✳️subtitle of The Importance of Being Earnest from A Serious Comedy for Trivial People to A Trivial Comedy for Serious People?

Though Wilde originally gave the play the subtitle A Serious Comedy for Trivial People, he decided to change it to A Trivial Comedy for Serious People. The art of satire is to ridicule ideas, conditions, or social conventions with which the audience is familiar (or even practices and supports) without alienating that audience. In order for Wilde to reach audience members, they must attend the production. If Wilde openly and publicly insulted them by referring to them as "trivial people," they would not attend and might even react more forcefully. Despite his efforts, however, people did indeed realize he was calling them trivial through his comedy, and in part this caused the play to be banned.

✳️Which of the female characters is the most attractive to you among Lady Augusta Bracknell, Gwendolen Fairfax, Cecily Cardew, and Miss Prism?

Of all the moral compasses in The Importance of Being Earnest, Miss Prism has the most rigid perspective. She is quick to judge someone as a good or bad person based solely on a single action. While most of the characters use whatever reasoning they need to justify their actions, Miss Prism claims there is a clear difference between right and wrong. She oversees Cecily’s upbringing, and she takes her task incredibly seriously. Miss Prism wants Cecily to mold into someone respectable like Jack Worthing rather than his irresponsible brother Ernest. Despite all Cecily’s arguments that their household could be a good influence on Ernest, Miss Prism is convinced people can’t change, and certainly not for the better.

Of all the moral compasses in The Importance of Being Earnest, Miss Prism has the most rigid perspective. She is quick to judge someone as a good or bad person based solely on a single action. While most of the characters use whatever reasoning they need to justify their actions, Miss Prism claims there is a clear difference between right and wrong. She oversees Cecily’s upbringing, and she takes her task incredibly seriously. Miss Prism wants Cecily to mold into someone respectable like Jack Worthing rather than his irresponsible brother Ernest. Despite all Cecily’s arguments that their household could be a good influence on Ernest, Miss Prism is convinced people can’t change, and certainly not for the better.

The Importance of Being Earnest plays with dramatic irony in revealing nearly every character is not entirely who they claim to be. Miss Prism, though she purports to be an upstanding, moral woman, is just as easily flustered by a love interest as Cecily is. Miss Prism is clearly attracted to Dr. Chasuble, the local reverend, and she does not need much of an excuse from Cecily to spend time alone with him. Each time Cecily crafts a ruse to send Miss Prism and Dr. Chasuble off together, Miss Prism verbally disapproves of Cecily’s methods, but she goes with him anyway. Miss Prism wants the world to be as virtuous as she sees herself. The irony in her character comes at the end of the story when we learn it was Miss Prism who left baby Jack in a handbag at the railway station. For all her talk of good people and bad people, Miss Prism was a neglectful enough caretaker to misplace a child because she was too focused on the novel she was writing. She turns out to be just as prone to mistakes as everyone else. 

✳️The Importance of Being Earnest | Victorian Values & Criticism.

What social criticism does "The Importance of Being Earnest" contain?

The Importance of Being Earnest criticizes Victorian values, specifically those placed on marriage, love, and status. Social status was significant to Victorians, yet Wilde reveals that social status does not negate one's value. He also points out how marriage and love were often disconnected for Victorians and used to manipulate one's social standing. He ultimately criticizes the amount of worth put on Victorian values, especially by the aristocracy.

The Importance of Being Earnest Plot and Background Information.

Oscar Wilde was one of the most popular playwrights of Victorian England, the period spanning Queen Victoria's reign (1837-1901). During this time, the British Empire expanded its realm, increasing its power and prosperity. Although being an era of peace, Victorian England was not without its faults. Wilde was skilled at writing satire, a comedic form that criticizes and ridicules social and political issues.

In 1895, Wilde published his play The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People; although it does not explicitly criticize Victorian England, it playfully exposes the absurd follies of the behaviors and values of Victorian society. Its aristocratic characters reveal the dishonest and frivolous behaviors that contradicted the virtues they promoted.

Victorian Values in The Importance of Being Earnest

The Victorian Era

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have lived in a different era?

Named after Queen Victoria of England, who reigned from 1837 to 1901, the context in which Oscar Wilde was writing was characterized by Victorian values and society, which saw increased wealth, political stability and strict cultural norms. The rules of conduct that developed during this time had a strong influence on one's social standing, motivating people to behave in a socially acceptable way in public.

Class-division was also particularly apparent during this time. With the increase in industry, many middle-class families were starting to move into higher society. In order to do so, the need to conform to the expectations of this society became even more pronounced. In sharp contrast, people from the lower classes were viewed as 'deservingly poor' and were treated badly based on the perspective that their poverty was the result of improper conduct.

Oscar Wilde and the Victorian Era

Although he was born in Ireland, Oscar Wilde moved to England during his studies and became known there for his extravagance and decadence. Like many others, he noted the differences in the high moral standards that people displayed in social contexts, and the less proper behavior that took place when people were outside of the public eye. Perhaps due to the fact that he himself had to put on an act in public (since his sexual orientation was illegal at the time), Wilde came to see social interaction as a farce and wrote several social satires to highlight the strange perspectives and behaviors of the aristocracy.

Satire in the Novel

Satirein the time and context of the novel The Importance of Being Earnest, refers to a comedic style in which the behaviors and beliefs of a particular social class are made fun of. In The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde pokes fun at the upper class by showing them to be fickle, dishonest and snobbish. Let's look at how he does this by considering the various aspects of the Victorian life that he ridicules.

(1) Proper Social Conduct.

In the Victorian era, people were very focused on how one behaved in public. Both Algernon and Jack make up false identities in order to get away with some of their less than ideal behaviors. Calling cards and formal invites formed a part of everyday social life in those times, and we find mention of these in the play. Algernon even goes as far as to state that Jack's 'carelessness' in not sending him a dinner invitation when he wants to avoid dinner at Lady Bracknell's, is foolish and annoying.

The British at this time considered themselves vastly superior to the French (which is why several novels at the time had villainous French characters). The play pokes fun at the idea of French promiscuity when Jack refers to 'corrupt' French Dramas.

(2) Marriage and Courtship.

In the Victorian era, it was very important to marry within your own social class and to hopefully acquire some wealth through this marriage. Lady Bracknell is very dismissive of Algernon's initial statement that he is engaged to Cecile. However, once she learns that Cecile is in possession of a significant inheritance, she changes her tune .