The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Fingal OFlahertie Wills Wilde - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Importance of Being Earnest

Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde Ernest st D., ., Ern rnest est E., ., Ern rnest est G., ., Ern rnest est H. H.

Choices of the Author

• Dramatic

matic Irony

• Chara

ract cterizati erization

• n
• Fallaci

cies es

Dramatic Irony

▪ Algeron travels to the country house without Jack’s knowl wledg edge e or permission ission (Act II)

▫ Algeron said d he was Ernest, , Jack k said Ernest was dead

▪ Cecily ly and Gwendo dolen en realize ize in their ir first st meetin ting g that they are both h engaged aged to a man named d Ernest Worthing hing (Act II)

▫ Unawar are of the two different people le

▪ The blood

• od relation

ion betwee een n Jack and Gwendol ndolen en is reveal aled ed (Act III)

▫ And frankly kly they do not care

Characterization

▪ Jack Worthing thing (John, hn, Ernest) t)

▫ Life of respectab abilit ility vs. life of deceit ▫ Jack foll llows ws the ideals ls of Victor

• rian

an socie iety more than an Algernon

▪ Lady dy Brackn knell ll

▫ Represent ntatio ation of high Victor

• rian

an socie iety ▫ Lady Brackn cknell ll is one o

• f the most powerful

l characte acters s in the play

▪ Miss s Prism ism

▫ Initial al interact ction ions s with Cecily ly reveal that t tradit ition ional al values s and intell llectu ctual al pursuits its are importan ant to Miss Prism

▫

Hidden past reveale led in A Act III

Fallacy

▪ Algernon: “ Literary critic ticism ism is not your r forte, e, my dear fellow. Don’t try it. You u should uld leave e that to people who haven’t been at a University” (Act I) ▪ Jack: “My dear fellow, the truth isn’t quite the sort of thing ng one tells to a nice, e, sweet, refined girl” (Act I) ▪ Algernon: “Now produce your explanation ation and pray make it improbable.” (Act I) ▪ Cecily: “ I don’t like novels that end happil ily. . They depress me so much” (Act II) ▪ Lady Bracknell: “ To speak frankl kly, y, I a am not in favour ur of long g engagement gements.

• s. They give

e people e the opport

• rtuni

nity ty of finding out each other’s character acter before

• re marriage

riage, , which ch I think nk is never r advisable” (Act III)

Literary Lenses

“Literary criticism is not your forte, my dear fellow. Don’t try it.”

• - Algernon, Act I
• Femin

minist ist

• Marxis

ist

• Ps

Psychoa ychoana nalytica ytical

Feminist Critique

▪ Wilde de seems very cynical ical about the women en of his time ▪ Many y of the wome men n in this s play represe sent nt this s whimsical msical, , temperame rament ntal al, unpredictabl dictable, e, and hypocr

• crit

itica ical l image ge of women en that many Wilde e quote tes s sugge gest st

“One should never trust a woman who tells her real age. . If she tells that, t, she'l 'll tell anything.” “She wore far too much rouge last night and d not t quite te enough ugh clot

• thes

es. . That t is always a sign of despair in a woman.”

Feminist Critique

▪ Concern cerned d with appearanc nces es and reputation, tion, shallow

• w

▫ G: “I like you already more than I can say. My first impressions of people are never wrong.” (Act II) ▫ G: “From the moment I saw you I distrusted you. .... I am never er deceiv ived ed in such matters ers. . My first st impressions of people are invariably right.” (Act II) ▫ Only want to marry ry a man named ed Ernest st ▫ Use a lot of fallacy and verba bal l irony

• ny

C: “May I offer you some tea, Miss Fairfax?” G: “[With elaborate politeness.] Thank you. [Aside.] Detestable girl! But I require tea!” (Act II)

THEME ME 1: Women n are sly with the use of their r powe wer, r, ofte ten n focusi using ng on self image ge but quietl tly y able to use their influe uenc nce to manipula pulate te people for their r own purposes. poses.

Feminist Critique

▪ Have men at their r beck k and call, and own it ▫ Men ready dy to re-christen themselves as “Earnest” ▫ Men pampering ring their r ladies es ▪ Manip ipula ulative ive ▫ G: “They don’t seem to notice us at all. Couldn’t you cough? .... They are looking at us. What effrontery!” ▫ Avoi

• id

d givi ving ng in to what they find d reasonabl

• nable

e until they get all possible ible repentanc ance from m the men G: “Their explanations appear to be quite satisfactory .... you think we should forgive them?” C: “Yes. I mean no.”

THEME ME 1: Women n are sly with the use of their r powe wer, r, ofte ten n focusi using ng on self image ge but quietl tly y able to use their influe uenc nce to manipula pulate te people for their r own purposes. poses.

Feminist Critique

▪ Contr trast sts the idea a of women men being ng powerf rful l and inde dependent endent enough gh of men to manipul ipulat ate e them m and prove ve their ir class on their r own with h negative ative stereotyp eotypes s of wome men ▫ From m hatre red d to sisterho erhood d in a matter r of pages Insults to class on page 41, and page 42: G: “My poor wounded Cecily!” C: “My sweet wronged Gwendolen!” G: “You will call me sister, will you not?” (Act III) ▫ THEME 2: Throu rough gh sisterho rhood

• d and bonding

nding toget ethe her, r, wome men n can guard d against inst the scheming eming of men.

THEME ME 1: Women n are sly with the use of their r powe wer, r, ofte ten n focusi using ng on self image ge but quietl tly y able to use their influe uenc nce to manipula pulate te people for their r own purposes. poses.

Marxist Critique

▪ Const stant nt appearanc ances es and disap appea earance rances s by serva vant nts “[Enter er Lane.] .] L: L: Mr. Ernest st Worthing. hing. [Enter r Jack.] [Lane goes out.]” “[Enter Merriman.] M: M: Miss s Fairfa fax. x. [Enter r Gwendole ndolen. n.] [Exit Merriman.]” ▪ Serve ve only to suit their r masters ers A: Is marria riage ge so demoral

• ralising

ising as that? L: I believe eve it is a very y pleasant nt state, , sir. .... I have only been married ried once. e. A: I don’t know that I am much interes rested ed .... L: No,

• , sir;

r; it is not a very interest resting ing subjec ject.

• t. I never

er think nk of it mysel elf. f.

THEME ME 1: The servants vants in both th countr ntry y and town n homes s are show

• wn at a disti

stinc nctl tly y lower r level than n their employ

• yers

rs through

• ugh

their r brief and complace acent nt appear earanc ances. es.

Karl Marx the Spot (in Society)

▪ Trust t betwee een n Algernon ernon and Lane, , and Jack and Merrim riman: n: ▫ Servant nts s are NOT T part of the proletariat etariat, , they y are employ

• yed.

d. ▫ Show

• ws

s upper class hiera rarc rchy y in story ry, as they can afford rd servants ants. . ▫ Algerno ernon n shares es with Lane that he is going ing bunbu bury rying ing (drama matic tic irony ny to Jack). . ▪ Histori

• rical

al status of Vict ctorian

• rian upper class servant

ants s (hiera erarchy) rchy). ▪ Working king class is supposed sed to facilit litate te a M Marxist xist revol

• lutio

tion n led by intel ellectu ectual als.

• s. HAHAHAHAHA!

HAHAHAHA! ▪ Servants have potential insights (e.g.: Cecily and Gwendolen’s confusio fusion) n), , but restrain ain them (restr traini ining ng power). r).

THEME ME 2: The maste ter r can be inferi rior

• r to

the servant vant in many y ways, ys, includi uding ng confor

• rmity

ty to social al hierarc archy hy. .

Don’t be A-Freud

▪ Theme me 1: Our basal desires ires come e from m our enviro ironment nment and status in socie iety. ty. ▫ Manipulation of Algernon’s ID at various points in the story, versus us Jack (shows s more re ego)

• ).

. ▪ Come medi dic effect come mes s from

• m the fact that the most

t important

• rtant

lesson

• n learne

ned d in the play is so trivi vial! l! ▫ Bunbu bury ry: Algernon’s superego reveals useful information to Jack about ut his relatio ions nship with Gwend ndolen. en. ▪ Lady dy Brackne knell ll as a superego go refere renc nce e figure. re. ▪ “I love hearing my relations abused. It is the only thing that makes me put up with them all…” (19).

Ethos

• s

Supere rego go Logos gos Ego

• Path

thos ID ID A Helpful ul Analo alogy.. gy...

Freudian Examples Jack:

▪ Shows ws restr trai aint nt around und food.

• d.

▪ Flirts ts with Gwendol dolyn, yn, a more compl plex x indivi vidual dual. ▪ Has a practi tical cal use for Ernest st initi tial ally. y. Lady y Brackne knell (the pract ctical al benefits ts of marriag age) e): credibi bility ty from m family

• “To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be

regarde rded d as a misfor

• rtun

tune; e; to lose se both h looks

• ks like carelessne

essness ss. . Who was s your ur father?” (16)

• “A man should always have an occupation
• f some

e kind.

• d. There are far too many

y idle men in London as it is” (15). . Algernon:

• “All women beome like their mothers. That is

their tragedy. No man does. That’s his” (19).

• “Relations are simply a tedious pack of

people, who haven’t got the remotest knowledge of how to live, nor the smallest instinct about when to die” (18).

• “Yes, but it’s hereditary, my dear fellow. It’s a

sort of thing that runs in families. You had much better say a severe chill” (20). Miss Prism: betraying the class

• Initially reasonable; corrupted by Dr. Chasuble
• Facilitates Cecily’s betrayal of her class

Too Jung to Marry? ▪ Flirtin ting g is a motiv ivator tor of a range ge of behav aviors: iors: ▫ Algernon’s impersonation is a complex focused on Cecily ▪ Uncons

• nscio

cious is specific fic to our ancestr tral past: ▫ Animus: imus: argument ument betwe ween en Gwendo ndolen en & Cecil ily y vs. Jack and Algernon after Jack’s name is revealed to Gwendolyn. ▪ Past experie rienc nces s + future aspira rations tions = cause of beha havi vior:

• r:

▫ Existential crisis: using Algernon’s masquerading to help Jack. ▫ Jack is a liar who is actually tellling ing the truth h about t Ernest st. . ▪ Collec ective tive uncons

• nscio

cious structures res the couples s in the story: ry: ▫ Eating, ng, flirtin ting, g, degrad radat atio ion n of values to trivi vial alities ities

Theme 2: Our thoughts influence our actions, ironically so if they work against us. The level

• f rigor of a matter depends on the amount of

thought required before action upon it.

Attachment Theory: John Bowlby, Hazan and Shaver (1987) ▪ Cecily’s vs. Gwendolen’s reciprocation of coquetry. ▪ Prox

• xim

imity ity Maint ntenanc nance: e: ▫ Roma mance nce in Adulth lthood

• d: safety when lover

r is nearby by (Lady Brackne knell ll is antithe thesis) sis) ▫ Characteristics: discussion of intimacies, “baby-talk.” [VIDEO!] ▪ Secure e Base: e: knowl wledg edge e that you can rely on someone meone ▫ Examples: Jack isn’t true to himself and lacks this ▫ Loss ss of Jack at train in platfor

• rm

m sets up his chara racte cter r in part ▪ Discussion ssion Questio ion: n: Who is weaker, r, men or wome men? n?

The distortion of the line between childhood and adulthood is important in the play.

VIDEO

https://youtu.be/jO40ca6HVMg?t=4m37s

Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.