Triviality In The Importance Of Being Earnest Essay

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To what extent is The Importance of Being Earnest driven by the idea of Serious Triviality?

Oscar Wilde stated, in relation to his play The Importance of Being Earnest that “We should treat all the trivial things of life seriously, and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality.” This reflects the ideas behind the play and the way that Wilde presents his characters, and their actions throughout the course of the play. This philosophy influenced many important themes throughout the play, most notably the presentation of class, as well as Satire and Comic Pairings. Wilde’s presentation of the society he showcases in the play revolves largely around this philosophy of ‘Serious Triviality’, especially in the case of Lady Bracknell, the character that exemplifies Wilde’s philosophy of Serious Triviality in the Importance of Being Earnest. The main idea behind Wilde’s philosophy is the misappropriation of importance by the upper classes in society, as exemplified in Jack’s conversation with Lady Bracknell in Act One of the play. In this scene Lady Bracknell states - having learnt …show more content…

These pairings play the important role of highlighting the themes of the play through the interactions between the characters that are largely contrasting of each other. The characters in the play are also used to emphasize and highlight the importance of various themes to the message of the play the message that lies between the surface of the character’s interactions throughout the play, and defines the underlying ideas of Wilde as portrayed through this Comedy of Manners. Wilde uses these comic pairings to highlight the differences between the characters, and hence signify his philosophy of ‘serious triviality’ that surrounds the

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