University of Sarajevo Faculty of Philosophy English Department
Irony and Sarcasm in The Importance of Being Earnest (essay)
Student: Alma Hamza
Mentor: Ifeta Čirić November, 2010
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The period of the 19th and early 20th century in Britain in cultural terms was usually portrayed as „the long edwardian summer, with ladies in elegant hats and dresses parading on the lawns of coutry houses.“1 The social gap between the upper aristocratic classes and the lower classes was still evident and directed further social development. Although Britain at the time was the largest empire in the world and simultaneously the most industrially advanced nation the whole image was far away from being the picture perfect society. Therefore, it is no wonder that the political and social differences were also reflected in theater and drama. The most common types of the 19th century drama were the well-made play and the problem play characterized by a closely detailed plot and a proper climax taking place at the almost end of the play. The concept of the well-made play was designed as to apply to almost any dramatic form – from farce, melodrama to heroic tragedy. Oscar Wilde excercised this concept in his widely known comedy of manners The Importance of Being Earnest. One of the simplest definitions says that „a comedy of manners is a play concerned with satirising society’s manners.“
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Comedy of manners was not a 19th century dramatic invention, but a
theatrical genre that came into being during the Restoration period in England with works of William Wycherley and William Congreve and was undergoing tremendous revival in the 19th century reaching its peak with the works of Oscar Wilde. The Importance of Being Earnest stands as a textbook example of the comedy of manners with its witty and harsh ironic representation of the Victorian society. David L. Hirst in his book Comedy of manners clearly states that: „It was Wilde, a contemporary of Meredith and Shaw, who was to satirize the hipocrisy of his own age by exploring the dichotomy between word and deed. Fundamental to his plays – as to those of the late seventeenth century – is the rigorous rejection of the Puritan values. His command of the language and his ironic exposé of the maners of society was a return to the form and subject of post-Restoration comedy...“ 3 It was not just any part of the versatile Victorian society but the crème de la crème - upper class that had to endure harsh criticism. Moreover, irony is only the first stage, progressing to sarcasm and culminating in pure satire. Although the language itself is simple the utterance is highly elevated for the purpose of expressing the character of values in question, the overall impression is artificiality and snobbery. The focus is on the behaviour of each and every character and their personal perception of the social norms, which are subverted as to achieve a desired objection. However, apart from testing behaviour the comedy of manners seeks to 1
Adrian Barlow (ed.), Twentieth Century British Drama, Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom, 8 http://www.thedramateacher.com/comedy-of-manners/, last accessed November 28, 2010 3 David L.Hirst, Comedy of Manners, Methuen & Co Ltd, United Kingdom, 111,112 2
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expose hipocrisy, obsession with money, class status and institutions such as marriage or family. The irony in The Importance of Being Earnest starts with the identity problem of the upper class representatives. The first person showing the symptoms of a misleading identity is Mr. Ernest Worthing. He happens to be good friends with Algernon Moncrieff who is convinced that Ernest is his real name. But as the play develops further on Algernon realizes that he is terribly mistaken and that Ernest's real name is infact Jack/John. In the first act the two of them got into an elaborate discussion regarding his name which caused major confusion for the characters within the play itself and also exposed the social segment of changing one's identity for the purpose of either personal satisfaction or social requirement. For Jack the explanation is as simple as to say: „...my name is Ernest in town and Jack in the country...“ 4 Ernest is an imaginary troublemaking brother, who is Jack's double life excuse. At this point Algernon introduces a particular concept of bunburying simultaneously characterizing and accusing Jack of being a Bunburyist. The concept represents a useful, very cunning and simple solution to all the demands brought upon by the society. It allows every individual to bypass social norms and proceede with their own vision of life as it should be. At the beginning of the play Algernon Moncrieff scolds Jack for his inappropriate behaviour forgetting that he has a game of his own not much different from Jack's. Therefore, Algernon openly says that he has: „...invented an invaluable permanent invalid called Bunbury, in order that I may be able to go down into the country whenever I choose. Bunbury is perfectly invaluable.“5 This idea of alternating identities and presenting yourself as whosoever is not in line with the Victorian rigidity and the prescribed gentlemen's behaviour. Scams, either secret or obvious, were considered as shameful and inappropriate acts of behavior unfit for the upper class getlemen and ladies. Wilde uses the concept of a double lif employed by the members of the high class to ridicule them and discard the infallability trait regularly attached to them, and more importantly to emphasize that hipocrisy is a trait common to all classes. Like so many writers before him, Wilde decided to pour harsh criticism on the institution of marriage. The Victorian period was perfectly suitable to portray both the mental image of the people and the social construct of the age. To be an independent woman in Victorian society was a matter of unattainability, since it was still a male ruling world. Women had two relatively possible options – either to remain spinsters or to attain certain degree of
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The Collected Works of Oscar Wilde, Wordsworth Editions Limited, Hertfordshire, 670 Ibid., p. 672
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independence by marriage. In the play we are presented with typical women of the age with typical manners and mind framework. On the one hand there is Lady Bracknell as an old-fashioned, traditional and stern advocate of an opportunistic pre-arranged marriage. Moreover, she exercizes the role of a marriage match-maker between her daughter Gwendolen and a future eligible son-in-law. The Victorian age gave rise to a concept called the family claim which stated that: „...women, far more than men, were regarded as possessions of their families.“ 6 Lady Bracknell entirely follows this pattern when her daughter is in question showing that it is not up to Gwendolen to make her own decisions in this business transaction where parents know best: „...When you do become engaged to someone, I, or your father, should his health permit him, will inform you of the fact. An engagement should come on a young girl as a surprise, pleasant or unpleasant, as the case may be. It is hardly a matter that she could be allowed to arrange for herself...“ 7 Wilde's sarcastic tone stands in opposition to the customary pattern and simultaneously highlights that the idea of woman question is far away from becoming a reality. The inquiry that Lady Bracknell conducts to see whether Jack is a suitable marriage material are irony and sarcasm at its best. Apparently she had done it before and it felt quite natural to ask questions such as: „Do you smoke?“8 Indeed, the question sounds trivial, but it is purposeful – it reveals the underlying characteristic of the society - idleness. When Lady Bracknell receives positive confirmation she exudes happiness, but rather in a sarcastic manner: „I'm glad to hear it. A man should always have an occupation of some kind. There are far too many idle men in London as it is.“9 Sarcasm is not a character trait that one should conceal and be ashamed of, quite contrary. But Lady Bracknell is not all black-and-white character. She might be perceived as a sweet old lady who wants the best for her daughter, but her sinister and snobbish traits resurface the moment class status and one's origin comes into the big picture. Jack, who happens to be a Victoria Station hand-bag foundling, is an undesirable bachelor since it would be incredibly humiliating for the Bracknells to allow: „a girl brought up with the utmost care to marry into a cloakroom, and form an alliance with a parcel.“ 10 On the surface this sounds ironic even ridiculous, but deeper analysis reveals harsh social criticism that borders with utter satire. Yes, Jack is a foundling indeed and Victorian society lacks both morality and purity. 6
http://www.victoriaspast.com/LifeofVictorianWoman/LifeofVictorianWoman.html, last accessed November 28, 2010 7 The Collected Works of Oscar Wilde, Wordsworth Editions Limited, Hertfordshire, 677 8 Ibid., p. 677 9 Ibid., p. 677 10 Ibid., p. 679
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On the other hand there are the two young women, Gwendolen Fairfax and Cecily Cardew, with the Victorian posture and manners and a romantic hopelessness attached to it. The most obvious instance of romantic hoplessness is the fixation with the name – Ernest, for both characters seem to edge with obsession. Suprisingly, Gwendolen does not express any coyness, as one might expect, but takes charge to seal the deal all by herself. The character of Gwendolen is not the genuine prototype of an ironic expression, infact she appears to be pretty plain. Nevertheless, it is her superstition and fixation on superficiality that the modern reader finds quite ironic and inappropriate: „...I have known several Jacks, and they all, without exception, were more than usually plain. I pity any woman who is married to a man called John. The only safe name is Ernest.“ 11 Cecily cherishes the same kind of obsession as Gwendolen. She as a young, respectful, educated woman is entitled to choose a bachelor for herself. However, the idea of superficiality reemerges once again where triviality, such as one's name, are deemed more than the character itself. The title of the play The Importance of Being Earnest is Wilde's word play used as particular device of social criticism. It operates on two levels – the first one being the level of the name, for indeed the play deals with an individual under that very name, and the second more metaphorical level of the term earnest. There is nothing earnest in the play – the characters lie, invent, pretend, hide their real motives and give priority to appearance and superficial displays of behaviour and attitude. The characters are hollow from within, paradoxical, constantly trying to come to terms with social requirements by doing just the opposite and that is the bitter irony which pervades almost every sentence. Another instance of shallowness is presented in the idea of baptism that the two male characters are willing to undertake. For Wilde this is the utmost social confomity that characters fall victims to. Female characters may be obsessed with the name Ernest for reasons known only to them, however, male characters are far worse for even considering the option of changing their identity because of a woman's whim. Victorian society seemed perfect only on the outside, but from the inside it was rotten to the core. Wilde himself led unconventional life and his sexual orientation raised more than just a few eyebrows. More than anything else he could not bear general hipocrisy and artificiality which were the underlying features of society he was also a part of. In The Importance of Being Earnest he exposed and satirized the manners of the upper class which were quite annoying. It seems that all the characters in the play try to adapt their lives to the prescribed concept of Victorian morality and purity, but unsuccesfully. Underneath it all the 11
The Collected Works of Oscar Wilde, Wordsworth Editions Limited, Hertfordshire, 676
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real character emerges displaying that dark and sinister side we would all like to conceal. Wilde shows the reversal of the gender roles where women seem to have more power at their disposal – it is Gwendolen who proposes to Jack and not vice versa. The idea of a double life was not an adventure but an actual lifestyle enjoyed by many well-off individuals, who disobeyed the Victorian rules. Family background and social status determined the overall relations. All of this provoked such intense reaction on the part of Wilde that he had to use ironic, sarcastic and even satiric undertone as to bring forth the real image of the upper class society, which judged everything by appearance and never bothered to scratch deeper under the surface and see the essence.
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Bibliography: Adrian Barlow (ed.), Twentieth Century British Drama, Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom, 2001. David L.Hirst, Comedy of Manners, Methuen & Co Ltd, United Kingdom, 1979. The Collected Works of Oscar Wilde, Wordsworth Editions Limited, Hertfordshire, 1997. Internet sources: http://www.thedramateacher.com/comedy-of-manners/, last accessed November 28, 2010 http://www.victoriaspast.com/LifeofVictorianWoman/LifeofVictorianWoman.html,
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accessed November 28, 2010 http://chuma.cas.usf.edu/~dietrich/britishdrama1.htm#WellMade, last accessed November 28, 2010 http://www.thedramateacher.com/comedy-of-manners/, last accessed November 28, 2010
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