Lanes instructions

Dear Replacement,
i am writing to inform you i am away for some time and untill then i am handing over the responsibility of Sir Algernon. It is going to be undoubtedly hardwork however once you have understood my instructions it'll be alot easier. He is very partial to cucumber sandwiches although he doesnt like to admit it and uses it was an excuse for me to prepare when his Aunt Augasta is visiting. Make sure you have prepared enough food to last a week because Sirs appetite is rather big especially when he is under stress the only thing that comforts him and unstresses him is food. He is also a big fan of muffins so make as many as you can to keep him occupied. Please do be aware that there is no blunder in the kitchen and that the food is to Mr Moncreiff's taste. Otherwise that will not leave you in his good books, making this task difficult.

Also Sir Algernon, a man of many leisures often has his friend Jack visiting, togetether they are a diasterous pair but do not worry they are good friends even though they spend most of their time winding each other up. When Jack comes over to stay please place him two floors above Sir as the far away they are from each other the quieter it appears. Also Sir wants to make sure his floor is kept to himself, so i ask you not to interfere in any matter to do with Sir's bedroom.

Mr Moncrieff enjoys playing on the piano in the afternoons when he is not busy on business matter and he does like it when i listen to him he feels like he has done well, so therefore listen to him attentively and praise him on his acheivement. whatever you do do not talk about your personal matters sir has no interest over it. he may appear to listen however if you talk to much he will kindly tell you to stop so therefore save yourself the embarassment and just listen to him. 

I will be back soon hopefully, ready to meets sirs requirements ,until then the best of luck and rememeber the food needs to always be around him.
Lane.

Resolution

There are many resolutions towards the end of the play, the biggest resolution is the fact that Jack now has status within society because he has found his family. He has found his brother Algernon so he always did have a brother even though he was caught out for making one up. "I knew i had a brother. Cecily- how could you have doubted that i had a brother" He is now also able to marry Gwendolen as Lady Bracknell insisted upon him finding his family before even contemplating marriage with Gwendolen. "Gwendolen. (embraces her) At last" This shows that their long waited ordeal is finally over and now they can be happy together. Another resolution is the fact that Jacks name was Ernest all along so he wasnt lying and this also is beneficial to Gwendolen as she "was destined to marry an Ernest"

Miss Prism has finally been re united with her bag which adds humour into the play as she is more concerned with the fact that she has her hand bag back but she doesnt question where the baby is.
The satrical purpose of the play is that at the beginning in the play Jack had wealth however he had no family or status however this has been resolved and he has everything he needs to fit in within Victorian society. there is also the theme of hypocrisy because even though Lady Bracknell has not got a wealthy background she expected Jack to have one. Lady Bracknell was married into a wealthy family she didnt have one of her own so she was being a hypocrite.

Oscar wilde's biography

Written on paper and handed in.

Lady Bracknells speech

written on paper and handed in.

How does Oscar Wilde create humour at the expense of Gwendolan and Cecily?

Oscar wilde’s play “The importance of being Earnest” is a trivial, humorous play based on Wildes own beliefs and ideologies. It criticises Victorian society’s values in such a way that presents humour. Cecily and Gwendolen two of the most important ladies in the play are used by Wilde to help create this humour and irony, many of these will be discussed below.

Cecily is portrayed as a gullible young lady who believes anything she hears, this creates humour among the audience because they know the truth when she doesn’t, so they are in on the joke. “I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and being good all the time. That would be hypocrisy.” When Algernon denies it she blindly takes his word for it. Not only does that create a sense of laughter for the audience but it also makes her to look like an idiot. Wilde does this to perhaps portray all women within this Victorian Era. He has incorporated his own belief that all women are foolish, as he was a gay man himself and at the time was taunted for his homosexuality.

Not only is Cecily made out to look foolish but so is Gwendolen. Gwendolen is so fixated on marrying someone called Earnest, it makes the audience want to laugh at her for being so stubborn like a child.” It is a divine name. It has music of its own. It produces vibrations” she thinks that just because he has the name Earnest he’s “safe”. This is similar to Cecily as she also falls stupidly into the trap thinking that if you have the name Earnest you’re a loyal person however everyone else knows that is not the case. Gwendolen also comes across as vain and uptight, thinking she is superior however as there are some things that she is not aware of- like she is being deceived. Wilde is yet again cunningly putting his own views of the upper class society and almost branding them as stupid, as they can’t see beyond certain measures. This is the case with gwendolen shes so interested in a perfect materialistic life with a perfect husband and she thinks this will all be achieved if his name was Earnest, yet again this creates humour because she is acting like a child and stupid. She doesn’t realise that it takes more than a name to be “perfect”

Even though Cecily and Gwendolen are portrayed as two different characters; Cecily is the young, well-mannered, naïve one and Gwendolen being seen as vain and obnoxious even though Cecily can also come across as self-centred sometimes. They both share the same absurd views. They both carry a diary around. “if you allow me, I will copy your remarks into my diary”

Both Cecily and Gwendolen contribute to humour by the way they act and think. When they meet for the first time in act 2 there is a mutual

Annotate: Showing K&U or language and literary features as well as context. Cross reference with rest of text to show wider K&U of play

Gwendolen: Outside the family circle, papa, I am glad to say, is entirely unknown. I think it is quite as it should be. The home seems to me to be the proper sphere for the man. And certainly once a man begins to neglect his domestic duties he becomes painfully effeminate, does he not? And I don't like that. It makes men so very attractive. Cecily, mamma, whose views on education are remarkably strict, has brought me up to be extremely short-sighted; it is part of her system; so do you mind my looking at you through my glasses?

Cecily: Oh! Not at all Gwendolen. I am very fond of being looked at.

Gwendolen is the confident speaker between her and Cecily, she seems to have a lot more to say regardless of whether Cecily is interested or not. This indicates to us that Gwendolen is from a higher class, she is able to put her views across without interruption from Cecily, it shows that Cecily has respect and that’s why she wouldn’t talk out of turn. Oscar Wilde structures this as one paragraph containing a lot of strong opinions from Gwendolen regarding her family matters. It indicates that. The fact that Gwendolen talks about her family also suggests that she likes talking about herself and thinks everything revolves around her; Whereas Cecily only has one very concise line, this suggests that Cecily is polite and although she has persona, compared to Gwendolen she’s a lot quieter.

Oscar Wilde uses literary devices such as metaphors to help portray Gwendolens character and values, “mamma, whose views on education are remarkably strict, has brought me up to be extremely short-sighted” meaning that she is narrow minded and a lot like her mother. She doesn’t seem to understand a thing that are beyond her reach and that is why she used the term “short sighted”. This also clearly suggests that she values her mother’s opinions and has been brought up to voice her mother’s views rather than thinking for herself. It presents to the audience again that Gwendolen is of a high class because wealthy people often don’t understand things that don’t concern them. “So do mind me looking at you through my glasses?” this creates light humour but it also suggests that she is asking Cecily permission if she could look at the situation from her perspective, it shows us that Gwendolen doesn’t always think about herself.

Inversion is also present within this extract, “the home seems to be the proper sphere for the man” this is quite the opposite to what people’s opinions were during the Victorian era. It was frowned upon if a woman went out to work rather than being at home with the children and fulfilling motherly duties. It was usually the man’s job to go out and support the rest of the family financially. However Oscar Wilde has had the roles reversed, He did this to project his own views to criticise the way Victorian society thinks. It lets the audience think that Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen seem to have more power in their household. Lady Bracknell does come across as a powerful lady that is outspoken.

Explore the differences and similarities between Algernon and Cecily and the role of imagination

Oscar Wilde presents us with two characters that are different from one another however the only form of understanding they have is the undying love they have for one another. Cecily is a creative, modest young woman whereas Algernon is quite vain and clever. Both these characters put together enable the play to be humorous, trivial and almost ironic.

In Act two Cecily is portrayed as naïve and childish, as she talks about her engagement with Earnest. She has fallen in love with Earnest even though she has never met him, this allows the play to take a light hearted turn in the play. She bought herself the ring to symbolise the engagement. “Yes, you’ve wonderfully good taste earnest”. This suggests she likes to control things and likes to do things her way almost like a child does. She has a creative imagination which allows her to focus less on her studies and more on writing in her diary about her “absolute perfection”. It also reflects her wealth as well as high status, many women at that era would be financially dependent on their husbands and most couldn’t afford luxury items such as jewellery. In addition to that it suggests that she is a romantic and values love. She likes to do it traditionally and properly. However that is the complete opposite from Earnest and this is the clear difference between them. “Oh, there is no use speculating on that subject, divorces are made in heaven” He says this when Jack mentions proposing to Gwendolen , suggesting that he doesn’t believe in love and that marriage will end up in a divorce anyway. The phrase is a play on words, he has twisted the saying around from marriages are made in heaven to divorces.

“I really don’t see anything romantic in proposing”. This also suggests that before he met Cecily he wasn’t too keen on the whole idea of love and marriage. This allows the audience to see a change of character- when he fell in love with Cecily his views changed.

However Cecily and Algernon are similar, they both come from a wealthy background and a high status but they have respect for their servants and are able to converse with them. This is not usually portrayed in employer/ employee relationships due to the difference in class. “Lane’s views on marriage seem somewhat lax” Algernon seems to respect what his servant says and respect his views. This clearly shows that Algernon sees beyond class difference and is able to hold his servants opinion.

Similarly Cecily also respects Miss Prism, her governess “I don’t think it can be right for you to talk to me like that. Miss Prism never says such things to me” Miss Prism clearly has an influence over Cecily, it is almost as if she is voicing Miss Prisms opinions rather than her own. It suggests that she has respect for her and relies on her views before making her judgement. Cecily could have done this because Miss Prism is older than her so therefore she has experienced a lot more than she has.