importance of being earnest essay prompts

The Importance of Being Earnest

By oscar wilde, the importance of being earnest essay questions.

Explain the pun of the title. Who is being Earnest in this play? Do Gwendolen and Cecily prefer having husbands named Ernest to having earnest husbands?

Analyze the gender reversals in this text. Does the feminized Lord Bracknell foreshadow what Jack and Algernon may become? Are males or females more passive/dominated in this play?

How does dramatic irony create humor in The Importance of Being Earnest? Identify a handful of instances in which the audience members know more about what is going on than the characters on stage. Why does this create humor?

What is the role of textuality in this play-do letters and diaries have a stronger reliability or ring of truth than conversation?

Analyze the various times that the characters eat in this play, primarily the cucumber sandwiches and the muffins. Does eating serve a primarily social or anti-social function?

Does Wilde prevent any version of true love? Does the extent to which Gwendolen and Cecily are self-centered affect your analysis?

Algernon observes that: "Women only call each other sister when they have called each other a lot of other things first." How does the development of the relationship between Cecily and Gwendolen bear out this remark? What causes them to bond together? What causes them to behave competitively?

What does the common classification of The Importance of being Earnest as a "comedy of manners" refer to? Could this play operate in a classless, non-hierarchical society?

How do words take on a life of their own in this play? How does this relate to why it is it so easy for Prism to substitute her manuscript for a baby? Analyze diaries as a source of power and truth-making.

Analyze the role of class in Lady Bracknell's worldview. If she more impressed by land, by nobility, or by wealth?

The Importance of Being Earnest Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Importance of Being Earnest is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

What happened as a result of the following situation?

When Jack tells Lady Bracknell that Cecily will be a rich woman, Lady Bracknell immediately changes her mind about Cecily and decides that she will be a suitable wife for Algernon.

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

Algernon's throwaway quip to Lane that "anyone can play [piano] accurately but I play with wonderful expression" is a good thumbnail of Wilde's philosophy of art. Wilde was heavily influenced by Walter Pater and the other aesthetes of the...

What can I say about the NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE ?

The play, The Importance of Being Earnest , does not have a narrator.

Study Guide for The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest study guide contains a biography of Oscar Wilde, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Importance of Being Earnest
• The Importance of Being Earnest Summary
• Character List

Essays for The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Importance of Being Earnest.

• Maxims and Masks: The Epigram in "The Importance of Being Earnest"
• Paradox through Pacing in Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest"
• Sincere Triviality: The Comedy of Oscar Wilde
• Structural Stereotypes of the Characters in The Importance of Being Earnest
• The Institution of Marriage in Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest” and Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles”

Lesson Plan for The Importance of Being Earnest

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to The Importance of Being Earnest
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• The Importance of Being Earnest Bibliography

E-Text of The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest e-text contains the full text of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde.

Wikipedia Entries for The Importance of Being Earnest

• Introduction

Essay Topics for Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest (for English 1112, Lakehead University (Canada)

Philip v. allingham , contributing editor, victorian web.

[ Victorian Web Home —> Authors —> Aesthetes and Decadents —> Oscar Wilde —> Works —> Leading Questions ]

Instructions : Employ one of the critical quotations as the basis for your term paper of 1,500 to 3,000 words.

1. Robert Boyle describes Wilde's last play as a humorous "treatment of decay and death," and of "human suffering," in which Wilde finally abandons the effort to balance "conventional moral norms with the realities of human behavior" (325). Responding to these remarks, develop an essay topic about an underlying, serious theme in The Importance Of Being Earnest . Please confirm by e-mail the precise wording of your topic.

2. According to Karl Beckson , "Central to Wilde's life and art was the idea of the dandy as the embodiment of the heroic ideal as well as of the aesthetic temperament hostile to bourgeois sentiment and morality" (205). Which of the characters in the play embodies this aesthetic principle, and how? From your consideration of these characters' utterances and actions develop an appropriate essay topic. Please confirm by e-mail the precise wording of your topic.

3. William Keach contends that Lady Bracknell's "cross-examination of Jack lays the groundwork for much of the rest of the plot" (184), and that the underlying tension of the play depends upon "the contrast of city and country so important to the double lives being led" (183). Explain these two points, then develop one of them into a suitable essay topic. Please confirm by e-mail the precise wording of your topic.

4. Otto Reinert claims that "Wilde's basic formula for satire is [his characters'] assumption of a code of behavior that represents the reality that Victorian convention pretends to ignore" (15). Reinert argues that in this play Wilde is principally concerned with the difference between conventional and actual manners and morality. Discuss these points, then refine this "formula for satire" into an essay topic. Please confirm by e-mail the precise wording of your topic.

5. Richard Foster believes that the terms "farce" and "comedy of manners" are unsuitable for this Wilde play because it is far more subtle, complicated, and artistic than such labels imply.

Farce . . .depends for its effects upon extremely simplified characters tangling themselves up in incongruous situations, and upon a knowing audience gleefully anticipating their falling victim, in their ignorance, to some enormous but harmless confusion of fact or identity." Furthermore, "A comedy of manners is fundamentally realistic: it requires the audience to accept the world presented on the stage as a real world, a possible world." [19]

Foster contends that the play is in fact an elaborate lampoon.

Apply the terms "farce," "comedy of manners," and "lampoon" to The Importance of Being Earnest , then develop an essay topic that utilizes these terms. Please confirm by e-mail the precise wording of your topic.

6. Pointing out that inverted relationships are the norm in this play, Robert J. Jordan , rejects the proposition that The Importance of Being Earnest is a satire or a social criticism; rather, "at the most important level it seems to be a fantasy in which unattainable human ideals are allowed to realize themselves." Elegance, symmetry, taste, indifference to conventional morality, and a total lack of sexual corruption (for which Wilde substitutes "food-lust") are achieved in this make-believe world.

Apply the term "fantasy" to Wilde's play, demonstrating how it achieves some of Foster's ideal elements listed above, then develop a suitable essay topic. Please confirm by e-mail the precise wording of your topic.

7. Wilde suggests that his Victorian contemporaries should treat trivial matters with greater respect and pay less attention to what society then regarded as serious. Discuss how Wilde expresses this philosophy and comment on the effectiveness with which he has communicated his 'message' with reference to ONE of the following in the play: death, politics, money, property, food, or marriage. Please confirm by e-mail the precise wording of your topic.

8. Using three examples drawn from the play, show how Algernon uses Wilde's aesthetic principles to transform his life into a work of art. Please confirm by e-mail the precise wording of your topic.

9. How does Wilde portray food as both a weapon and a means of demonstrating one's power? Discuss three examples from the play to demonstrate how Wilde uses food. Please confirm by e-mail the precise wording of your topic.

10. Describe how this play mayor may not fit the criteria associated with the genre of the lampoon. Define the term "lampoon" and apply this definition to the play: what is Wilde lampooning? What is his intention in lampooning it? What are his techniques, and do these produce appropriate attitudes in the audience? Please confirm by e-mail the precise wording of your topic.

11. Define the term "fantasy," then demonstrate how Wilde treats ONE of the following fantastically (as opposed to realistically): Victorian society's class structure, food and the Victorian conventions surrounding it, the resolution of the plot. Please confirm by e-mail the precise wording of your topic.

12. Using appropriate quotations and paraphrases from at least one major scene in the play, show how Wilde treats humorously serious issues and conflicts that existed within Victorian society. You might wish to demonstrate how the play deals with one of the following matters: marriage and courtship, sexual double standards, the class structure, money and property, and attitudes towards illness and death. Please confirm by e-mail the precise wording of your topic.

13. In French, the title of the play is Ernest ou l'Importance d'être Constant . Explain how this title sheds additional light on the key issues of self-awareness, self-knowledge, and being "earnest" versus being "constant." Consider the implications of the French title for all the major characters. Please confirm by e-mail the precise wording of your topic.

Beckson , Karl. "Oscar Wilde." Modern British Dramatists, 1900-1945. Part 2: M-Z. Dictionary of Literary Biography . Vol. 10. Pp. 204-218.

Boyle , Robert. "Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)." British Novelists, 1890-1929: Traditionalists. Dictionary of Literary Biography . Vol. 34. Detroit: Gale Research, 1985. Pp. 315-331.

Foster , Richard. "Wilde as Parodist: A Second Look at The Importance Of Being Earnest ." College English 18, 1 (Oct., 1956): 18-23.

Jordan , Robert J. "Satire and Fantasy in Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest ." Ariel 1, 3 (July 1970).

Keach , William. Teacher's Manual: Adventures in English Literature . New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1980. Pp. 183-7.

Reinert , Otto. "Satiric Strategy in The Importance Of Being Earnest ." College English 18, 1 (Oct., 1956): 14- 18.

Related Materials

• Writing and Discussion Questions
• Introduction to the play

a. Parenthetical citation rather than foot- or end-notes will be considered acceptable; for a play longer than a single act, please provide act number in roman numerals followed by page number in arabic numerals.

b. Double space all text; if you are doing your essay by hand, you may single space quotations of forty words or longer, but integrate shorter quotations; for example:

Lady Bracknell is unrealistically, almost contemptuously honest when she reveals her ignorance of the German language. Objecting to French songs on the grounds of possible impropriety of subject-matter, she remarks, "But German sounds a thoroughly respectable language, and indeed, I believe is so" (I: 128, emphasis added).

A Note on Essay Topics

Topics may call for comparison between two like things, such as the humour in a modern television sit-com (situational comedy) and The Importance Of Being Earnest .

Contrast , on the other hand, implies that the writer is out to demonstrate differences between things usually thought to be similar. For example, one might contrast the duplicity of Jack and Algernon here with that of Dr. Jekyll in Stevenson's novella.

Other possibilities are explanation and analysis, for example: "Why We Laugh WITH and Not AT Lady Bracknell."

Last modified 13 March 2006

The Importance of Being Earnest

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Discussion/Analysis Prompt

Essay Questions

Exam Questions

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Throughout the play, Wilde explores the themes of Social and Familial Obligations and The British Aristocracy and Class Anxiety . How do the characters of the play display different attitudes or perspectives toward these themes? Consider the following points as you reflect on the text to answer the question:

• To what class do the main characters of the play belong?
• How do the main characters interact with one another? 
• What conflicts arise between the characters during the play? 

Teaching Suggestion: Encourage students to consider symbols and motifs used throughout the play such as tea snacks, Cecily’s diary, and the three-volume novel. How are these motifs representative of the Victorian Era, and how do they contribute to the satirical tone of the play? Students might compare modern culture and even brainstorm what elements of modern culture would serve as equivalent symbols and motifs today.

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The Importance of Being Earnest

Oscar wilde.

Ask LitCharts AI: The answer to your questions

The Art of Deception: Fact v. Fiction

As a leader of the Aesthetic movement, Wilde was especially interested in the relationship between life and art, pondering the eternal question, “Does art imitate life, or life imitate art?” Wilde explores this relationship in The Importance of Being Earnest through the conflict that arises when fact collides with fiction. The conflict between fact and fiction is driven by Algernon and Jack’s lies about their respective identities, specifically the fictional personas they create in order…

The Pursuit of Marriage

The pursuit of marriage is a driving force behind much of the play’s action. Similar to many Victorian novels of the period, the play reads as a marriage plot, documenting the errors in social etiquette and romantic upheavals that come about as Jack and Algernon stumble towards the altar. Jack pursues Gwendolen’s hand, while Algernon pursues Cecily . Because Jack and Algernon are willing to go to such outlandish lengths to appease Gwendolen and Cecily’s…

Cash, Class, and Character

The Victorian society in which Wilde lived was concerned with wealth, family status, and moral character, especially when it came to marriage. Lady Bracknell’s interrogation of Jack’s proposal to marry Gwendolen demonstrates the three “Cs”—cash, class, and character. First she asks him about his finances and then his family relations, a measure of his class. That Jack has none—no family relations, or family name, reflects poorly on his character. Upon finding that Jack has no…

Name and Identity

Through Jack’s search for his origins and family name, Wilde satirizes the Victorian Era’s intense scrutiny of cash, class, and character. Wilde subversively prods this question through the name of “ Ernest ,” a Christian name, or given name, as opposed to a family name. The name of “Ernest” comes to symbolize different things for different people. For Gwendolen and Cecily it “inspires absolute confidence” but also symbolizes the ideal husband/ lover. For Jack, “Ernest”…

Hypocrisy, Folly, and Victorian Morality

A witty wordsmith, Wilde exposes the hypocrisy of the Victorians’ strict social mores through puns, paradoxes, epigrams, and inversions in the characters’ actions and dialogue. For instance the characters often say and do the opposite of what they mean, or intend. Gwendolen flips “style” and “sincerity” when she says, “In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity is the vital thing.” One would expect that “sincerity” should take precedence over “style” in “matters of grave…

Men and Women in Love

In the game of love that Wilde plays throughout The Importance of Being Earnest , Jack and Algernon , who strive for love, are pitted against the fickleness of the women they desire. Even though Wilde assigns stereotypical gender roles to each sex—Jack and Algernon are suave dandies , while Cecily and Gwendolen are vapid beauties—when it comes to marriage and love, he places women in a position of power because they are able to…

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The Importance of Being Earnest: Study Prompts

Subject: English

Age range: 16+

Resource type: Unit of work

Last updated

4 September 2015

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Plays — The Importance of Being Earnest

Essays on The Importance of Being Earnest

Choosing an essay topic for The Importance of Being Earnest can be an exciting yet daunting task. This timeless play by Oscar Wilde is filled with witty dialogue, social satire, and a myriad of themes that can be explored in depth. Whether you are a student looking for a compelling topic for an academic essay or a literature enthusiast wanting to delve deeper into the play, there are numerous options to consider. In this article, we will explore the importance of choosing the right essay topic for The Importance of Being Earnest, and provide a list of potential topics that are both engaging and thought-provoking.

When choosing an essay topic for The Importance of Being Earnest, it is crucial to consider the themes and motifs that are prevalent throughout the play. Some of the most prominent themes in the play include the nature of identity, social class, marriage, and the importance of earnestness. These themes provide a rich foundation for exploring various topics and delving into the complexities of the play.

Theme of Identity

One potential essay topic could focus on the theme of identity in The Importance of Being Earnest. Throughout the play, the characters grapple with issues of mistaken identity, false personas, and the concept of being true to oneself. An essay could explore how Wilde uses the theme of identity to comment on the societal expectations and constraints placed on individuals during the Victorian era. Additionally, the essay could delve into how the characters' struggles with identity contribute to the comedic elements of the play and ultimately serve as a critique of societal norms.

Theme of Social Class

Another compelling essay topic could center around the theme of social class in The Importance of Being Earnest. The play is rife with commentary on the rigid social hierarchy of the time, and the characters' obsession with maintaining appearances and status. An essay could analyze how Wilde satirizes the upper-class society of the Victorian era and challenges the notion of societal privilege. Furthermore, the essay could explore how the characters' preoccupation with social class shapes their motivations and actions throughout the play.

Theme of Marriage

Marriage is another central theme in The Importance of Being Earnest, making it an excellent topic for an essay. The play presents a satirical take on the institution of marriage, highlighting the absurdity of societal expectations and the farcical nature of courtship. An essay could examine how Wilde uses the theme of marriage to critique the superficiality and materialism inherent in Victorian relationships. Additionally, the essay could explore how the characters' attitudes towards marriage reflect the larger societal attitudes of the time.

Importance of Earnestness

The importance of earnestness is a recurring motif in The Importance of Being Earnest, and it can serve as a compelling essay topic. The concept of earnestness is central to the play, as the characters navigate the complexities of honesty, sincerity, and moral integrity. An essay could delve into how Wilde uses the motif of earnestness to comment on the superficiality and hypocrisy of the Victorian era, and how the characters' struggles with earnestness drive the plot forward.

In addition to these thematic topics, there are numerous other avenues to explore when choosing an essay topic for The Importance of Being Earnest. For example, one could analyze the play's use of language and wit, or examine the role of gender and femininity in the Victorian era. Furthermore, the play's historical context and reception could provide fertile ground for research and analysis.

When crafting an essay on The Importance of Being Earnest, it is important to consider the audience and purpose of the essay. For academic essays, it is crucial to conduct thorough research and provide a well-structured argument supported by evidence from the text. On the other hand, essays aimed at a more general audience could focus on exploring the play's enduring relevance and impact on popular culture.

The Importance of Being Earnest offers a wealth of compelling essay topics that can be explored from a variety of angles. Whether focusing on themes such as identity, social class, marriage, or the importance of earnestness, there are numerous avenues to delve into the complexities of the play. Ultimately, the key to choosing the right essay topic lies in selecting a subject that is both engaging and thought-provoking, and that allows for a meaningful exploration of the play's themes and motifs. With careful consideration and thorough research, crafting an essay on The Importance of Being Earnest can be a rewarding and intellectually stimulating endeavor.

Situational Irony in "The Importance of Being Earnest"

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Satire in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest

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"Trifles" and "The Importance of Being Earnest": The Institution of Marriage

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The Theme of Triviality as Brought Out in "The Importance of Being Earnest"

Ernest as a modernist in the importance of being earnest, the importance of being earnest: the society above and below the surface, the link between emotions and food in the importance of being earnest, algernon's comic aspect as illustrated in "the importance of being earnest", benefits of frugality: a condemnation of the upper-class society by oscar wilde, "the importance of being earnest": movie vs play, "the importance of being earnest": relevance in moder society, marriage as depicted in the play "the importance of being earnest", morality and honesty in the importance of being earnest.

February 14, 1895

Oscar Wilde

London and an estate in Hertfordshire

Jack Worthing (Ernest), Algernon Moncrieff, Gwendolen Fairfax, Lady Bracknell, Cecily Cardew, Miss Prism, The Reverend Canon Chasuble, Lane, Merriman

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