The importance of being Earnest PDF

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Summary

Appunti di letteratura inglese riguardo una commedia di Oscar Wilde...

Description

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST • Set in the fashionable Mayfair of London’s W est End during the late Victorian era" • The protagonists: two young aristocratic men, Ernest Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff." • Ernest, actually called Jack, was adopted at an early age by a Mr Thomas Cardew. • Jack has invented an alter ego, a younger brother called Ernest who lives in the City" • Humour comes from the characters’ false identities" • Witty dialogues and satire of Victorian hypocrisy"

• Characters • • • • •

They belong to the aristocratic society." They are typical Victorian snobs." They are arrogant, formal and concerned with money." They are interested only in a materialistic world." Lady Bracknell embodies the stereotype of the Victorian English aristocratic woman"

• Wilde’s new comedy of manners • A new sort of Restoration comedy of manners." • The problems of Wilde’s age are reflected in witty remarks." • This comedy is a mirror of the fashionable and corrupted world of the Victorian audiences"

• The nature of marriage • Marriage is one of the main concerns of the characters in the play." • Wilde makes fun of the institution of marriage." • Marriage is seen as a hypocritical and absurd practice, a tool for achieving social stature." IRON AND APPERANCE The play’s central plot – the man who is both and is not Ernest / earnest – presents a moral paradox." • Earnest, a deliberate misspelling for ‘Ernest’, means earnest, honest." • None of the characters are really truthful." • Characters are used to criticise Victorian prudery." • What Wilde wants us to see as truly moral is really the opposite of earnestness: irreverence....