Satire in 'The importance of being Ernest'

Satire in 'The importance of being Ernest'

  • Submitted By: elvie
  • Date Submitted: 05/20/2015 4:57 AM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 923
  • Page: 4

SATIRE IN “THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST”

Oscar Wilde has become infamous in the literary world for being a satirical writer. Many of his works include satire and as we can see in “The Importance of Being Earnest” this could be one of his most satirical pieces. Wilde is not the only satirical writer and many elements found in his work can be found in modern works including plays, literature, films and more often than not in comedy sketches.
In “The Importance of Being Earnest” Lady Bracknell is the “Blocking Figure”. She is the character that creates most of the difficult situations and stands in the way of a happy ending. Lady Bracknell tries to stop Jack and Gwendolen from getting married. Jack also becomes a “Blocking Figure” when Lady Bracknell discovers Cecily has a sum of money and wants Algernon and Cecily to marry. This in itself is satirical because Lady Bracknell is of high class society and has to ask somebody who she believes is lower class than her for permission as this would not have happened in Victorian times if Lady Bracknell had been male. The role of the “Blocking Figure” is to make the story as interesting as possible as otherwise the story would be short, simple and straight to the point buy adding a “Blocking Figure” the story can become as twisted with as many ups and downs as the writer can think of making the story longer, more complex and a lot more interesting. In modern works there is almost always a “Blocking Figure” for example in “Meet the Parents” the “Blocking Figure” is Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro. On first meeting Gaylord “Greg” Focker who intends to marry his daughter Pam. Jack takes an instant dislike to Greg when he finds out he is a male nurse the plot then follows Greg trying to impress Jack and failing.
This film also ties in with social status as the reason Jack doesn’t like Greg is because he is different to the Byrne’s social background. Greg is a middle-class Jewish man whilst Jack is from an upper class...

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