The Book "The Importance of being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde show a really interesting way to represent different statuses or classes.This book which was written in 1894 during the Victorian periods when the different in classes were prominent The most important being the King , to the servant. Oscar Wilde starts off really well to establish some bewilderment by giving the title a polysemic name.Yet the term "Earnest" having more than one meaning adds up to the confusion.Earnest doesn't make things easier to the reader.Earnest could be either a name , or the term Earnest meaning sincere.The word "Importance" can also be interpreted in different ways.Importance could be the importance in class within the hierarchy or be the importance of "Earnest in the play" if a character is named that.However the title is not the only thing that makes the reader question himself.The sub-title A Trivial Comedy for serious people"This entail in the reader questioning himself once again.This subtitle is giving the reader a lot of information , one of them is , the play will be a comedy , the second one being that is play could be enjoyed by everyone , not only by trivial people but for serious people.This gives the reader a promising start to the play.
In addition , Oscar Wilde utilizes the cast list to show a major different in classes.Wilde uses prefix and suffix to show some of their classes.Rev meaning Reverent were really important people in the society during that Era.Furthermore the reverent is even more respected because of his academic excellence.The letters D.D in the end of his name which stand for Doctor of Divinity was not an easy caliber to reach so because of that he is a distinguished character in the society and is undoubtedly respected .Another character that makes me sceptical is Miss Prism.Firstly Wilde gives us the idea that she is single.This is an interesting fact to give to the reader as she might be the only one in the play being in that situation , therefore she has a really different status to others.Another thing to consider is that Miss Prism is also the Governess, so she is without any doubt responsible and could also be the leader in the play.The two last characters in the cast list that makes me anxious is the two servants Lane and Merriman.These two characters are unquestionably the lowest in rank in the play.This is presented by Wilde in a very observant way.Both characters do not have a second name.This leads to the reader instinctively guessing that the servants are low in class.
In the first dialogue between Moncrieff and Lane , classes are showed by the use of language by both characters.Lane calls Moncrieff "Sir" that let the reader know already the difference in classes between the two characters.Moncrieff also demontrate how prominent he is by his actions during the dialogue.He inspects Lane's sandwiches carefully meaning that he likes things to be done carefully and once again this confirms his rank in the society.Lane is also critisized by Moncrieff during their speech.He says : "Lane's view 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 absolutely no sense of moral responsability"this monologue describes how Moncrieff feels of Lane even though he respects him.
www some interesting comment, you have attempted to include terms learnt in class and to apply them, some word level analysis
ReplyDeleteebi not always fluent writing, worth checking back before posting, when at word level ensure that you discuss the word class, structure of sentences etc.