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The Importance of Being Earnest

"The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People" is a comedic play by Oscar Wilde, which first premiered in 1895. The farcical play satirizes the conventional Victorian practices of the time, and was the pinnacle of Wilde's career. The play has been adapted into many successful film versions, and has become a literary classic.

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Did The Importance of Being Earnest cause controversy in victiorian times?

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Th play itself did not but it's author did. Soon after the play opened, Wilde became embroiled in a liable/slander suit against Lord Queensbury who accused him of being "a notorious sodomite." Wilde sued and lost. He wound up being prosecuted under British law and serving hard time for his homosexuality.

What is bunbury in the importance of being earnest?

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Bunbury and/or Bunbury-ing refers to Algernon's made up sick,invalid friend. He uses this person as an excuse to escape to the country to the city whenever he wants. Bunburying is the process of using a made up excuse such as this or Jack's fake brother Earnest.

Facts about the importance of being earnest?

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It was the last play he ever wrote due to his trouble with the law over his homosexuality and his conflict with the Marquess of Queensberry. It showed 83 times after it's opening on February 4, 1895 and his most well known play. In addition to many re-showings it has spawned to movies; one in 1952 and another in 2002

What is the importance of being responsible?

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Responsible behaviour, primarily, protects you and the people and things you care about, from harm or other negative change. Teaching your kids to always wear a seatbelt, might one day safe their lives; wearing a condom if you're sleeping around can safe you from getting HIV or other nasty STD's; and regularly maintaining appliances you own will prevent their premature breakdown.

A secondary plus side to being responsible, is that you get to be responsible over things, which - if you are responsible enough - will make people believe you are a responsible person (which you might very well be) and they will trust you, perhaps with even more responsibility. You can see how this works well within companies, where people who show managerial capacity (mainly being responsible and relatively good with people) rise on the company ladder, being given more and more people and processes to oversee; and more and more responsibility.

So people will trust you.

What is the importance of being earnest?

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The Importance of Being Earnest is a classic play written by Oscar Wilde in the late-19th century. In short, it is a satire and comedy of Victorian etiquette and standards. The play begins in the drawing room of Algernon Montcrieff, a Victorian dandy always overdressed and indulging in pleasures of food, who is soon joined by a friend, Ernest Worthing. However, because Ernest left his cigarette case with Algernon last time, Algernon figures out that Ernest's name is really Jack, though he is Ernest in the city and Jack in the country, where he has an 18-year-old ward. Gwendolen, Algernon's cousin and Jack's love, also knows Jack by the name of Ernest. When Jack and Gwendolen are in the midst of a proposal, Gwendolen exclaims that she is very fond of the name Ernest and does not enjoy the name Jack half as much. Now, in the country, Cecily, his ward, knows Jack by his real name and has been told by her "Uncle Jack" that he has a wicked younger brother named Ernest. The play, with these main points in mind, becomes a comedy when Gwendolen and Cecily meet together in the country and the search for the truth becomes absolutely hilarious.

What are some examples of some differences between the movie version and the book The Importance of Being Earnest?

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The most obvious add-ons in the movie in "The Importance of being earnest" compared to its play was - The addition of cigarettes, in the movie they smoked through a yellow filter which was invented in late 1920s. The play was created and assumably set before the publish date of 1899. - The daydreaming of Cecily where she imagined a knight in black shining armor, later to be visualized as Algernon who in her dreams came to set her free. Stereotypically speaking girls would love to be swept of their feet by a man in their lives. Later she also wrote love letters to herself from a man by the name of Earnest, this was not in available to read in the play I believe. - Also the fact that Gwendolen tattooed the name "Earnest" on her buttcheek and Jack tattooed "Gwendolen" was something different too. - The sub-plot between Dr. Chausable and Miss Prism - The addition of music into the movie Interestingly, all of these points except the last two getting acrossed was made so without even a adding a dialog to it. Written by no other than Nikita Potapov on 2013-11-13, booyah!

What themes are in the book The Importance of Being Earnest?

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There are six main themes in The Importance of Being Earnest. 1. Morals and Morality- various characters flaunt the moral structures of the day; ex. bunbering (social lie) 2. love and passion- one of Wildes targets is romantic/sentimental love. (a woman falling in love with a name) ex. Gwendolyn with Earnest 3. culture clash- the obvious clash of different social standing but also the two settings of the city (London) and country (Hertfordshire) 4. Secret Sin- Jack and Algie both lie about who they are. 5. Freedom- Jack and Algie use their different personas to be free of who they truly are and not have to deal with the consequences of what they do in town. 6. Duality- Jack and Algie both have two diff. personas based on where they are

What is the tone for the importance of being earnest?

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Morality and the constraints it imposes on society is a favorite topic of conversation in The Importance of Being Earnest. Algernon thinks the servant class has a responsibility to set a moral standard for the upper classes. Jack thinks reading a private cigarette case is "ungentlemanly." "More than half of modern culture depends on what one shouldn't read," Algernon points out. These restrictions and assumptions suggest a strict code of morals that exists in Victorian society, but Wilde isn't concerned with questions of what is and isn't moral. Instead, he makes fun of the whole Victorian idea of morality as a rigid body of rules about what people should and shouldn't do. The very title of the play is a double-edged comment on the phenomenon. The play's central plot-the man who both is and isn't Ernest/earnest-presents a moral paradox. Earnestness, which refers to both the quality of being serious and the quality of being sincere, is the play's primary object of satire. Characters such as Jack, Gwendolen, Miss Prism, and Dr. Chasuble, who put a premium on sobriety and honesty, are either hypocrites or else have the rug pulled out from under them. What Wilde wants us to see as truly moral is really the opposite of earnestness: irreverence.

What is the Conflict in The Importance of Being Earnest?

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Importance of Being Earnest, The (1895), a play by Oscar http://www.answers.com/topic/oscar-wilde. Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff both pretend to be called Ernest in order to secure the affections of Gwendolen Fairfax and Cecily Cardew. The girls are led to think first that they are engaged to the same man and then that neither is really Ernest. The ensuing confusions are resolved when it is discovered that Jack was indeed so named. The play derives force from a brilliant fabric of epigram and paradox.

What are some paradox in The Importance of Being Earnest?

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"To lose one parent may be considered a misfortune. To lose both just looks like carelessness." (True fact.)

Lady Bracknell makes light of a grave tragedy through her position of social rank in relation to the boy. The situation at hand is so impossible to believe that it is almost laughable, in fact it is so given the way it is handled. This brings the two characters closer together as, while not openly revealing Lady Bracknell's feelings, foregrounds her softheartedness and the affection she will grow to have for the boy.

Why does lady bracknell decide that jack is not a suitable husband for gwendolen?

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Because Jack doesn't know where his parents are, he was found in a handbag

What symbols are in the play The Importance of Being Earnest?

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Here is a piece detailing the ways in which 'The Importance of Being Earnest' is a comedy of manners: http://www.bachelorandmaster.com/globaldrama/the-importance-of-being-earnest-as-a-comedy-of-manners.html#.VXHOoWRViko

Why The Importance of Being Earnest is an aesthetic play?

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This question can really only be answered with an opinion rather than a factual response. However, it is difficult to argue that Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest" is not a well made play based on its popularity and critical success. The show has been preformed numerous times since its premier in 1895, and has been adapted for TV, film, opera, and radio countless times. The language in the script is considered to be some of Wilde's best, and while the show was criticized at its premier for its lack of emotional depth, the play balances its humor with a more complicated criticism of upper-class society and its trivial nature.

What is the summary of the novel The Importance of Being Earnest?

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The title has a double-meaning, as "earnest" means to be sincere, and also falsely claiming the name "Earnest". To whit, Jack is not being earnest about his name being Earnest. For different reasons, both meanings of the word "earnest" are important.

What is the overall tone of The Importance of Being Earnest?

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Oscar Wilde wrote the 'Importance of being Earnest' at a time of great social change in Britain -a time when the British working class were beginning to question their place and treatment in comparison to the snobbish, privileged elites. Wilde with the use of parody in this comedy of manners is aiming his acerbic wit at the 'upper classes' who view the 'working class' as something almost unrelated to themselves. The elites in this play seem obsessed with the protocols and their appearance in society and they perceive the working classes to be ignorant and weighed down in squalor and social problems.