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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page paper which examines satirist Oscar Wilde's use of comic effects in his play, 'The Importance of Being Earnest' (1895).
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_Earnest.doc
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
system in high disdain, and his scathing satire of the aristocracy was the primary comic effect of his most popular play, The Importance of Being Earnest. One of the
first "screwball comedies," Wildes brand of satire was both sophisticated in language, while at the same time, presented situations which could best be described as utterly ridiculous. Wilde took
the upper-crust members of British society, the esteemed elite, and made them appear as buffoons in their pursuit of the superficial for comic effect. For example, the plays very
premise, two young ladies who are determined to marry a man named Ernest, is silly. However, to them, it is quite logical. As Gwendolen tells Jack Worthing, the
man she presumed is named Ernest, "We live, as I hope you know, Mr. Worthing, in an age of ideals... and my ideal has always been to love someone of
the name of Ernest" (Wilde 41). When Jacks friend, Algernon, is told the same by his beloved, Cecily, he responds, "I really cant see why you should object to
the name of Algernon. It is not a bad name. In fact, it is a rather aristocratic name. Half of the chaps who get into the Bankruptcy
Court are called Algernon" (Wilde 76). Here, Wilde is clearly poking fun at the aristocracys preoccupation with names and appearances, using the girls refusal to marry men who are
not named Ernest for the intended comic effect. Deception is also used as a tool to achieve comic effects. Friends Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff are bored with their
lives -- Jack in the country and Algernon in the city. Whenever Jack wants some city excitement, he transforms himself into Ernest, his naughty younger brother so that he
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