Essay on Is the Importance of Being Earnest a Satirical Play

‘It’s tone is that of satire, but of a satire which, for lack of a moral point of view, has lost its sting’ (Edouard Roditi) To what extent do you agree with this response to the play? By Molly Campbell With the definition of a satire being, ‘the use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity’, it is ludicrous to even propose that The Importance of Being Earnest is anything other than a satirical play, as the characters relishing in the upper class of the Victorian period unknowingly mock their own habits acquired to them due to the luxury they are spoilt with. Despite this, it is evident that the use of satire is feckless and lacks a moral point of view, in contrast with the moral†¦show more content†¦Previous to Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, Victorian comedies consisted mostly of high and low comedy and of ‘dirty or vulgar jokes, dirty gestures, and sex’. Hence, it is possible to suggest that contradictory to Edouard Roditi’s interpretation, the Importance of Being Earnest carries a moral point of view in the fact it does not exploit sex or sexual preferences to ef fectuate drollery; Wilde provokes laughter through mistaken identities and the consequences of ‘bunburying’ perhaps to allude that his opinions it that sexuality is not a laughing matter. Providing this interpretation is true, it is acceptable to assume that the reasoning behind the negative criticisms the drama received when first written were due to the fact critics felt appalled that a piece of writing could prove successful without it consisting of any sexual nature and hence deemed The Importance of Being Earnest as, ‘dull in comparison to other plays read over the years’. Howbeit, some critics state that ‘the word earnest became a code-word for homosexual, as in: Is he earnest?, in the same way that Is he so? and Is he musical? were also employed’, suggesting that The Importance of Being Earnest is an expression of Wilde’s hatred for marriage and his fondness of homosexuality as he praises the idea of being Earnest’. ThisSho w MoreRelated Oscar Wildes The Importance Of Being Earnest Essay576 Words   |  3 Pages In â€Å"The Importance of Being Earnest† by Oscar Wilde, humor functions through the use of Characterization and the social satire of the Victorian period. Characterization is the method an author uses to reveal or describe characters and their various personalities. Satire is a literary tone used to ridicule or make fun of human vice or weakness, often with the intent of correcting, or changing, the subject of the satirical attack. 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