Choose one to address. Do not duplicate your classmates. :-)
1. How does dramatic irony create humor in The Importance of Being Earnest?
2. Why or how is The Importance of Being Earnest funny? Analyze some aspect of Wildean wit. Is there a difference between being “witty” and being “funny”?
3. How does Wilde use setting to impact the meaning of the work as a whole? (Just give an example - not an entire essay!) ;-)
4. What is the meaning of the work as a whole???? :-)
I'm choosing number two.
ReplyDeleteThe Importance of Being Earnest is funny in a satirical way. The humor in the show comes from much more than dramatic irony. It also comes from the way the author pokes fun at upper-class English society with their rules and conventions. Lady Bracknell is, of course, the main vehicle for expressing this theme. The rest of show is riddled with puns, accidents, coincidences, dirty jokes, and general stupidity. There is certainly a difference between wit and humor, and this show uses both quite well. I think the difference between humor and wit comes from the level of intelligence behind them. Wit requires some intellect to create and to understand. Humor, on the other hand, can be as crude as stepping on some guy's foot.
I chose number one.
ReplyDeleteDramatic irony creates humor in The Importance of Being Earnest in several ways throughout the story. But the main one, and the funniest comes at the end. In the play Jack and Algernon tell Cecily and Gwendolyn that they are Earnest and they pretend to be brothers. But the ironic twist at the end is that Jack and Algernon really were brothers all along and they had no idea. It is funny because they pretended to be throughout the play. To add even more irony, their father happens to have the name of Earnest. They discover this after learning they are brothers. It is also comical that Gwendolyn seems satisfied that Earnest is at least a family name even though it is not really Jack's first name.
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ReplyDeleteOh yeah.
ReplyDeleteP.S. MP-we're up to 22 students now, aren't we? If so, your profile is wrong...
#4: Under the assumption that "the meaning of the work as a whole is the main point or lesson learned from the work" (www.answers.com), then I must deduce that the meaning of "The Importance of Being Earnest" as a whole was to poke fun at the traditional Victorian ways and values, and to show that true character is derived from the choices one makes. This is contrary to the conventional values of the time period, as already discussed, which are, in the story, hyperbolic to show ridiculousness. Wilde shows his distaste for society while demonstrating that the choices one makes, such as Jack’s sophisticated attitude or his refined habits, are what defines a person, not their family history (as little would be expected from a man found in a bag).
ReplyDeletePerhaps one of you is not amazing. ;-) And really, Kelli, answers.com?!?!
ReplyDelete2. The play is funny because of the very satirical way Wilde portrays the ideals of the wealthy society in England. He makes them seem ditsy, and plain stupid at times. The females especially, Cecily and Gwendolyn, have made up their minds to marry people they have never met and ones writes imaginary love letters to herself. Lady Bracknell also has some instances such as when she is questioning Jack if he is a smoker and if he lives on the "right" side of the street, its kind of ridiculous. There is a definite difference between being funny and being witty. Being funny is more of the slapstick pie in the face physical humor. Wit is more of the upper level play on words type of humor. Everyone can get and laugh at physical humor, but with wit you have to think through the conversation to get it, it takes some cleverness to get.
ReplyDeleteI chose the first one.
ReplyDeleteDramatic irony is very important in creating humor in The Importance of Being Earnest. Algernon tells Cecily that he is Jack’s brother, Earnest. Jack tells Gwendolyn that his name is Earnest and that he has a brother. He also tells Cecily and Ms. Prism that his younger brother’s name is Earnest. We are led to believe that these are all lies. But in the end we find out that they are indeed brothers and that their father’s name was Earnest, which in turn sort of makes it their name as well. So, technically they weren’t really lying. It is an amusing end to a humorous story.
I guess I'll choose number 3.
ReplyDeleteI think Wilde uses food as a way to impact the meaning of the work as a whole. Food and scenes of eating always result in a conflict. Act I contains the extended cucumber sandwich joke, in which Algernon, without noticing it, steadily devours all the sandwiches. The food scenes always presented who the characters were and there personalities, and the choices they made. This shows a persons true character.
I chose question number 2
ReplyDeleteI feel that the importance of being Earnest is funny because of the use of puns, irony, and sarcasm that Wilde uses in this play. The author starts off this play with a pun with the title being called Earnest and how the characters felt that Ernest was a great name and they would only desire a name like Ernest, even though none of them possess an earnest trait. This then ironically turns out to be Jack's name when he finds out that Miss Prism is his mother. Which is funny because as the reader we are lead to believe that Jack and Algernon are lying but mistakening are actually telling the truth.
The difference between wit and humor is that wit requires more thought put into it, and involves more sarcasm and irony like this play. Humor can involve just amusement and can occur more based on events that have just happened that you could find funny without thinking too hard about it. An example of humor could be like falling down the stairs at school.
There is a large difference between wit and humor. Humor can be as base as blowing a raspberry, while true wit results from the ability to see the comedy in the everyday. The wit in 'Earnest' is derived from the fact that each character has an inside joke with one or more of the others, and that the whole work is an insider for the reader, as we are the only ones with all of the facts.
ReplyDeleteWilde uses the setting, London in the 1800s, to show society's general indifference to the importance of true love and marriage and to generally make fn of the upper class. Many of the characters refer to marriage as a mere business matter and to be used for one's social standing. While Jack sees it as more of a pleasure, because he hs found what he believes to be true love. Jack acts the opposite of how he is expected to act, being a member of the upper class. Wilde is poking fun at the upper class. He uses sarcasim to show the flaws of the upper class, such as them thinking only of money and status.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the meaning of the work as a whole is that honesty is the best way to go. The way both the men lie about their names causes a big mix up and even though it works out in the end, they could have avoided the whole situation. It goes to show that even a little white lie can get carried away and turn into a huge mess.
ReplyDelete1.
ReplyDeleteThe suthor uses dramatic irony to create humor by creating Earnest as a character for 2 people. THe situatuion complicates itself when these Jack and Algernon are forced to deal with Earnest at the same time. It's humorous to read of the obstacles the pair must go through to get their way out of trouble with the ladies. It's like a snowball effect!
# 4. The meaning of the work of the whole is to be honest. In the play the two men did not tell the truth and ended up getting in trouble with their ladies. Ironically they realized that they were really brothers so Ernest was really in love with his cousin. This was the consequence of not being honest. They were not the only ones who were not honest. They were entangled in a web of lies, but if they were just honest to begin with not as much would have gone wrong.
ReplyDeleteps this is MEGAN who lost her account info.
Wilde uses setting to impact the meaning of the work as a whole because the story is set back in a time where the country was far and unreachable to many city folk and the same to country people to reach the city so the men could get away with lying so much because no one could find out that they werent lying. It was also in a time where apparently you could leave you baby in a handbag and forget about them without a problem.
ReplyDelete#1 The author uses dramatic irony to create humor by the characters in the story The Importance of Being Earnest. Earnest is two characters in the story which ends up being a problem when Jack and Algernon have to deal with Earnest at the same time. However at the end we find out Jack And Algernon were really brothers and didnt know. Also the fact that there fathers name was earnest too adds to the dramatic irony.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that the author incorporates two different sceneries helps add to the confusion that eventually creates the final scenerio where Jack learns his lesson of the importance of being Earnest. If Jack had just stayed in the country instead of going into the town as Earnest then no lesson could have been learned.
ReplyDelete#3
ReplyDeleteThe setting of the play, London in the victorian era, impacts the work as a whole by it provides a basis for Wilde to make fun of the upper class and society of that time. Wilde uses Gwendolyn's mother to show the sterotypical marriage during the time. Jack must satisfy her mother if he ever intends on marrying Gwendolyn. He pokes fun at this with Jack's answers to her questions such as "I know nothing." Wilde makes Gwendolyn's mother out to be a sterotypical upperclass mother who is more worried about her daughter marrying a man with money and prestige instead of marrying for love. She also sticks with this sterotype by explaining that Gwendolyn is not a girl who can live in the country, she is basically so high maintinence that she must be in the city with all the fancy restaurants and houses and away from nature and the outdoors.
The meaning of the work as a whole is that it is never good to lie about being someone's brother, because when you try to hook up with their cousin, niece or whatever they are, they might be related to you and that's not good. Also there might be something about being honest about who you are but that's not a very important aspect in this play :). Honesty is the best way to go in situations, yada yada yada and lying can lead to uncomfortable circumstances.
ReplyDeleteDramatic irony creates humor within the play because, we as the audience, know something that the cast or central characters do not know. Like the fact that Jack has no brother, yet Cecily and miss prism think otherwise. And we as the audience find humor in reading about the characters running around in circles as they try to cover their tracks, like when Jack says his brother has died, but we as the audience had read already that his "brother" arrived moments before and is already acquainted with Cecily.
ReplyDeleteThe reason that The Imortance of Being Earnest is funny is because of the many unrealistic situations and the characters responses to them. Most of the play is based off a tiny joke that Earnest is both a name and a character trait. Without a whole bunch of substance, Wilde constructs his play off of this little joke and uses a sharp wit to keep it interesting along the way
ReplyDeleteWilde uses the setting of The Importance of Being Earnest to impact the meaning of the work as a whole because it takes place during the Victorian Era, which is known to have strict moral values. Because the main characters in this play lie, it contradicts the conventional values of that time period. Therefore, the setting influences the meaning of the work because it makes Algy's and Jacks lies seem that much worse.
ReplyDelete