1. The Importance of Being Earnest
An Introduction

2. Victorian Period (1837-1901) Victorian society structured by class
Lower class only recognized only for their ability to provide service to middle and upper classes
Wealthy did not usually work their estates but had bailiffs or managers to do so
First born sons of the wealthy were well-off because they received the wealth of the family
Second and subsequent sons had to enter the military or clergy
Marrying was a young lady’s goal
Our Royal Highness

3. Tea Time Daily routine in English life Everything stopped for tea time
Tea served with delicate sandwiches and sweets
Tea Time often became more elaborate when guests were invited

4. Victorian Education Education was much more limited
Middle class boys attended grammar school and university if they received a grant
Middle class girls received limited education at home and village churches

5. Upper Class Ladies Learned under the guidance of a governess
Learned the feminine arts of sewing and embroidery and music training
Learned French

6. Upper Class Gents Acquired live-in tutor after infancy
At seven, boys were sent to “public” school
After public school, boys went to university
University required:
Attendance of lectures
Private lessons with a tutor
Rigorous reading and writing
Yearly comprehensive exams
If a young man got into trouble, he was sent home in disgrace

7. Oscar Wilde Novelist, Poet and Dramatist
Born on October 16, 1854 as Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde
Attended Trinity College and Magdalen College where he won the Newdigate Prize for one of his poems
Married Constance Lloyd at the age of 30 and had two sons

8. The Importance of Being Earnest
Literary Oscar Wilde
The Importance of Being Earnest
Complete Fairy Tales
Began publishing in 1881 and wrote throughout his life
Known for his ability to produce lively, colorful conversation and witty remarks
Believed in “art for art’s sake”
Very eccentric
Most popular work was and is The Importance of Being Earnest

9. Wilde reacted against these ideas in Victorian society:
Industrialism
Hypocrisy/complacency/artificiality
The Romantic view of Nature
he saw it as crude, unshaped
The People
He believed the Artist was to be isolated and perhaps persecuted for his genius
The aristocracy and affluent middle class
Melodrama
Where characters may be seen as talking “directly from life”

10. Influences The “well-made play” Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors
The mechanism of the play depends on a ‘time bomb’ from the past
Use of coincidence, and question and answer to provide background
Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors
Features separated siblings

11. Literary devices used in the play
Epigram - a terse, witty statement (one-liner)
Epigrams are often paradoxical in nature
“I can resist everything except temptation” - Oscar Wilde
Symbol - something that, although it is of interest in its own right, stand for or suggests something larger and more complex
The American Flag
A road symbolizes the walk of life