The Importance of Being Earnest - Context, Comedy and Authorial Methods Flashcards
What are some comic concepts in TIOBE?
- Marriage, love, romance
- Disguise and deception
- Mistaken identity
- The ‘Green World’ - a place of disorder and confusion
- The journey into happiness and comic resolution
- Farce, slapstick (exaggerated physical comedy), physical comedy
- Comic rivalry
- Subversion (undermines the values of society)
- Parody (of Victorian melodrama)
- Complex plotting/sub-plotting
- Masters and servants
- Satire
- Confusion and misunderstanding
- Stock comic characters (eg. heroes, romantic couples, villains etc.)
What is hyperbole?
Exaggeration for comic effect
What is some examples of symbolism in TIOBE? Give examples
- Food - a catalyst for personal and social conflict
- The handbag - comic misfortune
- Cigarette case - Jack’s double life
- Cecily’s diary - make-believe, fiction
How is setting important in TIOBE?
- Town vs country antithesis
- Used to mock Victorian society
What is a paradox?
A statement that contradicts itself, or is false/absurd
What is irony?
A statement which creates humour through saying the opposite of what is expected
What is ‘the well-made play’?
It features uncertain origins, secrets from the past and letters
What is a comedy of manners?
It mocks and makes fun of upper-class Victorian manners and behaviours
What is comic structure?
Starts with a problem > obstacles > resolving in marriage
Describe how the Aesthetic movement is relevant to TIOBE
- ‘Art for Art’s sake’
- The concept of beauty being more important than narrative
- ‘Dandy’ figures live for art and pleasure
Describe how social class is relevant to TIOBE
- Wilde was a social outsider (Irish)
- TIOBE questions the authority of the upper classes
- TIOBE examines the place of the lower classes through the use of servants
Describe how gender roles and marriage are relevant to TIOBE
- Set in a patriarchal society, where marriage is formal and based on status
- Sexuality is a taboo
- Women’s roles are examined and questioned (Lady Bracknell dominates her conversations)
Describe how behaviour, morality and religion are relevant to TIOBE
- Social inequality highlighted
- Aestheticism challenges Victorian norms
- Religion is shown to be a superficial concept
What is the Separate Spheres Debate?
- Men are the ones who are working and earning money
- Women are maternal and should stay at home
What is it meant by ‘the New Woman’?
Describes women who want to get rid of their stereotypes and branch out in life
