1. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
“A Trivial Comedy for Serious People”

2. Objectives
Students will be able to identify the rules of etiquette during the Victorian Era
Students will be able to identify biographical information about Oscar Wilde, which contributed to his writing
Students will be able to distinguish key characteristics of the Aesthetic Movement

3. Overview
Jack Worthing is a respected gentleman in his country community, but he has secrets.
Invented a brother named Ernest who is always getting into trouble
Uses “Ernest” as an excuse to leave boring and unpleasant situations
Also lies to his city friends that he is named Ernest

4. Overview Jack confesses his double life to his London friend Algernon
Also wants to come clean to Algernon’s cousin, Gwendolen, so he can propose to her
Jack’s ward (minor or one legally incapable of managing his own affairs, placed under the control or protection of a guardian or of a court), Cecily, believes that his imaginary brother Ernest exists and she’s falling in love with the idea of him.
Cecily sounds attractive to Algernon

5. Character Trees Lady Augusta Bracknell John (“Jack”) Worthing
Merriman
Lady Augusta Bracknell
Servant to
Mother of
Aunt of
Going by “Ernest” at the start
John (“Jack”) Worthing
Gwendolen Fairfax
Friends
Guardian to
Cousins
Miss Prism
Algernon Moncrieff
Tutor to
Servant to
Cecily Cardew
Lane
Rev. Chasuble
Minister in Countryside

6. Keep in mind: This is a play all about the upkeep of one’s façade
How you appear to authority, to friends, to someone you love…
Oscar Wilde satirizes how importance appearances were in the Victorian era
Think about how relevant that is today.
Are there times when you just want to stop caring? What are the consequences of not caring what people think of you?

7. Oscar Wilde
Biography:

8. “Art for Art’s Sake” a.k.a. the Aesthetic Movement
Valued beauty and entertainment in literature over moral themes
A backlash against uptight Victorian norms
Wit, appearances, having fun (avoiding work) and finding beauty in small things were important
“A work of art is useless as a flower is useless. A flower blossoms for its own joy. We gain a moment of joy by looking at it.” – Oscar Wilde

9. Commentary on the Aesthetic Movement
"I find it harder and harder every day to live up to my blue china.”
– Oscar Wilde
Commentary on the Aesthetic Movement
On Wilde’s writing of Earnest: “What he recommends to us, and by implication only, is not social reform, women’s suffrage, or child-labor laws, but style – a style of life, of behavior, and of speech.” – Harry Popkin

10. Literary Terms to Know
Comedy of Manners – A play that derives its comedy from satirizing the manners and morals of a given society
Epigram – a short statement or poem with a witty turn of thought or wittily condensed expression.
Ex: “I can resist anything but temptation.” – Oscar Wilde

11. Oscar Wilde’s Epigrams
“Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about.”
“I can resist anything but temptation.”
“A true friend stabs you in the front.”
“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.”
“Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.”

12. “Battles of the sexes” also run throughout
Literary Terms to Know
The “Well-Made Play”
Withheld secret drives the action
Hero’s fortune fluctuates throughout
Suspense mounts with battle of wits between hero and villain
Intensity rises with entrances and exits of characters, coincidences, identities revealed
Hero is benefitted in final resolution
“Battles of the sexes” also run throughout

13. The Victorian Age
During the Victorian Age, England changed as much and as dramatically as it had in all of its previous history.  It was in the nineteenth century that  England reached its height as a world imperial power.
Between 1837 (when Victoria ascended the throne) and 1901 (when she died) the population of London grew from about 2 million to well over 6 million―an unparalleled population boom.
Changes in industrial production techniques had a profound impact an almost all aspects of life for every class of citizen.
Unregulated industrialization created great prosperity for a lucky few but great misery for the masses.
Victorian era writers were mixed in their reactions to industrialization.  Some celebrated the new age of promise, progress, and triumph, while others challenged the so-called benefits of industrial growth when so many were being affected so negatively.

14. The Victorian Age
In many ways the Victorian age reflected values that Queen Victoria herself espoused: moral responsibility and domestic propriety.
For as "proper" an age as the Victorian period seemed, however, there was as much evidence of social dissolution and moral impropriety.
For many, the late-Victorian period was merely an extension, at least on the surface, of the affluence of the preceding years.
For many others, though, the late-Victorian period became a time to fundamentally question―and challenge―the assumptions and practices that had made such affluence possible.  It became a time to hold England to account for the way in which it had generated wealth for so few on the backs of so many, both at home and throughout the empire.
Home-rule for Ireland became an increasingly controversial topic of debate.

15. The Victorian Age
Especially towards the end of the Victorian period, playwrights like George Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde began to reflect, in an increasingly satirical way, the pretentious values and behavior that they believed characterized Victorian life
Short fiction thrived during the Victorian period, thanks in part to the robust periodical culture of the time.
The novel was perhaps the most prevalent genre of the time period; it was especially well suited to authors who wanted to capture the wide diversity of industrial life and the class conflict and divisions that industrialism created.
As of 1837, half of England’s population was literate--As literacy proliferated, the reading public became more and more fragmented. Writers thus had to consider how (or if) their writing might appeal to niche audiences rather than to a unified "reading public."

16. Time to take an etiquette quiz!

17. Victorian Etiquette 101
A man should remove his hat and hand it up when indoors
If a woman is standing in a parlor, a man should remain standing until she sits
If someone wants to shake a lady’s hand, she should leave her gloves on
It is unacceptable for a man to smoke in the presence of a lady
Losing one’s temper is unacceptable
It is unacceptable to discuss religion, even in the company of friends
One should not discuss financial matters, read a novel, or quote Bible passages in the company of others
It is disgraceful for a lady to lift her skirt with both hands—even in matters of walking over a puddle
Politics should never be a main focus of conversation
If you realize you have more education than others, you should act as if you are equals—don’t show off!