A Study on Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest is a play composed by Oscar Wilde， an Irish playwright in the 19th century. This play is most representative of Wildes skillful use of artistic language in drama writing. It is widely acknowledged that Wildes dramas are famous for their artistic language rather than of their romantic plots. Therefore， a good understanding or interpretation of The Importance of Being Earnest is inseparable from the analysis of its language characteristics.

Language is the carrier of a writers thoughts. As is said by René Wellek （1949）， a writers use of， attitude towards， and loyalty to a particular style of language is vital for the understanding of his works and literary art. Oscar Wilde specializes in using paradoxes in his plays to produce comedic and sarcastic effects， reveal truths， and attract readers. This feature is also remarkable in The Importance of Being Earnest. A paradox usually involves two logically opposite or contradictory ideas in one statement， which sounds absurd in the common sense but actually conveys a truth. Oscar Wilde employs numerous paradoxes to create the characters dialogues in The Importance of Being Earnest， aiming to produce a unique dramatic effect and meanwhile criticize implicitly the hypocrisy of the upper class in Victorian Britain. For example， in the first act ， when Algernon is chatting with Lady Bracknell about Lady Harbury， whose husband has just died. Algernon says， “I hear her [Lady Harburys] hair has turned quite gold from grief.” It is easy to find a paradox in this saying because grief would most probably make a persons hair grow white rather than gold in the common sense. Algernons paradoxical words sound ridiculous but give a special implication， with which Oscar Wilde intends to unveil the marital problem existing in the upper class - noble ladies and gentlemen are tied together not for the sake of love but for something else， like social status and wealth. Another interesting paradox can also be noticed in the dialogue between Algernon and Cecily in the second act of the play， when Algernon requests for a look at Cecilys diary. Cecily rejects him and answers， “it is simply a very young girls record of her own thoughts and impressions， and consequently meant for publication. ”This reply is paradoxical. Cecily considers her diary as something personal and insignificant on the one hand， but she plans to have it published on the other hand， which reveals Cecilys contradictory character and unrealistic mind.

Apart from paradoxes， puns are also a typical characteristic of Oscar Wildes language in The Importance of Being Earnest. A pun means a writer or speakers purposeful use of one word that has two different meanings to imply something special. In some cases， puns can produce a language effect of irony. For example， Oscar Wildes use of “Earnest” in the title of the play is a pun. Literally， it refers to a characters name in the play， but the deep meaning that Oscar Wilde intends to express is “honest”. Gwendolen and Cecily， the two major female characters in the play， both have a preference for earnest men. However， Jack and Algernon， the two major male characters， conceal their real names and tell a lie that they are “Mr. Earnest”. Thus， it is ironic that the two girls pursue an earnest love but fall into the men who are not earnest at all. When Lady Bracknell is talking with Jack about his parents in the first act， she uses “lose” as a pun to satirize Jack. She says， “To lose one parent， Mr. Worthing， may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.”

In conclusion， Oscar Wilde can be honored as the master of dramatic language. The plentiful use of paradoxes and puns in The Importance of Being Earnest not only proves Oscar Wildes outstanding talent for play writing but also depicts vividly the nobilitys hypocritical nature in Victorian Britain.

【作者簡介】姚嵘，太原理工大学。