Comment on the style of Oscar Wilde with special reference to his play “The Importance of Being Earnest.”

Answer

Comment on the style of Oscar Wilde with special reference to his play “The Importance of Being Earnest.”

Oscar Wilde’s (1854-1900) “The Importance of Being Earnest” (1899) is one of the best examples of his unique style. The play is a perfect mixture of wit, humor, and social criticism. Wilde’s writing style is light, but behind the laughter, he shows the foolishness of the upper class. His dialogues are full of clever ideas and jokes. Yet, they also make us think about truth, manners, and human weakness. Here we will take a closer look at Oscar Wilde’s style.

Witty and Epigrammatic Language: The most special part of Wilde’s style is his wit. Almost every line in the play is funny and smart at the same time. His characters speak in short and sharp sentences that surprise the audience. For example, Algernon says,

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”

This line sounds amusing. But it also shows that Algernon and people in general often hide behind lies. We see this when Algernon often lies about his imaginary sick friend Bunbury. Whenever he wants to avoid boring social duties in London, like his aunt’s dinner, he lies to go see his sick friend Bunbury. Throughout the play, Wilde’s wit keeps the audience smiling. For example, Lady Bracknell says,

“To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.”

Here, she turns a serious subject into comedy. Wilde’s style uses this kind of smart speech to make serious ideas sound humorous and light.

Satirical Tone: Wilde’s humor is not only for fun — it also criticizes the upper-class people of his time. Victorian society cared too much about names, wealth, and manners. Through characters like Lady Bracknell, Wilde shows how shallow they were. When Lady Bracknell rejects Jack because he was found in “a handbag,” it becomes both funny and meaningful. She is not shocked that a child was lost, but only that he was