Download Name: Literary elements in The Importance of Being Earnest

Name:_________________________
Literary elements in The Importance of Being Earnest – find examples as we read
Pun – play on multiple meanings of the word
Diction – author’s choice and arrangement of words
Form – note how Wilde structures the play – why does he include the events in Acts 1, 2,
and 3 with one another?
Satire –
Blocking figure – one who opposes the wishes of young lovers.
Parallelism – Significant interactions involving characters has a corresponding incident
later on. ** Consider events in Act 2 that mirror events in Act 1
Situational irony
Dramatic irony
Anticipation - A hint that causes the viewer to look forward to something funny
Incongruity – creating humor from statements or actions that seem out of time, place or
character.
Exaggeration
Farce: the situations become so entangled and complicated that the ending often is
purely arbitrary, or even a trick. In ancient Greek and Roman drama, the ending was
sometimes brought about by a god descending from the heavens in some kind of
machine or device. These arbitrary endings are called deus ex machina endings. Who is
the deus ex machine in this play, and how does she/he bring about the ending?
Choose one of the following questions to answer in a short essay (1-3 paragraphs)
1. “It has as its philosophy. . . that we should treat all the trivial things of life
seriously, and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality.”
How is this philosophy developed in the play? Give examples of both trivial
things being taken seriously and serious things being trivialized
2. Trace the theme of illusion, or appearance, vs. reality in The Importance of Being
Earnest, giving specific examples of times when illusion is confused with reality.
Why do you think the characters pursue these illusions?
3. The “battle of the sexes” is nothing new in literature. Look through The
Importance of Being Earnest for quotations that develop this comic motif, and
explain what these quotations show about the accepted roles of men and women
in Victorian society.