Oscar Wilde's Play And Film: The Importance Of Being Earnest

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Autumn Culpepper
February 16, 2014
Essay

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The Importance of Being Earnest
Play/Film Comparative Essay

Oliver Parker’s 2002 film adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s play ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ is a light-hearted and humorous film that's centered around romantic ideals, but unfortunately it conceals Wilde’s messages and deviates from essential comic elements. This is displayed through many character representations, the lacking of contextual jokes, the sub-plot becomes prominent between Dr Chasuble and Miss Prism, the addition of music and the way the dialogue remains true to the play, but has lost meaning and essence in the film.

In the play, Wilde’s satiric characters is how he attains his great amount of humour, nevertheless, Parker presents them as being farce in the film. Throughout the Wilde’s play the thoughts and perspectives of society by Gwendolen, Jack, Cecily, Algernon and Lady Bracknell. Although theses characters do not realize it, their views do not give them any higher status or merit, and only accentuate their flaws. Algernon’s view that “it is awfully hard work doing nothing” followed by “however, I don’t mind hard work where there is no definite object of any kind” is an illustration of how he doesn’t truly comprehend what “hard work” is, yet he strongly believes he fully grsps what hard work is, and the audience laughs at the satire of it. In Parker’s film, the satire is smothered by their farcical nature even though most of the lines has stayed true to the play. The daydreams of Cecily where Algernon is dressed as a knight, Gwendolen’s tattoo of the name ‘Ernest’ on her backside and Algernon and Jack’s duet of ‘Lady Come Down’ are the scenes ...

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Oliver Parker’s approach to Oscar Wilde’s play ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’, was in a romantic but humorous way. Although this is true, Parker doesn’t accentuate Wilde’s vital concerns and deviates from comic elements of the play. Parker’s absurd representations of characters catches the eye of a larger audience compared to the satire, as well as many of the jokes opposed to the contextual ones. Parker’s extension of the sub-plot and inclusion of music established a stronger romantic comedy film. Although he was very honest and true to the dialogue of the play, he didn’t give the same essence and effect. Parker managed to establish an entertaining romantic comedy, but he definitely loses Wilde’s key messages and comic genius. Both texts grasp the attention of their audiences, however, Wilde’s manages to do so more brilliantly.

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