The Theme Of Triviality As Brought Out In “The Importance Of Being Earnest”

The Importance Of Being Earnest is a subversive comedy of manners that aims to satirize social and moral conventions and create humour for the audience. The Importance is Being Earnest, a subversive comedy based on manners, is intended to be a satirical depiction of social and ethical conventions as well as create humor. The play’s main theme is the lack of seriousness or triviality in Victorian Society when dealing with subjects of great importance. One could argue that the statement above is applicable to the entire play, particularly in terms of the themes explored, such as marriage, and identity.

The marriage and appearances are handled with an honest and complete “triviality” in “The Important of Being Earnest”, especially Gwendolen and her attitudes towards marriage and looks. Gwendolen, Cecily, and Algernon all doubt Jack and Algernon’s intention to change their identities. However, they agree that the “wonderful beauty” of Jack and Algernon’s response overrules any intentions. The “style” is what matters, and it’s evident throughout the book. Algernon uses flamboyant words and has a flamboyant way of speaking. This line is also an easy way to sum up the entire play. It explores the importance of appearances in the play. Gwendolen’s words are a reference to Wilde’s thoughts on the aesthetics movement. Wilde was of the opinion that beauty for its own sake is more important than the actual content of a thing. All that is beautiful and romantic must therefore be considered at face-value. Most people today would find these views contradictory, as they believe that “you should never judge a thing by its appearance” and there’s a deeper meaning to most things. The play explores the importance of honesty and how marriages are viewed. Lane explores the contradictions in values through this theme. Algernon believes that Lane should be a model servant. He uses Lane to justify the views he has about marriage. Lane’s view of marriage is seen by many as being lax. He says his marriage happened because of a misunderstood. Lane’s comment is a satirical one because it’s absurd and surreal. It’s said with conviction, and it’s funny. The play explores the idea that’serious’ things should not be treated as trivial, and this is done through the class system.

Identity is a major theme. We can see that each individual’s uniqueness, singularity, and individuality is treated with little or no significance. Jack and Algernon’s lives are reduced to subplots when compared to their Bunburys. Their Bunburys have a greater interest, so they take precedence. Gwendolen’s and Cecily’s interest in marriage is not based on honesty and faithfulness. Instead, they want their future husbands to be named Ernest. This irony and morbidity makes it clear that they only care about this. The play-on-words is especially intriguing; one could argue that the pun emphasizes Victorian Society’s layers; the public and private realms. How the first layer, Ernest, was built on lies and deceit which were expressed to others, while the second, “earnest”, was revealed in the privacy sphere. The pun becomes more complex when the reader realizes that both Algernon, and Jack, are trying to become “Ernest”. However, if the two were “Earnest”, they wouldn’t be facing the same issues. This further illustrates the importance of appearances in Victorian society. Marriages are also portrayed as not being of high priority. In the play the theme is that “serious matters” should be handled with “triviality”, and is most evident through the character’s lack if identity, as well as his acceptance and encouragement.

The play is more of a morality play than a comedy. The Victorian Society is explored through a comedy of farce or manners. Through their witty repartees, these characters comment on Victorian society. Gwendolen becomes annoyed only when she realizes there is “too sugar” in her tea. This also shows how Victorians took trivialities seriously.

The play is a satirical portrayal of Victorian society, but also has a serious tone. The characters’ running comments are a great way to bring out the irony of this time period. The play is serious, but it also portrays the Victorian Society in a satirical way. This play is an excellent example of the expression “all serious things in life are treated with sincere triviality, while all the trivial things in life are treated seriously”.