The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Fingal OFlahertie Wills Wilde - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde Ernest st D., ., Ern rnest est E., ., Ern rnest est G., ., Ern rnest est H. H.

Choices of the Author ● Dramatic matic Irony ● Chara ract cterizati erization on ● Fallaci cies es

Dramatic Irony Algeron travels to the country house without Jack’s ▪ knowl wledg edge e or permission ission (Act II) ▫ Algeron said d he was Ernest, , Jack k said Ernest was dead Cecily ly and Gwendo dolen en realize ize in their ir first st meetin ting g that they ▪ are both h engaged aged to a man named d Ernest Worthing hing (Act II) ▫ Unawar are of the two different people le The blood ood relation ion betwee een n Jack and Gwendol ndolen en is reveal aled ed ▪ (Act III) And frankly kly they do not care ▫

Characterization ▪ Jack Worthing thing (John, hn, Ernest) t) Life of respectab abilit ility vs. life of deceit ▫ Jack foll llows ws the ideals ls of Victor orian an socie iety more than an Algernon ▫ ▪ Lady dy Brackn knell ll Represent ntatio ation of high Victor orian an socie iety ▫ Lady Brackn cknell ll is one o of the most powerful l characte acters s in the play ▫ ▪ Miss s Prism ism Initial al interact ction ions s with Cecily ly reveal that t tradit ition ional al values s and ▫ intell llectu ctual al pursuits its are importan ant to Miss Prism ▫ Hidden past reveale led in A Act III

Algernon: “Now produce your ▪ Fallacy explanation ation and pray make it improbable.” (Act I) Cecily: “ I don’t like novels ▪ Algernon: “ Literary ▪ that end happil ily. . They critic ticism ism is not your r forte, e, depress me so much” (Act II) my dear fellow. Don’t try it. Lady Bracknell: “ To speak ▪ You u should uld leave e that to frankl kly, y, I a am not in favour ur of people who haven’t been at long g engagement gements. s. They give e a University” (Act I) people e the opport ortuni nity ty of Jack: “My dear fellow, the ▪ finding out each other’s truth isn’t quite the sort of character acter before ore marriage riage, , thing ng one tells to a nice, e, which ch I think nk is never r sweet, refined girl” (Act I) advisable” (Act III)

Literary Lenses “Literary criticism is not your forte, my dear fellow. Don’t try it.” -- Algernon, Act I ● Femin minist ist ● Marxis ist ● Ps Psychoa ychoana nalytica ytical

Wilde de seems very cynical ical ▪ Feminist Critique about the women en of his time ▪ Many y of the wome men n in this s play represe sent nt this s whimsical msical, , temperame rament ntal al, unpredictabl dictable, e, and hypocr ocrit itica ical l image ge of women en that many Wilde e quote tes s sugge gest st “One should never trust a woman who tells her real age. . If she tells that, t, she'l 'll tell anything.” “She wore far too much rouge last night and d not t quite te enough ugh clot othes es. . That t is always a sign of despair in a woman.”

THEME ME 1: Women n are sly with the use of their r powe wer, r, ofte ten n focusi using ng on self image ge Feminist Critique but quietl tly y able to use their influe uenc nce to manipula pulate te people for their r own purposes. poses. Concern cerned d with appearanc nces es and reputation, tion, shallow ow ▪ ▫ G: “I like you already more than I can say. My first impressions of people are never wrong.” (Act II) G: “From the moment I saw you I distrusted you. .... I ▫ am never er deceiv ived ed in such matters ers. . My first st impressions of people are invariably right.” (Act II) ▫ Only want to marry ry a man named ed Ernest st Use a lot of fallacy and verba bal l irony ony ▫ C: “May I offer you some tea, Miss Fairfax?” G: “[With elaborate politeness.] Thank you. [Aside.] Detestable girl! But I require tea!” (Act II)

THEME ME 1: Women n are sly with the use of their r powe wer, r, ofte ten n focusi using ng on self image ge Feminist Critique but quietl tly y able to use their influe uenc nce to manipula pulate te people for their r own purposes. poses. ▪ Have men at their r beck k and call, and own it Men ready dy to re- christen themselves as “Earnest” ▫ ▫ Men pampering ring their r ladies es Manip ipula ulative ive ▪ G: “They don’t seem to notice us at all. Couldn’t you ▫ cough? .... They are looking at us. What effrontery!” Avoi oid d givi ving ng in to what they find d reasonabl onable e until they ▫ get all possible ible repentanc ance from m the men G: “Their explanations appear to be quite satisfactory .... you think we should forgive them?” C: “Yes. I mean no.”

THEME ME 1: Women n are sly with the use of their r powe wer, r, ofte ten n focusi using ng on self image ge Feminist Critique but quietl tly y able to use their influe uenc nce to manipula pulate te people for their r own purposes. poses. ▪ Contr trast sts the idea a of women men being ng powerf rful l and inde dependent endent enough gh of men to manipul ipulat ate e them m and prove ve their ir class on their r own with h negative ative stereotyp eotypes s of wome men From m hatre red d to sisterho erhood d in a matter r of pages ▫ Insults to class on page 41, and page 42: G: “My poor wounded Cecily!” C: “My sweet wronged Gwendolen!” G: “You will call me sister, will you not?” (Act III) THEME 2: Throu rough gh sisterho rhood od and bonding nding toget ethe her, r, ▫ wome men n can guard d against inst the scheming eming of men.

THEME ME 1: The servants vants in both th countr ntry y and town n homes s are show own at a disti stinc nctl tly y Marxist Critique lower r level than n their employ oyers rs through ough their r brief and complace acent nt appear earanc ances. es. ▪ Const stant nt appearanc ances es and ▪ Serve ve only to suit their r masters ers disap appea earance rances s by serva vant nts A: Is marria riage ge so demoral oralising ising “ [Enter er Lane.] .] as that? L: L: Mr. Ernest st Worthing. hing. L: I believe eve it is a very y pleasant nt [Enter r Jack.] state, , sir. .... I have only been [Lane goes out.]” married ried once. e. A: I don’t know that I am much “[Enter Merriman.] interes rested ed .... M: Miss M: s Fairfa fax. x. L: No, o, sir; r; it is not a very [Enter r Gwendole ndolen. n.] interest resting ing subjec ject. t. I never er [Exit Merriman.]” think nk of it mysel elf. f.

THEME ME 2: The maste ter r can be inferi rior or to Karl Marx the Spot the servant vant in many y ways, ys, includi uding ng (in Society) confor ormity ty to social al hierarc archy hy. . ▪ Trust t betwee een n Algernon ernon and Lane, , and Jack and Merrim riman: n: Servant nts s are NOT T part of the proletariat etariat, , they y are employ oyed. d. ▫ Show ows s upper class hiera rarc rchy y in story ry, as they can afford rd ▫ servants ants. . Algerno ernon n shares es with Lane that he is going ing bunbu bury rying ing ▫ (drama matic tic irony ny to Jack). . Histori orical al status of Vict ctorian orian upper class servant ants s (hiera erarchy) rchy). ▪ Working king class is supposed sed to facilit litate te a M Marxist xist revol olutio tion n led ▪ by intel ellectu ectual als. s. HAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHA! Servants have potential insights (e.g.: Cecily and Gwendolen’s ▪ confusio fusion) n), , but restrain ain them (restr traini ining ng power). r).

A Helpful ul Analo alogy.. gy... Ethos os Supere rego go Don’t be A -Freud Logos gos Ego o Path thos ID ID ▪ Theme me 1: Our basal desires ires come e from m our enviro ironment nment and status in socie iety. ty. Manipulation of Algernon’s ID at various points in the story, ▫ versus us Jack (shows s more re ego) o). . Come medi dic effect come mes s from om the fact that the most t important ortant ▪ lesson on learne ned d in the play is so trivi vial! l! Bunbu bury ry : Algernon’s superego reveals useful information to ▫ Jack about ut his relatio ions nship with Gwend ndolen. en. ▪ Lady dy Brackne knell ll as a superego go refere renc nce e figure. re. “I love hearing my relations abused. It is the only thing that makes ▪ me put up with them all…” (19).