The end of Act II sees the two couples fractured by Jack and Algernon’s deceptions, and yet the tone of the play remains light and silly.How do Cecily and Gwendolen act differently once Merriman enters the room? Why do you think they act this way?.What can we infer about Jack’s views on religion from his hasty decision to be re-baptized? What about society’s views on religion?.Why do the characters seek these little escapes from reality? Compare Cecily and Gwendolen’s diaries with Jack and Algernon’s secret identities.Prism and Gwendolen reveal about their characters? What role do you think Ms. What does the conversation between Ms.Prism in the country and his interactions with Jack and Gwendolen in the city. Compare and contrast Jack’s interactions with Cecily and Ms.What kind of man do you think he is? What sort of relationship do you think he has with Lady Bracknell? Lord Bracknell, Lady Bracknell’s husband, is often mentioned but never appears in the play.Based on Lady Bracknell’s conversation with Jack, what sort of person do you think she is?.Reflect on Jack’s relationship with Algernon they are best friends, and yet Algernon did not even know Jack’s real name! Moreover, neither seems all that troubled by this fact.What do you think Algernon means when he says, “the very essence of romance is uncertainty?” Is he being ironic? In what ways does the action of the play support this statement?.What do we make of Gwendolen’s obsession with marrying a man named Ernest? Why would Wilde give his characters such strange ideals?.Why does Jack establish two different identities for himself? What does this decision say about Jack and the society in which he lives?.Be sure to refer to the text of the play and provide evidence from it in order to inform and support your responses. (1985)* Questions for Close ReadingĪfter completing the entire reading of The Importance of Being Earnest, observe your teacher’s directions for answering the following questions. The print version used is The Importance of Being Earnest. edition eBook version of the entire play online at Project Gutenberg. Students may access the David Price, 1915 Methuen and Co.
Links are given to a few additional resources that offer the option to extend your study of Wilde, uncovering more about the play’s themes, as well as relevant aspects of Victorian society. In this Launchpad, you will have the opportunity to analyze the language, characters, and structure of The Importance of Being Earnest. This irreverence takes its most perfect form in the dozens of epigrams and witticisms that make up so much of the play’s dialogue. The play constantly pokes fun at conventionally serious topics like love, death, and religion, while simultaneously handling trivialities (e.g., which teatime snacks are trendy this season) with the utmost seriousness. Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest derives much of its comedic and thematic heft from the way in which it inverts the values of everyday life. Oscar Wilde, from a January 1895 interview with Robbie Ross, published in the St. “ is exquisitely trivial, a delicate bubble of fancy, and it has its philosophy…That we should treat all the trivial things of life very seriously, and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality.”
0 kommentar(er)
