¡Descarga The importance of being earnest y más Apuntes en PDF de Teatro solo en Docsity! The Importance of being Earnest. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900): Biography: The Importance of Being Earnest was written by Oscar Wilde, who was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1854 and he died in Paris, France, in 1900. This was the last work of Wilde before his death, and maybe the most important. Play: The Importance of being Earnest was published in 1899, four years after the premiere and established Oscar Wilde as a play writer. The first version had four acts, other characters; none was named Ernest and a different plot that it talked about the double life of the characters and an arrest of one of them for debts. It was really different. Finally, the work was reduced into three acts, the arrest was removed and he introduced the names game. The most enjoyable thing about this work, for me was the difficulties to translate the title in other languages because the title takes exactly the essence of the play and if it is translated maybe it change a bit the meaning. There are some translations in many languages that they are well, but you need to read it in English to understand the title. There are different symbols and themes which are important in the play, for me, the most important is the superficiality, this is the main message that I think Wilde want to transmit, but there are others, other universal ideas which are explored in this literary work, like the hypocrisy, the pleasure, morality, the death; in act III, and more symbols which are relevant and sometimes tipically in the Victorian times, when the play is located. Characters and plot: In the play we can find some characters, the main characters are Jack and Alghernon. They are two young gentlemen, and both of them have a double life but with different moral. Jack wants to show himself as a honest man, faithful, loyal. And Alghernon does not care to hide his indifference to the social moral behavior scuttling them when he wants. Gwendolen is a young woman who uses to be careful with herself because she is in an upper class. Her ambition and superficiality this does cause things like choosing your husband from as he is called, or saying things like: She uses to use phrases like “In cases of grave importance, style is vital, and not sincerity” which represents their real interests about the person’s outside and not by the personality, making it appears like a frivolous woman. She is the character who represents one issue which is very important in the play, it is the superficiality, she’s an important character because of it, because she shows a character who make sense to the play. Cecily is about as shallow as Gwendolen, but did not reach her at the end. Bored in the field, she is educated by a nurse who she respect very little. With a stronger personality than Gwendolen. 'lacks nothing but looks like having everything' is the figure of the dandy who represents a symbol of the movement, which, distinguished by its elegance, never ceases to emphasize good manners and exquisite situations. As we can see on the work the play breaks with the typical ambient and the bad situation. Personal review: While I was reading the play I understood it better, now I can understand the title, and with this play I had felt different characters which make me enjoy. I like Wilde’s works, especially this because I love to laugh while I am reading, and not all writers make it to the readers. Oscar Wilde is an exceptional, funny and witty writer. His humor in The Importance of Being Earnest relies on creating absurd situations and characters whose lack of insight causes them to respond to these situations in inappropriate ways. This is an Excellent work of comic plot that flows between its subtle dialogues and scenes account of events full of wit and freshness. These are the great values that have made this composition one of the most acclaimed and represented in the world. In my opinion, The importance of being Earnest is a work that, in bad times of crisis, poorness, and sadness, becomes an way of mirth and good humor, a perfect example of the Victorian time because of "laugh and entertainment". Even more if we think that we also are in a crisis time we can recognize how trendy is the play nowadays. Although the characters are not realistic and the argument says nothing relevant, the work achieves entertainment and instruct through the beauty of the language, the aphorisms and the quotations. In a new industrialized society which begins to notice the spread of decadent habits (as is the turn of the century in England), this makes the play a refuge for high society, who rightly welcomed it warmly. For this same reasons it is also recommended today, In the bad economic context, it is best to abstract ourselves with the Wilde intelligent humor, and to fight against the deterioration of the language today in day by enjoying the variety and musicality of Wilde’s words.
