Den allvarliga komedin : En studie i Wildes The Importance of Being Earnest

Sammanfattning:

This essay explores the techniques utilized by Oscar Wilde in his comedy The Importance of Being Earnest, which function to communicate to his audience, serious standpoints on relevant contemporary debates. Considering both the conventions of comedy and the societal background of Victorian Great Britain, I try to apply the theories presented in The reading process: a phenomenological approach by Wolfgang Iser – in order to see how Wilde uses e.g. gaps in the dialogue to imply incongruities within the characters, the plot and the moral of the play. Wilde comments and ironizes over the hypocrisy in the English aristocracy and over the Victorian morals and conventions concerning marriage, love, birthright etc. This essay attempts to show by which means Wilde manages to get his characters to ridicule themselves as well as society. Reversals of gender stereotypes, characters expressing contradictory opinions, and wordplay, are some of the techniques analyzed in this essay.