The Importance of Being Earnest : Key info
The Importance of Being Earnest is a notable literary work by Oscar Wilde. A complete discussion of this literary work is given, which will help you enhance your literary skills and prepare for the exam. Read the Main texts, Key info, Summary, Themes, Characters, Literary devices, Quotations, Notes, and various study materials of The Importance of Being Earnest.
Key info
Key Facts
- Full Title: The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People
- Original Title: Same title (no alternate title)
- Author: Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
- Prize/Recognition: Considered Wilde’s comic masterpiece; one of the greatest English comedies
- Source: Satire of Victorian society, morality, and obsession with social status and marriage
- Written Time: 1894
- First Performed: 14 February 1895 at St. James’s Theatre, London
- Publisher: Leonard Smithers (first published 1899)
- Genre: Comedy of Manners / Satire
- Form: Three-act play
- Tone: Satirical, witty, humorous, ironic
- Point of View: Third-person stage directions; dialogue-driven play
- Significance: Critiques Victorian seriousness, hypocrisy, and social pretensions; celebrates humor, wit, and the absurdity of social conventions
- Famous Line: “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
Setting:
- Time: Late Victorian England (1890s)
- Place: London and Hertfordshire (country estate)
Key Notes
- Comedy of Manners: The play mocks the artificial manners of Victorian upper-class society. It satirizes marriage, morality, and obsession with appearances.
- Earnestness and Triviality: Wilde plays with the idea of being “earnest” (serious and moral) versus being Ernest (a fashionable name). The pun drives the humor and satire.
- Marriage and Social Status: Almost every character is obsessed with marriage, wealth, and family background. Wilde mocks the shallow reasons behind Victorian marriages.
- Wit and Epigrams: The play is filled with Wilde’s witty sayings and paradoxes, such as “All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy.”
- Double Life/Identity: Characters like Jack and Algernon lead double lives (“Bunburying”). This reflects hypocrisy and the absurd rules of society.
- Satire of Hypocrisy: Wilde ridicules social conventions, seriousness about trivial matters, and moral pretension.