1. Research the Victorian period, and determine how accurate Wilde was in his assessment of the aristocratic attitudes of the period. 2. Design costumes that are historically accurate for each of the main characters in the play. 3. Research Wilde’s opinions about politics and art. How do they apply to […]
Read more Study Help Practice ProjectsStudy Help Essay Questions
1. Wilde’s play has two settings — the city of London and the country. How does he create differences between the two settings? 2. What attitudes toward marriage do Wilde’s characters explore? 3. How does Wilde create and comment on the differences between the social classes in England as represented […]
Read more Study Help Essay QuestionsStudy Help Full Glossary for The Importance of Being Earnest
The Albany Ernest Worthing’s address on his calling cards was actually the home of George Ives, a friend of Wilde’s and an activist for homosexual rights. Anabaptists a religious group that believes the only form of baptism should be complete immersion of the body in water. Army Lists published lists […]
Read more Study Help Full Glossary for The Importance of Being EarnestCritical Essays Themes in The Importance of Being Earnest
Duty and Respectability The aristocratic Victorians valued duty and respectability above all else. Earnestness — a determined and serious desire to do the correct thing — was at the top of the code of conduct. Appearance was everything, and style was much more important than substance. So, while a person […]
Read more Critical Essays Themes in The Importance of Being EarnestOscar Wilde Biography
Early Years Oscar Wilde’s unconventional life began with an equally unconventional family. He was born Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde on October 16, 1854, at 21 Westland Row, Dublin, Ireland. His father, Sir William Wilde, was an eminent Victorian and a doctor of aural surgery. Wilde’s mother, Jane Francesca Elgee […]
Read more Oscar Wilde BiographyCharacter Analysis Rev. Chasuble & Miss Prism
These two comic and slightly grotesque caricatures are less developed than the principal players, and Wilde uses them to comment on religion and morality. The minister is an intellectual character who speaks in metaphors. He is a “typical” country vicar who refers often to canon law and gives fatherly advice. […]
Read more Character Analysis Rev. Chasuble & Miss PrismCharacter Analysis Gwendolen Fairfax & Cecily Cardew
Both Gwendolen Fairfax and Cecily Cardew provide Wilde with opportunities to discuss ideas and tout the New Woman near the turn of the century. They are curiously similar in many ways, but as the writer’s tools, they have their differences. Both women are smart, persistent and in pursuit of goals […]
Read more Character Analysis Gwendolen Fairfax & Cecily CardewCharacter Analysis Lady Augusta Bracknell
The most memorable character and one who has a tremendous impact on the audience is Lady Augusta Bracknell. Wilde’s audience would have identified most with her titled position and bearing. Wilde humorously makes her the tool of the conflict, and much of the satire. For the play to end as […]
Read more Character Analysis Lady Augusta BracknellCharacter Analysis Algernon (Algy) Moncrieff
Algernon Moncrieff is a member of the wealthy class, living a life of total bachelorhood in a fashionable part of London. He is younger than Jack, takes less responsibility, and is always frivolous and irreverent. As a symbol, he is wittiness and aestheticism personified. He — like Jack — functions […]
Read more Character Analysis Algernon (Algy) MoncrieffCharacter Analysis John (Jack) Worthing
Jack Worthing, like the other main characters in Wilde’s play, is less a realistic character and more an instrument for representing a set of ideas or attitudes. Wilde uses him to represent an upper-class character easily recognized by his audience. Jack also gives Wilde an opportunity to explore attitudes about […]
Read more Character Analysis John (Jack) Worthing