The Importance Of Being Earnest (2005) - Plot & Excerpts
When I was quite young – I guess, if you were of a mind to, you might say it was a generation ago – I was listening to a radio program and for some reason they decided to do the handbag scene from The Importance of Being Earnest. I’d heard of the play before, obviously, but only the name. I had thought it would be some terribly dreary thing, having no idea just how funny a man Wilde was. The guy on the radio gave it quite a build up – saying something to the effect that this scene is not just one of the funniest in what is a very funny play, but perhaps one of the funniest scenes in the whole of English drama. I waited fully expecting to be disappointed.Naturally, I howled with laughter. It is very hard to explain just how funny it is hearing a woman (one of those English upper class aunts that Wodehouse also made a living out of depicting) can be saying the words, “A handbag?” Now, who would ever have thought that perhaps the funniest line in the whole of English drama could possibly be, “A handbag?” I say this without the least fear of spoiling the joke for you, by the way, if you’ve never read or seen the play. A mistake that must be remedied immediately if you never have seen it, by the way.It would be all too easy to dismiss this play as a light romantic comedy. Although it is about a series of near thwarted romances – the stuff of a million ‘chick-flicks’ and romantic comedies going back as far as the eye can see in drama – this is also something much, much more. It is also a delightfully amusing commentary on human sexual relations, the English class system and (much more importantly) a perfect mirror on the amusing excesses of human selfishness. In fact, some of the best lines in the play, and the funniest lines in the play, highlight our near infinite capacity to love ourselves. To quote only a few and without hardly looking:“If you are not too long, I will wait for you all my life.”“Oh! Not at all, Gwendolen. I am very fond of being looked at.”“If I am occasionally overdressed, I make up for it by being always immensely over-educated.”“I don’t play accurately – anyone can play accurately – but I play with wonderful expression.”“You see, it (her diary) is simply a very young girl’s record of her thoughts and impressions, and consequently meant for publication.”The other terribly interesting thing in this play is the role of family. Not only are the families quite dysfunctional, even when people know who their parents are, but the title character is about as confused about how he fits into the complex world of family relations as it is possible to make someone. The thing that makes the line about the handbag quite so funny is that this handbag is about the closest thing he has to family in the entire world. As Pascal once said, we laugh and cry about the same things. I’m going to finish with my favourite exchange in the play, other than, obviously, the handbag scene which is incomparable:“Lady Bracknell: Is this Miss Prism a female of repellent aspect, remotely connected with education?Chasuble: (Somewhat indignantly) She is the most cultivated of ladies, and the very picture of respectability.Lady Bracknell: It is obviously the same person.”Wilde is, it hardly needs to be said, the closest thing to a God we are likely to have visit us on this planet. There are, for example, even now, more than 100 years after his death, entire companies that produce desk calendars that would not be in business if not for the endless supply of quotes he provides for the foot of Monday the Ninth of February and so on.If humour comes in a spectrum and slapstick is at one end of that spectrum, then this is the other end.
Holy Mother! I must say that this play is hilarious.This is one of that book that I can read over and over again and still can enjoy every bit of it.And I want more books like this,really.To be true I never expected this to be so damn funny, like funny from the beginning to the end.This play has it all,humor, fun, good dialogues( good :/ no,best dialogues), witty characters and people full of amusement. I loved everything.And now I can say, I'm in love with this man's writing, Oscar Wilde, he really is wild(that makes no sense,I know). This is my second book written by him and now I can actually say that he is one of my favorite writer, I enjoyed the play and he entertained me well throughout the book.I must say everyone should read this play and I assure you that you won't regret it and that you won't stop laughing.Though every line in this book is perfect, but I want to quote few line from the book that I really liked. “I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.” “If I am occasionally a little over-dressed, I make up for it by being always immensely over-educated.” “JACK:How you can sit there, calmly eating muffins when we are in this horrible trouble, I can’t make out. You seem to me to be perfectly heartless. ALGERNON: Well, I can’t eat muffins in an agitated manner. The butter would probably get on my cuffs. One should always eat muffins quite calmly. It is the only way to eat them." “I hate people who are not serious about meals. It is so shallow of them.” “I really don't see anything romantic in proposing. It is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal. Why, one may be accepted. One usually is, I believe. Then the excitement is all over. The very essence of romance is uncertainty. If ever I get married, I'll certainly try to forget the fact.” “Indeed, no woman should ever be quite accurate about her age. It looks so calculating.” “I am sick to death of cleverness. Everybody is clever nowadays. You can't go anywhere without meeting clever people. The thing has become an absolute public nuisance. I wish to goodness we had a few fools left.ALGERNON: We have.JACK: I should extremely like to meet them. What do they talk about?ALGERNON: The fools? Oh! about the clever people of course.JACK: What fools.” “The only way to behave to a woman is to make love to her if she is pretty, and to someone else if she is plain.” “Every woman becomes their mother. That's their tragedy. And no man becomes his. That's his tragedy.” "To lose one parent, Mr Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness." And there are more.....To sum this book up; “It is a terrible thing for a man to find out suddenly that all his life he has been speaking nothing but the truth”So,basically, I loved this and I Earnestly recommend it :)
What do You think about The Importance Of Being Earnest (2005)?
“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” True to Oscar Wilde this play is full of wit, making fun of the societal standards that are seen to this day. Quite funny. I'm glad it wasn't longer, it would have become boring, as it was very predictable. It was full of fantastic quotes, wise in their own way, such as:Jack: "You're quite perfect, Miss Fairfax."Gwendolen: "Oh! I hope I am not that. It would leave no room for developments, and I intend to develop in many directions."
—Desislava
Plays are generally better heard than read (I find Shakespeare dull as dirt to read, though I enjoy watching his plays), and that is certainly true of this Victorian comedy of misdirection and misunderstanding. Oscar Wilde was in full satiric mode though his humor was perhaps gentler than usual, even though he was sending up Victorian manners and hypocrisy.Lady Bracknell. [Pencil and note-book in hand.] I feel bound to tell you that you are not down on my list of eligible young men, although I have the same list as the dear Duchess of Bolton has. We work together, in fact. However, I am quite ready to enter your name, should your answers be what a really affectionate mother requires. Do you smoke?Jack. Well, yes, I must admit I smoke.Lady Bracknell. I am glad to hear it. A man should always have an occupation of some kind. There are far too many idle men in London as it is. How old are you?Jack. Twenty-nine.Lady Bracknell. A very good age to be married at. I have always been of opinion that a man who desires to get married should know either everything or nothing. Which do you know?Jack. [After some hesitation.] I know nothing, Lady Bracknell.Lady Bracknell. I am pleased to hear it. I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square. What is your income?The plot is fairly simple: two young London rakes, Jack, aka "Earnest," and Algernon, aka "Bunbury," have been evading undesirable social engagements by making up alternate identities and/or relations for themselves. Unfortunately, this becomes a bit awkward when they both wish to become engaged. Hilarity ensues. The Importance of Being Earnest is not just a play on words. It's a predecessor to the screwball comedies and set piece sitcoms of the 20th century; modern comedies probably owe much to Oscar Wilde.Wilde's dialog is very witty and his characters ridiculous without going completely into the realm of farce. There are probably a lot of Victorian in-jokes that modern listeners don't get, but it's still funny even without knowing much more than the time period. Some authors can transcend the conventions of the time period in which they were writing, and Wilde remains funny even in the 21st century.This free full-cast production from Audible is a great way to enjoy this play.
—David
I'm Ernest P. Worrell, and I approve this message.Now, there's been an awful lotta discussion goin' on 'round these parts, lotsa blow-hards and no-brains spoutin' off their own uninformed, silly-ass opinions on the matter, but me I'm fixin' to put an end to all this nonsense, right here right now. Yessiree Bob, that's right -- I'm about to explain to y'all knuckleheads the TRUE importance of being Ernest, so listen up!Lemme ask you somethin' -- Have you ever survived the Kikakee warrior initiation rite? I sincerely doubt it, because 98% of those to even attempt it since 1987 are stone dead -- every last one of 'em. And do you wanna know why? Because they didn't understand the goshderned importance of being Ernest, that's why! Honestly, anyone dumb enough to stand still while knives, axes, arrows, and bullets come flyin' at 'em is either not that important to the plot of Ernest Goes to Camp, or they're me, Ernest.KnowhutImean?'Nuther question for ya -- Have you ever met Santa Claus? Cuz I have. Oh, so you have too? You wanna take a sec to think that one through, dummy? Mull it over in that mound of mush you call a brain? Yep, that's what I thought -- dude at the mall is NOT the real Santa, and neither is your ma or pa. In fact, if you can show me someone else you know who's gone ridin' in Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve night, I'll show you one lyin'-ass bitch who ain't gettin' nuthin' but coal in their stocking this year! Go watch Ernest Saves Christmas if you don't believe me. If that don't make Ernest important, I don't know what does.And while you're at it, you might wanna check out Ernest Scared Stupid. I'll admit that this one was probably the beginning of the end for me, but that don't change the fact that it's still an important entry in the classic Ernest canon.But what happens when someone else shows up claimin' to be Ernest? I'll tell you what happens -- I get sent to prison, carve a gun out of soap, and they make a goshderned lilly-fartin', sissy-ass play out of my far superior motion picture film, Ernest Goes to Jail! I swear, it's like this Oscar Mayer Wilde guy has no respect for his source material, and it really shows through in this play. I mean what a wiener, knowhutImean?I'm still givin' it four stars though, because at least he got the endin' right.Dedicated to Jim Varney, 1949-2000
—Arthur Graham
