Study Questions: The
Importance of Being Earnest
1)
Pick
two scenes where you think visual performance is crucial to the comedy and
explain why.
2)
Why
do you think tea-time scenes (food, eating) are so central in this play?
3)
Look
up "earnest" in a large dictionary and note its various meanings. How
is this word relevant to the "message" in this play?
4)
What
technique makes you laugh most in this play (give example)? Does the comedy get
worn out at any point for you?
5)
Find
at least one instance on each page in Act One where an idea expresses the
reverse or opposite of the norm. Look at what kinds of ideas are used for this
and comment on how Wilde seems to be using this technique.
6)
What
comic techniques does Wilde use most? Which are most effective?
7)
What
elements of farce and of melodrama are found?
8)
Discuss
what aspects of his society Wilde is satirizing.
9)
How
does hypocrisy play a role in this drama?