The Importance Of Being Earnest Play Analysis

When deciding what element a play should contain, one must look at a large variety of options. These options can alter how the audience depicts the play and change their overall opinions. Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest” is a play set around 1895 where the protagonist, Jack Worthing, takes on two identities in order to avoid social obligations. This play’s era affects how the characters are dressed and how their households appear. To begin with, each character is dressed in a specific way. Knowing that the play was published during the Victorian era affected my personal decisions for their proper attire. For men, sharply tailored morning suits and silk cravats were in fashion. Hats were worn at the majority of times, even when outdoors.Vests and flannel suits became increasingly fashionable during the 1890s, worn especially during the summer months. Algernon’s clothing is shown to be a black, buttoned up,

Female attire tended to fall into two categories: tailored suits and ball dresses, reflecting the way of life for the more wealthy. During this time, dresses tended to extend out in the shape of a bell where the end of the skirt was flared. To further describe how these dresses appeared, in an essay by James Laver, he remarks, “It is impossible to put a photograph of a fashionable woman of 1895 beside a photograph of a lamp of the same period without being struck by their close resemblance in every detail. The unmistakable sweep of the Art Nouveau line was completely parallel in the dresses of the time, in particular by the fall and swirl of the skirt.” The characters Gwendolen and Cecily are wearing ball dresses like the ones described in the Victorian era in my sketch. Their dresses are shown to be tighter in the waste (flattering their body shape) and become much wider toward the end. On the shoulders of the dresses, it fluffs up to add a decorative