Ironie in Oscar Wildes "The importance of beeing Ernest"

Dossier / Travail de Séminaire , 2010 , 11 Pages , Note: 2,3

Didactique de l'Anglais - Littérature, Œuvres

It is impossible to imagine living without irony in our everyday life. Irony as a form of “linguistic indirectness“ has become a phenomenon in recent years. It is used by, no matter what age or social group in our speaking, writing and literature. The term “irony” derives etymologically from the Greek word “eironeia” and actually means “adjustment”, “escape”, or especially “lack of seriousness“. But another significant element is being added, which is “making fun of someone”. So if you call someone a hero, who just ran away from something harmless, you do not mean it literally, you indirectly try to express the opposite. Actually you would have said, that he is a total coward.
But exactly that is what makes a definition of the term “irony” so difficult, because it is not always exactly the opposite when you are ironic; sometimes it just means something else. If we now start from this explanation of the term, you could assume that something ironic is almost a lie, as someone who uses irony wants to express something else than he actually says. It is not a lie because when you lie you try your best nobody realizes your being untrue. When someone is ironic, the intention is to let the other person notice this. Thus irony is transparent where a lie is, at least, opaque. The second major difference is the intention to deceive which is constitutive for the lie, but not when you use irony. You also can not compare irony with mockery; mockery always tries to hurt someone directly, irony in contrast always is detached and uses some kind of adjustment.

In this work I will try to define irony and try to find and analyze some of the ironic passages from Oscar Wilde’s comedy “The Importance of Being Earnest”.
The eccentric Oscar Wilde, who lived from 1854 until 1900 was one of the leading representatives of the aesthetic movement of “L’art pour l’art”, which tried to “aestheticize” all areas of life. Wilde, who lived the life of a perfect dandy, deliberately bended the norms of the Victorian era.
In 1895, at the peak of his career, he was sentenced to two years of hard labour, because of homosexual practices. This verdict ended in his financial and social ruin.
After his release Wilde emigrated to Paris where he died on the 30th Nov 1900.
In his works, including “The Importance of Being Earnest”, Wilde criticized the bigotry and the exaggerated morality of the English society at this time.

Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)

• Introduction
• What exactly is Irony?
• Explanation of the term “Irony”
• Grice: Irony as conversational implicature
• Leech's “Irony Principle”
• Irony in “The Importance of Being Earnest”
• Irony in the title of the comedy
• Examples in act one
• Examples in act two
• Examples in act three
• Conclusion

Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)

This work aims to define irony and analyze ironic passages from Oscar Wilde's comedy "The Importance of Being Earnest." It explores the concept of irony as a form of "linguistic indirectness" prevalent in everyday life, literature, and speech. The text examines the historical context of Wilde's work and its critique of Victorian society.

• Definition and characteristics of irony
• Irony as a tool for social commentary
• The use of irony in "The Importance of Being Earnest"
• Wilde's critique of Victorian society
• The role of irony in humor and satire

Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)

The introduction establishes the pervasiveness of irony in contemporary life and its etymological roots in the Greek word "eironeia." It explores the difficulty in defining irony due to its nuanced nature and its potential for expressing both the opposite and something different from what is literally said.

The second chapter delves into the definition of irony, outlining conditions of felicity for successful ironic communication. It highlights the importance of the listener's understanding of irony and their character, as well as the use of signals like facial expressions and intonation.

The chapter on Grice's model of irony introduces the co-operative principle in conversation and its four maxims: quantity, quality, relation, and modality. It explains how speakers can mislead listeners by deviating from these maxims, creating irony.

Leech's “Irony Principle” is discussed, defining irony as a second-order principle based on the “principle of politeness.” It emphasizes the tension between causing offense and adhering to politeness, with irony allowing for indirect communication of offensive points.

The chapter on irony in "The Importance of Being Earnest" begins with the analysis of irony present in the title itself, which ridicules the earnestness of Victorian society. The chapter then delves into examples from Act One, highlighting the ironic exchange between Algernon and his servant Lane about marriage and the humorous encounter between Jack and Algernon regarding Jack's neighbors.

Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)

Irony, conversational implicature, "The Importance of Being Earnest," Oscar Wilde, Victorian society, satire, humor, aesthetic movement, L'art pour l'art, social commentary.

• Université: University of Koblenz-Landau (Anglistik)
• Note: 2,3
• Auteur: Florian Schwarze (Auteur)
• Année de publication: 2010
• Pages: 11
• N° de catalogue: V161784
• ISBN (ebook): 9783640753024
• ISBN (Livre): 9783640753239
• Langue: anglais
• mots-clé: Irony, Oscar Wilde, England, The importance of beeing Ernest, Ernest, Earnest, Sarcasm, Sarkasmus, Comedy, Komödie, Satire, Gay, Homosexual, Homosexuel, Schwul