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Themes in The Importance of Being Earnest - Coggle Diagram
Themes in The Importance of Being Earnest
Love and marriage
In upper-classes marriages are often arranged
Algernon has a cynical vision of marriage/it lacks romanticism/contrary to Jack who has got a more traditional vision of marriage
Jack is in love with Gwendolen and proposes to her/she agrees
superficial vision of love on Gwendolen's side: the name is more important than the rest
Satire
Vision of love and marriage: satire through Algernon's cynical vision.
Satire of the aristocracy: men/fashion/fear of disappearing
Lady Bracknell's absurd demand: she wants Jack to "find" his parents whereas he doesn't know who they are.
A comedy of manners
For example, Lady Bracknell is snobbish, absurd, lacks empathy, she's superficial...
Algernon is a womanizer, a dandy, full of debts (a classical aristocrat of the time)
A PLAY OR A NOVEL WHICH GIVES A SATIRICAL PORTRAYAL OF BEHAVIOURS IN A PARTICULAR SOCIAL CLASS.
Social classes and prejudices
The upper class is all about appearance/
being fashionable and having money.
Women cannot choose their husband/only the parents can and they must be "eligible"
Algernon and Aunt Augusta are aristocrats/upper class
Truth and lies
Algernon has also invented a "friend" called Bunbury to justify his leaving town to escape (DEBTS?)
SO both main characters lie
Ernest doesn't exist, he's been invented by Jack in order to be free to go to town: FIRST LIE
Jack lied not only on his name but also on the character of Cecily (not his aunt but his young znd beautiful ward)
Name and identity
The "name" seems to be more important than who we really are: Gwendolen and her mother both value "names" or "family"
One of the topics: a double identity, being someone else?
The fake identity of Jack /Ernest is the focus of the play.
Men/women
Men seem to be superior, but they're not (they're ridiculed)
Women should be under the domination of men, but they are not.
REVERSAL of values and power.
The burlesque
Lady Bracknell is a burlesque character who is overdoing her "aristocratic character"
Gwendolen is over coquettish, Algernon is over superficial, and Lane is a cliché of a servant (steals the sandwiches and the champagne)
AN ABSURD AND COMICALLY EXAGGERATED IMITATION OF SOMETHING (PARODY)
Quidproquos/misunderstandings
Cecily is in love with an imaginary Ernest whom she doesn't know and who doesn"t exist.
Algernon fantasizes on Cecily whom he doesn't know.
Gwendolen doesn'gt know that Jack is her lover's real name (she only loves the name Ernest)