Question

Importance of Being Earnest *

If this play were being produced today, do you think there are morals and ideas for a modern audience to take away or would it mostly be for entertainment purposes?

• Do you think this answer would be true for the time it was originally produced? How would it be different? (Consider who would have been in the audience.)

Answer 1

The importance of being Earnest was a comedy play by Oscar Wilde which was first premiered in 1895 and it’s almost 125 years now. People were more religious; women were more socially inferior to men and people were expected to fulfill social obligations during that time. Even during that time, the play was not a morality play but considered as a comedy which means people enjoyed the confusion that caused by the main characters deception. Today, with the increased rights to individuals, women and decreased importance to religions, the play would remain only as an entertainer. Besides, today’s social networking media poses the same issues where people change their identities for material pleasure and to be accepted by others.

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