“An Age of Surfaces”: Comic Language in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest
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TexteLangue : français Détails de publication : 2005.
Ressources en ligne : Abrégé : This paper analyses the language of Oscar Wilde’s comedies, focusing on The Importance of Being Earnest. The nature of wit is first analysed, insisting on the fact that the epigrams are not to be understood as signs, but as the ultimate goal of the conversational strategies of the characters. It is the poetic of lying which is then the focus of the paper, insisting on the ambiguity of lying and truth in the play. Finally, the fictional status of discourse is investigated, in order to show in what ways, in Lady Bracknell’s phrase, we live in an age of surfaces.
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This paper analyses the language of Oscar Wilde’s comedies, focusing on The Importance of Being Earnest. The nature of wit is first analysed, insisting on the fact that the epigrams are not to be understood as signs, but as the ultimate goal of the conversational strategies of the characters. It is the poetic of lying which is then the focus of the paper, insisting on the ambiguity of lying and truth in the play. Finally, the fictional status of discourse is investigated, in order to show in what ways, in Lady Bracknell’s phrase, we live in an age of surfaces.
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