Aesthetics in Oscar Wilde's Play The Importance of Being Earnest Essay

Thats pretty Punny. Throughout his works, Oscar Wilde shows an interest in aesthetic values. His curiosity about beautiful men is revealed in the Picture of Dorian Gray. Wilde continued on his aesthetic trend in The Importance of being Ernest. In this play, Wilde chose to write about the elite aristocracy, who consider themselves the most beautiful people on earth. Wildes play makes fun of aristocratic intelligence, manners, customs and marriages. Wilde decides to ridicule the aristocrats because they were the source of his harassment for being homosexual. What better way to have revenge upon people than writing a play about them in which you reveal how shallow their practices are? How shallow is the belief Cecily and Gwendyen had about a mans name is his most important quality? A combination of this criticism and irony make The Importance of Being Ernest humorous. Wilde uses his wit to speak out against society in humorous ways. These witty remarks can be found in the characters of Algernon and Lord Henry Wotton. Both of these characters were given Wildes wit as he wrote them. With his wild wit, Wilde was able to write humorous situations for his play. Being able to write great verbal irony is a demonstration of great intelligence. Being able to write great verbal irony consistently, as Wilde did, is a demonstration of genius. Throughout the play, there is a double meaning of the word Ernest, both as the name and as the adjective. The men lie about being Ernest, but cannot be earnest, since they are lying. As it is revealed later in the play, the men were not lying and were actually named Ernest. Lady Braknells reference to smoking as an occupation is humorous. The play mocks earnesty by allowing people who are not earnest to obtain love. Throughout the play the audience knows the names of the men, while the women do not. Jack reveals that he is a hypocrite...