to basically make a satire on Victorian social hypocrisy. The title itself suggests what will be there in the text. It is basically a farce created by the characters of the play, first by Jack and Algernon and then by Gwendolen and Cecily. Throughout the play, we come across many such events and actions which are considered as an important part of the Victorian society. This comedy is considered as Comedy of Manners, a genre which was prevailing in Victorian society.
★ Comedy - General Introduction:-
According to R. J. Rees, Comedy is generally defined as a literary work that is written to amuse or entertain a reader. In a comedy, characters can certainly suffer misfortune, but they are typically comedic situations with positive outcomes.(Rees et al. Comedy: the Light and the Dark 179-201) R. J. Rees classified Comedy in five groups)
- Romantic comedy
- Comedy of humours
- Comedy of Manners
- Sentimental comedy
- Black or Dark comedy
Though, all these have similar genre- comedy, all have different structure and way of expression, which distinguish them.
★ Comedy of Manners:-
The phrase Comedy of manners is often used in literary history and criticism, though its meaning is not always clear. It applied in England to the Restoration dramatists, especially Congreve and Wycherley. During the Restoration period the chief dramatic mode was comedy. In the Puritan Age Theatres were closed and after the Restoration of Charles II, he gave freedom for dramatic expressions. And if you suppress something for a longer period of time, it will rise more. The vulgarity which was there before the Puritan Age, is doubled in the Restoration era. The comedy of Manners is an outcome of it. It makes fun not so much of individual human beings and their humours as of social groups and their fashionable manners. It is generally more or less satirical though in a good natured way. The comedy of manners is most likely to be found in an aristocratic group. It is a highly artificial form of drama, full of verbal wit, and sometimes inclined to be cynical and hard. Oscar Wilde and Sheridan are also the biggest writers of this kind of comedy.(Rees et al. Comedy: the Light and the Dark 179-201)
- Wycherley's "The Country Wife"; it was showing the moral weakness of a particular social group, asking us to laugh at it but not necessary to approve of it.
- Sheridan's "The School for Scandal"; it depicts immoral behaviour of Lady Sneewell and Sir Benjamin- presumably because it is not sexually immoral (Rees et al. Comedy: the Light and the Dark 179-201)
The subject of Comedy of Manners is the way people behave, manners they employ in a social context; the chief concerns of the characters are Sex and Money( and thus the interrelated topics of Marriage, adultery and Divorce); the style of distinguished by the refinement of raw emotional expression and action in the subtlety of wit and intrigue.(Hirst Comedy of manners)
★ Brief Introduction of the Playwright Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde's full name was Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde. He was born on 16 October, 1854 in Dublin, Ireland and died on 30 November, 1900 in Paris, France. He was a poet, dramatist and novelist. His major fame rests on three of his works.
- His only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891)
- His comic masterpieces Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892)
- The Importance of Being Earnest (1895).
He was a spokesman for the late 19th-century "Aesthetic movement" in England, which advocated art for art’s sake.
"Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known."(English and Robinson 20 Oscar wilde quotes that make us want to be his best friend)
He was the object of celebrated civil and criminal suits involving homosexuality and ending in his imprisonment (1895–97).(Oscar Wilde) Wilde's writing was dominated by the relation between life and art. This explains his mockery against the negative aspects of the society. In Spite of his genius in his works, he got less importance in the history books. His Name is not even mentioned in some of the best History books.
★ The Importance of Being Earnest:-
Importance of Being Earnest is a three act Play written by Oscar Wilde in the late 19th century. This work is a true reflection of the Victorian society in which the writer lived. This work is a true representation of the triviality of the upper class people by simply Mocking at them. In this work, we find a touch of the satire, but it is not harsh like that of Swift and Pope. Wilde makes satire on the aristocratic people by simply laughing at their way of living. In this play by encoding the importance of the Name of "Earnest", Wilde illustrates how Victorian people were living.
Major characters
- John Worthing - J.P.
- Algernon - Moncrieff
- Rev. Canon Chasuble
- Merriman - the Butler of Algernon
- Lane - Manservant of Jake
- Lady Bracknell - Mother of Gwendolen
- Hon. Gwendolen Fairfax
- Cecily Cardew
- Miss Prism, Governess of Cecily
Major conflict:-
The major conflict of the play is the importance of the Name 'Earnest'. Both Gwendolen and Celily are fond of the name 'Earnest' , not a real person. As Jack changes his Name to Earnest to come to the City, because of his name, he is adored by Gwendolen. Cecily also likes Algernon as he comes to her home as disgusting as Earnest.
★ 'Importance of Being Earnest' as a Comedy of Manners:-
The importance of Being Earnest is a Comedy of Manner. The plot revolves around lust between characters, the play features verbal wit and Algernon acts as an unscrupulous character - these are all main features of a Comedy of Manners.
As its Title suggests, Oscar Wilde stated that this play is for serious people, going to be trivial. The second way this could be interpreted is that he meant the subtitle in a very witty and sarcastic way
It is based on dialogue, which takes the form of paradoxes, epigrams and irony. It gave emergence to the comic effect upon the readers and the audience. The play contains enormous paradoxical statements, witty epigrams, ironical or sarcastic remarks that are made by the characters by their interaction. This evokes laughter and humour from the audience. In fact all the characters have paradoxical personalities. Their behaviour is completely different. We all accept the view that truth is always pure and simple, but Algernon remarks:
"The truth is rarely pure and never simple. Modern life would be tedious if it were either, and modern literature a complete impossibility". (Wilde The importance of being earnest)
Jack makes a number of paradoxical remarks. In act 1, On seeing tea-cups and cucumber sandwiches laid out for tea, he says,
"Why all these cups? Why cucumber sandwiches? Why such reckless extravagance in one so young?
Gwendolen also gives paradoxical statements when her mother Lady Bracknell does not give her approval to Jack's proposal of marriage. Lady Bracknell is, of course, a master of paradox in the play. Initially she rejects Jake when he appears as Jack and Cecily. When she finds Cecily has a large fortune, she immediately approves of her marriage to her nephew Algernon. During a heated argument about the belonging of Jack Worthing, Lady Bracknell confesses, "I dislike arguments of any kind. They are always vulgar, and often convincing".
Cecily and Gwendolen both have paradoxical personalities, as they both love the name Earnest not a person. In act 1, Gwendolen gives explanation why she likes the name Earnest, by her statements,
"It suits you perfectly. It(Earnest) is a divine name. It has a music of its own. It produces vibrations."
"Jack? . . . No, there is very little music in the name Jack, if any at all, indeed. It does not thrill. It produces absolutely no vibrations …………….……….. The only really safe name is Ernest."
★ Importance of the Name 'Earnest'
In this play Jack Worthing has a split personality by using two names - Jake and Earnest. Algernon uses the Name 'Earnest When he meets Cecily. Both the ladies are fond of the name Earnest.
 |
| (Parker The importance of being earnest) |
In act 2, Cecily and Gwendolen quarrel with each other for the name Earnest, as this name was introduced by both Jack and Algernon. This dispute arises because of another reason and that is that both Cecily and Gwendolen are deeply fond of the name Earnest.
The triviality also arises when Jack Worthing wants to end the chapter of Mr. Earnest by declaring him dead.
"Poor Ernest! He had many faults, but it is a sad, sad blow."
But at the same time Algernon introduces himself as Mr. Earnest to Miss. Cecily and Miss. Prism. Which is disastrous for Jack, but when we go through this scene, we completely laugh. Gwendolen and Cecily represent another paradox when they come to know about the mystery of the name of both Jack and Algernon. They call each other sisters
"You will call me sister, will you not?"
Another farce came when Jack and Algernon after being rejected by their beloved eat muffins. And Cecily tells to Gwendolen,
"They have been eating muffins. That looks like repentance."
Now Jack and Algernon both want their names to be Christened as Earnest.
"GWENDOLEN and CECILY [Speaking together.] Your Christian names are still an insuperable barrier. That is all!
JACK and ALGERNON [Speaking together.] Our Christian names! Is that all? But we are going to be christened this afternoon."
As they both want to christened their names, both the ladies forgive both the gentlemen and accept them. Another barrier arises is that Aunt Augusta refuses the marriage of both couples. But she changes her decision of the marriage of Cecily and Algernon, when she comes to know about the fortune of Cecily. This time she is not giving her consent for the marriage of Jack with her daughter as she doesn't know anything about the birth of Jack. Jack refuses the marriage of Cecily as he is her guardian. The bet of Jack and Lady Bracknell is also amusing. He will only give his consent if Lady Barcknell will give her consent for the marriage of her daughter Gwendolen with Jack.
"But my dear Lady Bracknell, the matter is entirely in your own hands. The moment you consent to my marriage with Gwendolen, I will most gladly allow your nephew to form an alliance with my ward."
This statement of Mr. Worthing is also amusing. This presents how people look for their own sake only.
★ End of the Play:-
The end of the play is beyond all the incidents. It provides the real sense, why Wilde gives the subtitle 'Trivial comedy for serious people'. At the end we come to know what actually the title means 'Importance of Being Earnest'. Miss Prism is Lady who was working in Lord Bracknell's house twenty eight years ago. When Lady Barcknell asks to Miss Prism she says,
"I prepared as usual to take the baby out in its perambulator. I had also with me a somewhat old, but capacious hand-bag in which I had intended to place the manuscript of a work of fiction that I had written during my few unoccupied hours. In a moment of mental abstraction, for which I never can forgive myself, I deposited the manuscript in the bassinet, and placed the baby in the hand-bag."
Now this statement is quite trivial. A lady who as her daily work takes the baby out as usual, she replaces her written copy of her manuscript with the baby. And forgets it at the railway stations in London. It is ridiculous that one can forget a baby. Mr. Worthing has doubts as he has the same history, who was found at the same place on the same day. After too much endeavour he finds the hand bad and tells to Miss Prism,
"Is this the hand-bag, Miss Prism? Examine it carefully before you speak. The happiness of more than one life depends on your answer."
Now slowly and steadily the fact comes out that Jack is the boy who was left by mistake by Miss Prism, which is actually the son of Earnest John, who was christened by the same name as his father. So now his actual and christened name is Earnest and Elder brother of Algernon. Now there is no option for his family and by this the problem of Lady Bracknell has been solved. The question of Gwendolen has also been solved as his real name is Earnest.
★ Conclusion:-
To conclude, by the various illustrations of actions of the upper class society of the Victorian society in The importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde gives us how the society of his time was. By this play he becomes successful to satirise his own society and way of behaviour of people. Though he didn't get that important space in English literature, this work puts him at the forefront.
Words:- 2292
Images:- 5
★ Work Cited
Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Oscar Wilde. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved November 5, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Oscar-Wilde
English, Micaela, and Katie Robinson. “20 Oscar Wilde Quotes That Make Us Want to Be His Best Friend.” Town & Country, Town & Country, 18 Apr. 2022, https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/reviews/a2382/best-oscar-wilde-quotes/.
Hirst, David L. Comedy of Manners. Taylor & Francis, 2017.
Parker, Oliver. “The Importance of Being Earnest.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 21 June 2002, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0278500/.
Rees, R. J. “Comedy: the Light and the Dark.” English Literature: An Introduction for Foreign Readers, The Macmillan Press, London, 1973, pp. 179–201.
Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People. Gutenberg , https://www.gutenberg.org/files/844/844-h/844-h.htm.
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