The Importance of Being Earnest Questions and Answers
by Oscar Wilde

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  How does The Importance of Being Earnest generate comedy and satirize society through the presentation of its female characters?
  There are four female characters in The Importance of Being Earnest. Gwendolen and Cecily are essentially of the same type, and Lady Bracknell, Gwendolen's mother, is an example of the type of...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  How does Oscar Wilde produce humor in The Importance of Being Earnest?
  In The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde utilizes wit and satire to create a humorous effect. Wilde’s plays are famously witty. He plays on words to create exchanges with minor...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  What is Algernon trying to say in The Importance of Being Earnest when he says, "Lane's views on marriage seem somewhat lax. Really, if the lower orders don't set us a good example, what on earth is the use of them? They seem as a class to have...
  Lane is Algernon's self-depricating servant. He serves as the eiron (character who thinks he is lower than he really is), a comic foil to Algernon's alazon (character who thinks he is better than...

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  In act 2 of The Importance of Being Earnest, what is the difference in social expectations between the country and the city? How can Cecily be described?Why would Wilde include the relationship between Chasuble and Miss Prism?
  In act 1, Jack suggests that the city is a place for immoral behaviors which are unacceptable in the country. Jack describes the country as "excessively boring" because one only "amuses other...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  In acts 2 and 3 of The Importance of Being Ernest, what do the women believe is “an insuperable barrier”? Why does Lady Bracknell approve of Algy’s engagement to Cecily? Under what circumstances will Jack allow Algy to marry Cecily? Who is...
  After learning that neither Jack nor Algernon is really called Ernest, Gwendolen and Cecily, respectively, argue that the men's "Christian names are still an insuperable barrier." Each woman has...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  in The Importance of Being Earnest, what do Lady Brecknell's questions to Mr. Worthing reveal about her expectations regarding other people and her goals for what she wants in a suitor for her daughter?
  From the very beginning of Lady Bracknell’s interrogation of Mr. Worthing, one can see she puts a lot of thought into who her daughter, Gwendolen, may marry. She goes so far as to have a list of...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  Why does Jack pretend to be Ernest in the play The Importance of Being Earnest?
  Oscar Wilde's humorous play The Importance of Being Earnest mocks many of the social structures of Wilde's day. Wilde's farce (a work often characterized by ludicrous and absurd situations)...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  How does Wilde develop a contrast between the characters Algernon and Jack in The Importance of Being Earnest?
  In my mind, Algernon and Jack are a lot more similar than they are different, which makes sense considering that they are actually—unbeknownst to them for most of the play—brothers. Ironically,...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  What is the significance of the title The Importance of Being Earnest?
  Oscar Wilde's wildly popular play The Importance of Being Earnest calls upon a long English theatrical tradition epitomized by William Shakespeare: the use of double and sometimes triple meanings....

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  In The Importance of Being Earnest, how does the theme of appearance vs reality take place in Algernon's character?  
  Algernon's character is a good example of the discrepancy between appearances and reality as well as the fact that appearances can often be deceiving. For example, he appears to be a dutiful nephew...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  What is the function of the characters of Miss Prism and Dr. Chasuble in The Importance of Being Earnest?
  At the level of plot, Miss Prism is the governess who "lost" the man we come to know as Jack Worthing when he was a baby. That she then resurfaces as the tutor of his ward, Cecily Cardew, permits...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  In what way does Oscar Wilde satirize Algernon's character in The Importance of Being Earnest? What are some examples that show hypocrisy in Algernon's Character?
  Algernon Moncrieff is a witty and amoral bachelor, who is the nephew of Lady Bracknell and best friend of Jack Worthing, also known as “Ernest.” Wilde satirizes Algernon’s character to critique and...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  How appropriate is the subtitle "A trivial comedy for serious people" for the play The Importance of Being Earnest?
  Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest displays his prescience perhaps better than any of his other works. Indeed, his subtitle is extremely appropriate to the purpose of his play; it points...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  How does Gwendolen show triviality and Victorian sentiment in The Importance of Being Earnest?  
  The Importance of Being Earnest is subtitled "A Trivial Comedy for Serious People," and all the characters frequently show signs of triviality. However, they often do this by parodying Victorian...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  Explain The Significance Of The Full Title Of The Play The Importance Of Being Earnest
  The title of Oscar Wilde's most successful playThe Importance of Being Earnestfeatures a salient pun in the form of the word "earnest", which means "honest", and "truthful" and the name "Ernest"...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  Why did Gwendolyn refuse to marry Jack at first?
  Jack, who Gwendolen believes to be named Ernest, has confessed his romantic feelings to her, and she has acknowledged and confessed her own feelings in return. She also tells him that she has...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  Satire In The Importance Of Being Earnest
  The most obvious satire is about love and relationships. Wilde uses the characters of Gwendolen and Cecily who only fall in love with men because of their names (Ernest). Cecily has even created...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  What is the significance of the repetition of the word absurd in The Importance of Being Earnest?
  The word “absurd” is used twelve times in The Importance Of Being Earnest. Primarily, the repetition of this word, and of the idea of absurdity, links to the comic tone of the play. The central...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  In The Importance of Being Earnest, identify uses of hyperbole.
  Hyperbole is a type of figurative language that uses exaggeration for emphasis or humor. Much of the humor in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest is either hyperbole, understatement, or...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  Compare and contrast the film adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest with the play.
  I assume that your question refers to the most recent film adaptation of Oscar Wilde's play: the 2002 film starring Colin Firth as Jack and Rupert Everett as Algernon. In this case, there are no...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  How is the consumption of food used as a symbol in The Importance of Being Earnest? What does food stand for? How does Oscar Wilde use symbolism in his social commentary? Use examples from the play.
  In act one, we see Algernon eat all of the cucumber sandwiches meant for Lady Bracknell. He will not allow Jack to eat any of them. When Jack exclaims that Algernon has been eating them all along,...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  What is the significance of the word absurd in The Importance of Being Earnest, and what do the characters find absurd?
  When Algernon and Jack are debating the honor of reading the message engraved in another man's cigarette case, Algernon declares that "it is absurd to have a hard and fast rule about what one...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest focuses on the surface to reveal the problems and hypocrisy of society. The audience is meant to see what the characters do not see. Select one passage from the play and discuss what the play keeps at...
  The Importance of Being Earnest is arguably Oscar Wilde’s masterwork. Besides being one of the best plotted and most tightly structured plays of all time, it is also tremendously funny. Beneath the...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  How does food play a role in The Importance of Being Earnest?
  The role of food is connected to the presence of social mores and conventions. The central food-related scene is of course the tea service between Cecile and Gwendolyn. The social niceties of the...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  How would you describe Gwendolen and Cecily's initial relationship in The Importance of Being Earnest? What causes this to change?
  When they first meet, Gwendolen and Cecily get on very well together. Gwendolen immediately announces her certainty that they are "going to be great friends" and Cecily replies: How nice of you to...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  What is a character profile of Lady Bracknell from The Importance of Being Earnest?
  Lady Bracknell could probably be labeled the antagonist of the Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest. She is the force standing in the way of Jack and Gwendolen's marriage. As...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  In what ways is Oscar Wilde mocking Victorian society in his drama The Importance of Being Earnest?
  Criticism and satire are ubiquitous in the play The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. Not only does Wilde blasts against the snobbery, self-importance, ignorance, and idleness of the...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  How are Jack and Algernon similar to and different from each other in The Importance of Being Earnest?
  Jack and Algernon are similar in that they are both determined and committed to please the women they love. For instance, they are both willing and even make plans with the Reverend to change their...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  Comedy “tends to endorse the values of society.” Write an essay in which you explore the ways in which this claim does and does not hold true for The Importance of Being Earnest. What does the play suggest about the values of Victorian society?...
  The Importance of Being Earnest is generally defined as a "comedy of manners," which is a satire that pokes fun at and critiques the values and mannerisms of the upper class. As such, Oscar Wilde...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  In The Importance of Being Earnest, Algernon observes, "Women only call each other sister when they have called each other a lot of other things first." How does the development of the relationship between Cecily and Gwendolen bear out this...
  This quote by Algernon describes Cecily and Gwendolen's first meeting in The Importance of Being Earnest. In order to understand how this meeting comes about it is important to understand the main...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  How does Oscar Wilde satirize his audience in The Importance of Being Earnest, and what may he be trying to evoke from the audience?
  In his satirical play The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde ridicules the superficiality of his Victorian society audience and their values and behavior. As his title suggests, Wilde...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  In The Importance of Being Earnest, what is Wilde trying to say about writing and writers considering Prism's novel, Cecily and Gwendolyn's diaries, and the fact that Chasuble has written nothing?
  Subtitled A trivial comedy for serious people, The Importance of Being Earnest is charged with puns and ironies that directly juxtapose society and reality, making the audience realize the extent...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  How does The Importance of Being Earnest do a good job of addressing hypocrisy?
  Hypocrisy exists when one pretends to be something one is not or pretends to believe something one does not, or it can refer to behavior that would seem to contradict whatever it is that one claims...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  What, precisely, is a bunburyist? How are Algernon and Jack both bunburyists?
  "Bunburying" is practiced in The Importance of Being Earnest by both Jack (although initially unbeknownst to him) and Algernon, who actually coins the word in the play and later reveals that Jack...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  How are love and marriage treated in The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde?
  As the complete title of the play specifies, The Importance of Being Earnest is "A trivia comedy for serious people." This means that those themes which are universally considered, or treated, in a...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  Contrast the play The Importance of Being Earnest with the 2002 film.
  Personally, I really enjoyed Parker's take on the play. The actual differences were in the interpretations behind the scenes. Cecily is so hopelessly romantic that she is constantly in a dream...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  By the end of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, has Jack learned the importance of being Ernest, earnest, or both?
  I think Jack has learned both. By the end of the play, Jack understands the importance of being Ernest, the man, because, in learning that his real name actually is Ernest, Jack acquires a family...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  Justify the title The Importance of Being Earnest.
  The title has a dual meaning as it pertains to the play as a whole. First, the title's significance lies in the denotation of the word "earnest." Defined as a quality of being sincere, the word is...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  In the play The Importance of Being Earnest, explain the play as a satire on victorian society.
  The play offers as satirical view of the highly-formalized and overly-mannered behavior of upper-class Victorians. One scene that portrays these mannerisms in a very exaggerated way is the one in...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  What aspects of The Importance of Being Earnest are realistic, and which are not?
  The Importance of Being Earnest is a Victorian satire that pokes fun at Victorian morality and social order. The double life of Jack in an effort to cover up his unacceptable behavior while in...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  Algernon believes marriage is demoralizing and dull, Gwendolen and Cecily only want to marry because of a unique name, and Lady Bracknell uses marriage as a stepping stool for nobility. What is Jack's/Earnest's view on marriage in The Importance...
  Jack is quite romantic and does believe in love and commitment. He shows his ability for commitment by taking care of Cecily in the country and becoming her guardian. He also seems to have a...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  What is irony used for in The Importance of Being Earnest?
  Irony is created when what one expects is different from what happens in reality. It can be dramatic (when the reader knows more than the character/s), verbal (when someone says the opposite of...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  "Although literary critics have tended to praise uniqueness in literary characterizations, many authors have employed the stereotyped character successfully." Considering The Importance of Being Earnest, how do the conventional or stereotyped...
  First, there is a problem with a statement to the effect that "literary critics" value uniqueness. While some literary critics do, others do not. In fact, the notion that originality is a virtue in...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  Why or how is The Importance of Being Earnest funny? Is there a difference between being witty and being funny?
  The Importance of Being Earnest falls under the category of Comedy of Manners. This genre aims to mirror the behaviors and dynamics of the "polite" society of the upper and middle classes. However,...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  Jack and Algernon both create fictional identities for their own convenience in The Importance of Being Earnest. Are there any important differences between their deceptions?
  There are several important differences I can think of here. 1. Jack is dedicated to his ward, Cecily, and the life he lives under what he believes to be his real name and real persona is the life...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  In The Importance of Being Earnest, how does Oscar Wilde poke fun at the institutions of religion and education?
  You might like to consider the way in which Wilde satirises both of these institutions through their representative figures. Miss Prism for example is clearly his chief vehicle for satirising...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  Discuss Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest as a comedy of manners.
  A comedy of manners must be set within a first-world society where money, social standing, and manners are required to be taught and executed at every turn. Within such a setting, satire usually...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  Please analyze the following quotation from The Importance of Being Earnest: "I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone." (act 1)
  Lady Augusta Bracknell, aunt of Algernon and mother of Gwendolyn expresses this phrase during her interview with Jack Worthing, where she is weighing whether Jack is a suitable future husband for...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  On what page number can I find this quote in the The Importance of Being Earnest: "Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone."
  The actual page number will differ depending on the publication; however, this quote usually comes approximately nine pages into Act I of Oscar Wilde's play (and because I am getting my version...

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• The Importance of Being Earnest
  importance of being earnest Talk about the plot of The Importance of Being Earnest in terms of character and in terms of structure.
  You can read a detailed plot summary here at enotes at the following link. http://www.enotes.com/important-earnest/summary A very brief overview of the play: Two men, Algernon and Jack, pretend to...

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