Comedy Or Mockery
Can a novel, poem, or play have two different meaning? If so, how can a reader notice the double meaning or two points the author is make others aware of? When writing a piece literary work, an author may have a hidden meaning behind the main purpose of reading it. For instance, the main reason why people read scary stories is because the person wants to be scared or a constant state of shock. However, the author of the book may be trying to inform his/her readers how to stay away from danger. The comedic play written by Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Ernest, is meant to make people laugh. On the other hand, Wilde is also mocking women’s choice in men and how they choose them.
Oscar Wilde is famous writer who written many plays, novels, and poems. Although he was respected by many people, he also receives plenty of criticism for being homosexual. Jeremy Lalonde, author of A "Revolutionary Outrage": The Importance of Being Earnest as Social Criticism, talks about how he feels that Wilde expresses his sexually through The Importance of Being Ernest.
[One can] find a current of same-sex desire running through the play that destabilizes various heterosexual assumptions…In the context of Earnest, this person is the fully formed, self-identified male homosexual – a type of masculinity that was only emerging through events like the Wilde trials (Lalonde 659)
Lalonde written that Wilde made the female characters in the story act like that to fight back against the criticism he was obtain. This leads to the question. What was the purpose of writing the play: Mockery or Comedy?
One of purposes of the Oscar Wilde writing this play is to make people laugh. The main reason of comedy, regardless if it is modern television show or an 1895 comedic play, is for people to giggle and chuckle to their hearts content. Benjamin La Farge, author of Comedy's Intention, talks about how The Importance of Being Ernest is meant to make people laugh....
Please login to view the full essay...