In what way is “The Importance of Being Earnest” a trivial comedy for serious people?

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In what way is The Importance of Being Earnest a trivial comedy for serious people NU The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde is called a trivial comedy for serious people The title itself shows Wilde s aim He makes serious issues like love marriage and class look light silly and funny Yet behind the laughter he gives a strong social message Love and Names Wilde shows love as both silly and important Gwendolen insists she can only marry a man named Ernest In Act I she says The only really safe name is Ernest Here Love becomes a joke about names not feelings Cecily also dreams of marrying Ernest before even meeting Algernon These scenes make romance look trivial but also expose shallow Victorian ideas Marriage and Wealth Marriage is treated like a business in the play Lady Bracknell does not care about love She only asks about

money class and family In Act I she remarks To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune to lose both looks like carelessness Her judgment of Jack shows marriage is tied to birth and wealth not true affection Truth and Hypocrisy The play mocks lies and double lives Jack creates a false brother Ernest He says in Act I I have always pretended to have a younger brother of the name of Ernest Algernon invents a sick friend Bunbury These tricks make the story comic but also reveal hypocrisy In Act I Algernon says The truth is rarely pure and never simple This line shows how Wilde hides the serious truth under comic paradox In short Wilde s play is both light and deep He makes serious themes look trivial and trivial things look serious Through laughter Wilde criticizes Victorian love marriage and class rules

The Importance of Being Earnest

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In what way is “The Importance of Being Earnest” a trivial comedy for serious people?

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Oscar Wilde

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