*Comment on the comic effects used i*n this extract
This extract I set in Algernon’s house and the two main characters on stage are jack and lady Bracknell. This scene is key to the play as it is a catalyst to the events that will occur later on in the play. There are many comic effects used in this extract, comic effects that would have appealed greatly to the middle class Victorians that were watching it.
It is typical of that of a melodrama as lady Bracknell causes a problem that will have to be resolved for the happy ending. This typical structure of a melodramatic play was very comedic. Although the mood of the confrontation was light at the beginning there was tension building as her questions began to build up. This confrontation was induced by the fact that Jack did not ask to take Gwendolyn’s hand in marriage. And in Victorian times this was a must so this has spurred lady Bracknell to act and she does so in a very funny peculiar manor.
Lady Bracknell’s mood changes very quickly as the scene progresses so it is very comedic to watch. Lady Bracknell assumes the role of a man, interrogating jack to check if he truly is a suitable suitor. Her act of role reversal is very humorous as you can picture her being the man in the family where traditionally it should be the man taking care of this matter. Lady Bracknell asks a Jack very unusual, trivial question that shows her for what she really is, and empty headed aristocrat.
This scene is comic because throughout the whole scene it has one basic structure, lady Bracknell asks jack questions that seem to be pointless and as he answers she’s responds some more revealing her materialistic manor. I believe although it is just simply funny with the absurd remarks she makes, Oscar Wilde means to poke fun of the thoughts and ways of the middle class society in the Victorian era. But even so this only adds to the enjoyment that the middle class Victorian audience must have got out of it.
The parallels...