The importance of being Hilarious

The importance of being earnest, is one of the greatest pieces of satire ever written.Oscar wilde wrote it as an exaggeration and parody of the upper class of london in the 1890's. When you first read it, the play can come off as boring, because its charters are so arrogant mean, and sometimes a little stupid. but as you read into it, or in my case see it over 30 times (it was because i was part of the production at school,, not because i have actively gone to see it over 30 times), the humor becomes more apparent, and you laugh at yourself for not noticing it all along because its staring you down in the face. the play is making fun of how ridiculous the upper class was. how they where hypocites "i know I'm not punctual, but i like it so much in others" (cecily), how they took advantage of their education "literary criticism is not your forte, my dear bot, you should not try it, leave it to the men who haven't gone to university, they do it so well in the daily papers" (Algy), or when Algy says "i may be  occasionally over dressed,, but i make up for it by being immensely over educated" (Algy), the play also points out how the upper orders don't care about the lower classes "i don't much care to hear about your family life lane" (Algy). the play is a parody of the life of the people of high class london.

i think though that one of the reasons we still find it so hilarious, is because we still find it true to some extent about our society today. that the upper classes don't care about the dare i say it, the 99%! that we find the people who have privilege are not always the brightest tools in the shed. When wilde wrote this play his wit, and use of satire abused the upper classes in the funniest of ways. but even today its ideas of the upper class may still ring true.

Wilde turly wrote a play for the ages!

 

Comments

[audrey]

So, I saw this tonight and not only was the production absolutely fantastic, but much of the quality and hilarity came from the satire you mention. Great play, and great example of irony and satire.

[Johnny Grimes]

The satire and irony in this play is completely brilliant, i would say in my british accent. The high class characters are hilarious but great examples of satire. Arrogant and foolish most times, the characters did not act as they appeared. The play is brilliant and the story is as well.