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The irony in the title of the importance of being earnest
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Satire is designed to criticize or tease a certain subject or thing, usually for the reason of comedy. “The Importance of Being Earnest,” by Oscar Wilde includes lots of satire, criticizing social class, gender, and marriage. I will give some examples from each of the ACT’s, and also give a description of the points that showcase satire in this piece. There is many examples of satire referring to class. The first is the simple fact that what side of the street you live on determines how your fashion is. This is satire because it’s not correct, and is making fun of the high class people by showing how petty and senseless they can be. Another example is the idea that sugar is associated as a low class food item. This is satire for the exact
Satire can be defined as any work in which a human vice or folly is attacked with irony or sarcasm. An example of satire can be found in the song "When the President Talks to God" by Bright Eyes. In this song, the lyrics lay out hypothetical conversations between the President and God, which mocks current President George W. Bush and his use of strong religious influence while in office.
While the tone may range from playful to angry, satire generally criticizes in order to make a change. Exaggeration, parody, reversal, and incongruity are satirical devices. Author’s use satirical devices to strengthen their central idea.
Satirical writing allows the author to express his or her opinion about a problem in society. A writing must follow three rules in order for it to be classified as satirical. First, a continuous focus on one’s subject’s faults. Secondly, instead of telling the reader directly, information must be given indirectly. Thirdly, the writing must have a variety of satirical techniques in general (Festa). With these simple guidelines, an author can demonstrate his beliefs of what he thinks needs to be changed in society.
Comedy and Satire are two very common, yet different genres used in literature. Comedy is most commonly used to be humorous and amusing, whereas, satire is usually defined as a piece of work intended to criticize serious topics or problems going on in the real world. Ken Kesey, the author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest very specifically chose to incorporate these two genres to push his own beliefs. In the 1950’s, younger generations of America’s population began to question conformity and the ethics of institutions like the one Kesey wrote about in Cuckoo’s Nest. Like many others in this younger generation, Kesey was considered a hippie and part of many counter-culture groups going against the government. Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over
Frazier, Cora. Kissel, Adam ed. "A Modest Proposal and Other Satires Essay Questions". GradeSaver, 30 May 2010 Web. 28 February 2017.
Satire is form of comedy in which flaws in people or society are chastised in order to prompt change in the objects of criticism. Regardless of how long ago comedy itself may have existed, the concept of satire was introduced by the Roman satirists, Juvenal and Horace. The tones conveyed in their writing characterize the main modes of satire, being Horatian and Juvenalian, and are still used in satire today. Presently, two popular forms of comedy that employ satirical elements include parody news sources and comedic performances. Although satirical writing has evolved throughout history, many aspects of satire are still apparent in both the articles of parody news sources, like The Onion, and the performances of professional comedians, like
Satire is a technique used in literature to criticize the faults of society. An excellent examle of contemporary satire is Kurt Vonnegut's novel God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. The author tells the life of Eliot Rosewater, a young and affluent man troubled by the plights of the poor. Eliot is the President of the Rosewater Foundation, a sum of money worth approximately $87 million. Using this position, he does everything he can to help the poor. This charity giving is socially unacceptable to the wealthy, particularly Eliot's father Senator Lister Ames Rosewater. Vonnegut uses caricature, irony, and tone to satirize the lack of care the rich have for those socially "beneath them."
Satire in Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. "The Importance of Being Earnest" is a play by Oscar Wilde, set in the late 1800's. His actors are playing upper class citizens who are very self-absorbed. The play is set amongst upper class, wealthy people. They appear not to work and are concerned with their own pleasure.
There are two vastly differing works of literature that employ similar elements of satire, whether the story is long or short, an essay or novella. In these two works, the authors bring light to ongoing social, political, and philosophical issues of their time and age. The two works I am referring to are Jonathan Swift’s satirical essay, A Modest Proposal, and Voltaire’s novella, Candide, or Optimism. In both A Modest Proposal and Candide, there is a portrayal of irony, cold logic and reasoning rather than emotion, and misguided philosophy. Exploring the issues within these texts can implement a better understanding of not only the literature itself, but also the historical context and the issues of the time.
Irony in The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde The play The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde is full of irony. Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, the protagonists in the play, get themselves into a complicated situation called Bunburyism (as Algernon refers to it). They pretend to be someone that they are not to escape their daily lives. They lie to the women they admire, and eventually the truth is revealed.
“A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, is an essay that uses satire. Merriam-Webster defines satire as: a way of using humor to show that someone or something is foolish, weak, bad, etc. humor that shows the weaknesses or bad qualities of a person, government, society, etc. “Satire may make the reader laugh at, or feel disgusted for, the person or thing satirized. Impishly or sardonically, it criticizes someone or something, using wit and clever wording—and sometimes makes outrageous assertions or claims” (Cummings, 2012).
Satire in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. The Importance of Being Earnest is a comedy of manners, whereby Oscar Wilde uses satire to ridicule marriage, love and the mentality of the Victorian aristocratic society. It can also be referred to as satirical comedy. What is a satire and what is Oscar Wilde trying to emphasize by employing it in his play?
“Ignorance is like a delicate fruit; touch it, and the bloom is gone,” engraves Oscar Wilde as he sets the literary table with a bountiful demonstration of Victorian satire. “The Importance of Being Earnest” is evidently a comic critic of late Victorian value (Schmidt 5). Brought into this world from Dublin, Ireland, to well-heeled parents in 1854. Wilde received an opportunity for social improvement when graduating from Oxford University, after receiving a financial scholarship that gave him a first hand account of the upper crust society lifestyle which allowed him to acquire material to poke fun at (Moss 179). Wilde shows his characters as if they knew that people where watching them. By doing that he caused the audience to feel that the actors had authentic regret about their characters actions (Foster 19).
Using ridicule or mockery in the battleground, a satire has the avowed objective of correcting human faults, while arousing laughter or scorn in its intended audience or bystanders of the victorious side. General targets or foe of satires' include individuals, social groups, institutions, and human nature. Like other genres, a satire is often a mode of writing introduced into various literal forms. A poetic satirist or the victorious poet sometimes uses scorn, sarcasm, innuendo or irony along with humor to expose the enemy's human faults or foolishness. Throughout the history of literature, satirical poems have obliterated many varieties of antagonist, ranging from religious figures to political and social failings in society.
Oscar Wilde’s, “The Importance of Being Earnest”, play carefully uses satire as a didactic tool to mask the underlying social commentary with the help of comedy through characters theme and dialogue. Wilde uses satire to ridicule class and wealth, marriage and the ignorance of the Victorian Age. Audiences are continually amused by Wilde’s use of linguistic and comic devices such as double entendre, puns, paradox and epigrams, especially in the case of social commentary and didactic lessons. Characters portrayed in the play such as Jack, Cecily, Algernon and Lady Bracknell, allow Wilde to express his opinions on the social problems during the Victorian Age.