The Importance Of Being Earnest By Oscar

Oscar Wilde, the witty Edwardian poet,

playright, and author, was noted for his refined demeanor. The same mannerisms

and dress, however, that made him a popular guest at parties also labeled

him as a homosexual; and although he was the married father of six, a sexual

scandal which erupted just a few days after the opening of Tile Importance

of Being Earnest eventually earned him two years of hard labor in prison,

and effectively ended his career.

Perhaps his frequent use of the convolutions

of deceit and misidentity as comic device was as much inspired by the rigid

masks imposed in post Victorian society as it was by the Shakespearean

“Comedy of Errors” tradition he admired. Wilde’s characters in Earnest

are the “UN-earnest,” idle rich, with abundant time and money at their

disposal to make intricate messes out of their lives. It is only through

the most amazing good fortune – often appearing in the writer’s plays as

obvious contrivances – that they are able to get past their own foolishness

and flippancy (follies which typified Wilde’s own tumultuous life) to achieve

their desired ends.