Marriage as a theme in, "The Importance of Being Earnest."
Marriage is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as a formal or legally recognized union of two individuals (usually male and female but some jurisdiction allow same sex marriages) in a relationship (Definition of Marriage).

The idea that the two individuals are in a relationship or partnership implies that the union has been formed willingly and that both parties are happy. It also reflects shared values that surround marital relationships. Lastly, about the definition, it focuses on the two persons getting married and does not mention any external party. Thus the issue that then arises is: Is it right or possible for two individuals to make the decision by themselves that they should get married?

According to the Cosmopolitan Magazine there are a several reasons to get married including that married couples are more likely to: act as a team; support each other in…...

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References

Cosmopolitan Magazine- So, Why Do People Get Married Anyway   Web. 10, November. 2015.http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/advice/g2514/why-do-people-get-married 

Critical Essays Themes in the Importance of Being Earnest.   Web. 10, November. 2015.http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/i/the-importance-of-being-earnest/critical-essays/themes-in-the-importance-of-being-earnest 

The Importance of Being Earnest Themes.   Web. 10, November. 2015.http://www.gradesaver.com/the-importance-of-being-earnest/study-guide/themes 

Oscar Wilde. The Importance of Being Earnest.   Web. 10, November. 2015.http://www.gutenberg.org/files/844/844-h/844-h.htm 

She does not believe that she has a reputation worthy enough of being allowed entry into the upper echelons of Victorian society. Her perception of Cecily, and her prospects for marrying her nephew -- change dramatically, however, when Lady Bracknell ascertains how much money the young woman stands to inherit. The following quotation suitably demonstrates this point.
A hundred and thirty thousand pounds! And in the Funds! Miss Cardew seems to me a most attractive young lady, now that I look at her. Few girls of the present day have any really solid qualities, any of the qualities that last, and improve with time. We live, I regret to say, in an age of surfaces (Act III).

Once Bracknell finds out how much money Cecily is worth, the latter becomes "attractive." The true irony in this quotation is the fact that Lady Bracknell's sudden change in attitude about Cecily as a…...

Being Earnest
A Critique of Wilde's the Importance of Being Earnest

First performed in 1895, Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest satirized manners and social customs of late Victorian England. Focusing on a pair of young men who live "double lives," the comedy brings to light an element of English society that was ripe for exposure. Wilde was a master satirist. With this play, he shows how cynical attitudes creep into one and before long lead to all sorts of problems. For Jack and Algernon, maintaining a phony second identity is the only way to lead a satisfying life. However, as the story unfolds, the two realize that true fulfillment can only be obtained through honest living. This paper will critique Wilde's Importance of Being Earnest and show the plot, themes, characters and title all work to give an "important" message to the audience.

Critical Summary

Otto einert (1956) states that The…...

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Reference List

Foster, R. (1956). Wilde as Parodist: A Second Look at the Importance of Being

Earnest. College English, 18(1): 18-23.

Pearce, J. (2000). The Unmasking of Oscar Wilde. UK: HarperCollins.

Reinert, O. (1956). Satiric Strategy in The Importance of Being Earnest. College English, 18(1): 14-18.

Jack proceeds to let the audience know "…the vital importance of Being Earnest."
Distortion, Moral Conduct, and Restoration Comedy

Of course, deception and frivolity are part of a farce, and the way that ilde has written the play characters switch identities as a way for the theme to be deliberately distorted. So this bothers critic Mary McCarthy, who complained that the play has the character of a "…ferocious idyll" and insists that the only moral alternatives offered by ilde are "selfishness and servility" (Parker, 1974). By "deliberately distorting actuality" ilde is actually expressing what most people can see is a "comic version of the human condition," Parker writes in the Modern Literature Quarterly. Parker explains that though McCarthy is using standards that don't really fit with a farcical play (particularly in that era), she may be onto something with her assertion that the play is about selfishness because indeed the heroes…...

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Works Cited

Parker, D. (1974). Oscar Wild's Great Farce: The Importance of Being Earnest. Modern Literature Quarterly, 35(2), 173-186.

Princeton University. (2008). Restoration Comedy. Retrieved June 28, 2013, from  http://www.princeton.edu .

Wikipedia. (2010). The Importance of Being Earnest. Retrieved June 28, 2013, from  http://en.wikipedia.org .

Lady Bracknell "The Importance Being Earnest" Oscar Wilde title ' make laugh make mad?"
Oscar Wilde wrote an amazing piece of satire of Victorian times, placing his characters at the intersection between social normality and personal normality. As some of the most important characters of "The Importance of Being Earnest" have a double life, he goes deep into societal norms and presents a world where individuals take the freedom to be themselves.

The play rotates around the issue of marriage and the fact that in Victorian times, for the upper class, these were made in the ways of interest. The important issues were not love, matching or personal chemistry, but nobility -- coming from origins and parents, and money.

The action starts when Algernon Moncrieff receives the visit of his good friend Ernest Worthing, coming there to propose into marriage Algernon's cousin, Gwendolen. As a condition of acceptance, Algernon wants to know…...

Hamlet does not just put practice his deception on those he views in an adversarial manner, however, but also on his former friends osencrantz and Guildenstern. When they attempt to question him as to what is wrong with him, he seems to be giving them an honest answer when he says "I have of late -- but wherefore I know not -- lost all my mirth" (Shakespeare, 1599). The reader/audience knows that this is a lie; Hamlet has already voiced his suspicions regarding Claudius, but he is unwilling to share them with osencrantz and Guildenstern because he does not trust their feelings towards him. Just the same, Jack deos not trust Gwendolyn's feelings towards him, and so will not reveal that his name is not Ernest. He asks her directly, "But you don't really mean to say that you couldn't love me if my name wasn't Ernest?," which starts an…...

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References

Shakespeare, W. (1599) Hamlet. New York: Penguin, 1993.

Wilde, O.(1895). The Importance of Being Earnest. New York: Samuel French, 1990.

Comedic Writing
How does one describe the nature of comedy? Comedy is both simple and complicated. How comedy works is simple, but what is funny is complicated. Comedy describes the nature of the universe in universal terms. Every culture has a sense of humor. Every culture across the global and across time values humor. There are figures in literature and culture such as "the fool," and "the jester." These kinds of figures in literature and history and culture are valuable. The voice of comedy is often one that is able to cross social boundaries/construction, class, institutions, etc. The Shakespearean fool gets to speak the truth when often many other characters cannot. As Shakespeare wrote in "Hamlet," "Much truth is said in jest." Comedy as a psychological expression or function is also very interesting. The ways people use comedy say a lot about who they are and what they think. Comedic writing,…...

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References:

Swift, Jonathan. "A Modest Proposal." 1729

Wilde, Oscar. "The Importance of Being Earnest." 1895.

Wodehouse, P.G. "Jeeves & the Unbidden Guest." 1915.

records court transcripts from "The Trials of Oscar ilde," when the opposing council at the trial asks the defendant, Oscar ilde, if he kissed one of the boys whom ilde was supposed to have engaged in homosexual practices, ilde appears unfazed. hen asked if he kissed the boy, ilde, with customary wit, responded that he did not, because "he was a very ugly boy." This kind of exchange forces the reader to ask the question not so much why ilde was found guilty of gross indecency, but why ilde ever believed he could be found innocent of the love that "dare not speak its name." (Longman Anthology 2125)
Throughout both of his trials, ilde adopts a kind of insouciant, provocative pose that seems, to the modern eyes, to be a 'typical' portrait of a flamboyant male homosexual. Because Oscar ilde's artistic medium has become synonymous with such a posture it…...

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Works Cited

Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. Manchester University Press, 2002.

Longman, Addison Wesley. The Longman Anthology-British Literature-Compact Edition-Volume B2. University of Southern California Press, 1999

People living double lives and the adult themes associated with many of the main characters' forays were hard to talk about openly at the time of its writing. But the play allowed people an insight into others' lives, and also gave them an outlet for their own thoughts, since the Victorian era was relatively repressive. This is also important to remember when considering the 2002 Parker adaptation. This version had the same themes, but in a modern times contextual way. This helps current audiences relate to the same feelings and emotions that 1890's audiences were able to.
The Parker adaptation takes Wilde's original concept and sheds new light on it. While it retains the same setting, the lines in the Parker version are delivered by modern actors and actresses. n a way, it is entirely impossible to capture the exact same meaning, tone, structure, and themes if the linguistics are…...

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It is also important to remember the cultural and historical contexts from which the play originated. During its first showing, in the 1890's, the cultural and social climate were obviously quite different. The content and material in the play itself was considered quite risque by many of the Victorian era citizens. Seeing the play and these controversial concepts and actions played out on stage must have been somewhat of a personal and social expression or release, even for the audience. People living double lives and the adult themes associated with many of the main characters' forays were hard to talk about openly at the time of its writing. But the play allowed people an insight into others' lives, and also gave them an outlet for their own thoughts, since the Victorian era was relatively repressive. This is also important to remember when considering the 2002 Parker adaptation. This version had the same themes, but in a modern times contextual way. This helps current audiences relate to the same feelings and emotions that 1890's audiences were able to.

The Parker adaptation takes Wilde's original concept and sheds new light on it. While it retains the same setting, the lines in the Parker version are delivered by modern actors and actresses. In a way, it is entirely impossible to capture the exact same meaning, tone, structure, and themes if the linguistics are changed at all from the play, or as it was originally worded. While the movie is less verbose and condensed than the written work, the central ideas and themes are still retained, and Wilde would have likely approved of this version, since it paints such a clear picture of the characters. These film also removes the stuff, static feeling of the play on stage and places the interactions into new categories that can be better understood by today's audiences. Parker does an excellent job of weaving Wilde's tail. There is little of substance that is removed from the plot, and any audience familiar with the original work should be pleased with Parker's adaptation. Wilde's original intentions, which were to convey the variety of emotional reactions and energies to the audience in live motion, are successfully preserved through the film adaptation.

There are many subtle and not so subtle differences between the Parker adaptation of Wilde's play and the original written work. Parker has cleanly updated the tale and shed new modern-context light on the same themes and ideas. It is important to remember that Wilde's play was once considered an artistic outlet for Victorian era misgivings and anxieties, and the characters in the play are meant to both help entertain and tell a story as well as be a cathartic social outlet for the audience masses. One of England's most successful and best-known works survives intact, albeit somewhat contextually updated in the Parker film adaptation.

British Lit. Romanticism to Present
Following the liberating Age of Reason, the Enlightenment, the age when humanity was triumphing through literature and Rousseau's philosophy was inspiring revolutions, the age of Romanticism saw the birth of some genius writers of its own. Among them, Lord Byron, a man who lived his thirty-six years with the intensity of one who wants to know it all and do it all, was a prolific writer whose works were the expression of his time.

Lord Byron was the restless soul who burnt every resource he had in his inquiries about the meaning of life. He traveled extensively and, like most of his fellow artists, was enchanted with the exotic of the East. Byron was both blessed and haunted by his genius. His image on the seashore, watching the fire lit to burn Shelly's body at Via Reggio, in Italy, is one of those images most illustrative for…...

The unlikelihood and seeming un-reality of each step in this situation is completely absurd, but it is this absurdism that drives the play.
This strain can also be seen in the opening scene, as part of the same champagne discussion. Algernon asks Lane why the servants always drink the wine in bachelor's households. Lane absurdly and dryly misinterprets the question, saying "I attribute it to the superior quality of the wine, sir. I have often observed that in married households the champagne is rarely of a first-rate brand." This itself devolves into an absurd discussion of marriage, the theme of…...

Self-Reliance and the Road Not Taken
American Transcendentalism: Emerson and Frost

There are several qualities that are inherent in American literature that help to set it apart from English literature. Among the earliest themes explored in American literature was the concept of self-reliance and individuality. These concepts are prevalent of writers and advocates of Transcendentalism, a subset of American Romanticism. Ralph aldo Emerson explored the concept of individuality in his essay, "Self-Reliance," and also aimed to define how self-worth is measured. Likewise, Robert Frost embraces the concepts of individuality and self-worth as defined by Emerson. Emerson's influence on Frost can be seen in the theme and narrative of Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken." Both Emerson and Frost comment on the importance of the self and the impact that individuality has on a person.

Transcendentalism is an American literary, political, and philosophical movement that aimed to bring an individual to recognize that non-conformism…...

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Works Cited

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Self-Reliance." Emerson Central. Web. 7 August 2012.

Frost, Robert. "The Road Not Taken." Mountain Interval. Web. 7 August 2012.

"Romanticism." Brooklyn College. Web. 7 August 2012.

Reuben, Paul P. "Chapter 4: American Transcendentalism (AT): A Brief Introduction." PAL:

34). The enaissance man is also literally well-rounded: he should be agile and strong, with "shapely" limbs (Castiglione, p. 30, line 26). enaissance women must also fulfill specific requirements. Though they should develop their bodies as well as their minds, enaissance women should not undertake strenuous activities, as even dancing too energetically can impede her "womanly sweetness," (Castiglione, p. 35, line 192). Neither men nor women should take sport -- or anything else -- too seriously because being well-rounded is more important than being a specialist. At the same time, both Castiglione and Alberti infer an appreciation for the diligent development of specific talents and skills, whether tennis, dancing, or archery. Therefore, the ideal person is not a dilettante. When the enaissance man or woman becomes proficient at something, he or she can show that skill off in polite company, though without conceit. Being what modern people would call…...

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References

Alberti, Leon Battista. On the Family. 1513-1518. Excerpt in Fiero, Gloria K. "Chapter 16: Classical Humanism in the Age of the Renaissance." The Humanistic Tradition, Book 3. 5th edition, 2006.

Castiglione, Baldassare. Book of the Courtier. 1443. Excerpt in Fiero, Gloria K. "Chapter 16: Classical Humanism in the Age of the Renaissance." The Humanistic Tradition, Book 3. 5th edition, 2006.

Figue 1. Demogaphic composition of the United States (2003 estimate).

Souce: Based on tabula data in Wold Factbook, 2007 (no sepaate listing is maintained fo Hispanics).

Fom a stictly pecentage pespective, it would seem that Asian-Ameicans do not epesent much of a theat at all to mainsteam Ameican society, but these mee numbes do not tell the whole stoy of couse. Fo one thing, Asian-Ameicans ae one of the most divese and fastest gowing goups in the United States today (Hong, Kim & Wolfe, 2005). Accoding to Alvaez and Kimua (2001), studies have documented time and again that, consistent with thei histoical teatment, Asian-Ameicans continue to be the tagets of acially motivated popety vandalism, vebal haassment, theft, physical assaults, and in some instances, homicide; futhemoe, othe studies have confimed that a pesistent patten diving anti-Asian violence is the peception of Asian-Ameicans as foeignes who pesent an economic, academic, social, and/o cultual theat…...

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references

Due to skills and abilities

4. Based on what you know and believe, would you agree or disagree with the following statements?

Racism in America is no longer a problem for Chinese-Americans.

Racism in America is no longer a problem for women and minorities

Canadian
Canada is one of the largest countries in Northern America, covering more than 9 million square metres. It has a population of over 31 million people. Even though the country is ethnically diverse, two main languages the people use are English and French. The Canadians use these two official languages. This makes it a bilingual country. People whose ancestry is British make the largest percentage of the people who live in Canada. Economically, Canada is one of the largest economies in the world, with an average per capita income of over twenty thousand dollars (Kalman & Bobbie, p. 4).

Values that the Canadians uphold

The Canadians uphold several values. These values include coexisting peacefully, equality and freedom, respecting the cultural differences that exist between them and keeping the law among other values. Keeping peace is one of the metiers that the Canadians cherish. Canada has been very active in peacekeeping missions…...

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Works cited

Conrad, John D. Scarce Heard Amid the Guns: An Inside Look at Canadian Peacekeeping.

Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2011. Internet resource.

De, la T.M. Heritage Values in Site Management: Four Case Studies. Los Angeles: Getty

Conservation Institute, 2005. Print.