Earnest Authorial Methods

Question 1

Wit

Answer 1

• Epigrams - a remark expressing an idea in a clever and amusing way.
• Repartee
• Puns
• Wordplay

Question 2

Hyperbole

Answer 2

Exaggeration for comic effect

Question 3

Symbolism

Answer 3

• Food - catalyst for personal and social conflict.
• The handbag - symbol of comic misfortune
• The cigarette case - symbol of Jack’s double life and the truth.
• Cecily’s diary - a symbol of fiction and make-believe.

Question 4

Settings

Answer 4

• Town and country antithesis

- Used to satirise Victorian society.

Question 5

Paradox

Answer 5

Statement that contradicts itself, or is false, or absurd.

Question 6

Irony

Answer 6

Statement which creates humour through saying the opposite of what is normally expected or understood.

Question 7

The ‘well-made play’

Answer 7

- Victorian melodrama was derived from the French 'well made play'.
Features: 
    - Uncertain parentage
    - Secrets from the past
    - Letters

Question 8

The comedy of manners

Answer 8

Mocks + satirises the Victorian aristocracy’s attitudes and behaviours.

Question 9

Comic structure

Answer 9

• Starts with problems.
• Moves through obstacles and problems.
• Resolved with a marriage.

Question 10

Epigrams in the Importance of Being Earnest

Answer 10

Algernon - “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
Gwendolen - “In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity is the vital thing.”
Bracknell - “Never speak disrespectfully of society… only people who can’t get into it do that.”