For Tuesday, April 8

Answer the following questions (from the film) as well as from the online text of The Importance of Being Earnest.  http://www.gutenberg.org/files/844/844-h/844-h.htm

1.  In Oscar Wilde's time, "earnestness"--sober behavior, a serious turn of mind--was valued as an important character trait.  how does Wilde undermine this value?  Consider when the characters are earnest and when they are not.  How does the pun on earnest and Ernest seen throughout the play, as well as Gwendolen's and Cecily's fascination with the name Ernest, further this satirization?
2.  At the very beginning of the ACT I, Algernon states, "I don't play accurately -- anyone can play accurately--but I play with wonderful expression".  How does this comment establish a theme for the play?  In what other ways through the play is Algernon not accurate but expressive?  Are other characters also not accurate but expressive?  Who and How?
3.  How do the scenes of Algernon and Jack jostling over cucumber sandwiches (ACT I) and muffins (ACT II) suggest about their characters and their priorities?  Explain how Wilde uses these props to produce a comic effect.
4.  Consider the invented word Bunburyist.  Why is the term used so many times in quick succession and with such relish in act I.  (Lines 146-179 and even further...)  How many variations (different parts of speech, different definitions does the word undergo?  Why does a made up term play such an important role in this play?
5.  How does Wilde make The Importance of Being Earnest funny?  Identify what you consider (so far) to be the most humorous part of the play, and explain your choice.  (For this, think about language not the film's additions to Cecily's fantasy diary, etc.)  Now think about the purpose of humor in this play.  Find instances where Wilde uses humor to satirize some of the more ridiculous aspects of society.