Oscar Wilde’S The Importance Of Being Earnest Was Written

Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest was written during the Modernism movement. Modernism was a literary movement that pushed back against the movement previously: Victorian/Realism. Wilde suggests that keeping up appearances was so significant during the Victorian ages that men engaged in bunburying: the idea that people take on a different persona, whether real or imagined, as an escape from their current life or in order to portray themselves in a better light. Wilde uses satirical humor in The Importance of Being Earnest to reveal his disdain at the hypocritical customs and shallow lives of the Victorian people; in particular, Wilde uses the concept of bunburying to reveal their own hypocrisy to themselves.†¦show more content†¦Both theories suggest that Bunbury represents actual people rather than a concept. The theory of attributively naming Bunbury stems from Wilde’s own double life. According to Green’s article, â€Å"an unidentified book reviewer for Time magazine states that â€Å"Bunburying was shorthand for a visit to a fashionable London male whorehouse† and suggested that the word bunburying is related to berging – â€Å"the disguise of homosexual material in literature† (Green 70). Green also suggests that this definition â€Å"has its origin in details brought out at the trials about Wilde’s own double life in which he shuttled between Alfred Taylor’s male whorehouse and the brilliant world of Victorian high society† (Green 70). Seemingly, Bunbury may actually be an imaginary manifestation of Wilde himself, who struggled with his own homosexuality while attempting to maintain his status in society. The other theory that may explain Bunbury’s existence is the fact that he was named after a direct individual: Henry Shirley Bunbury, who went to school with Wilde (Green 73). The theory of Bunbury being named after Henry Shirley Bunbury makes sense here: Green states that Henry Shirley Bunbury â€Å"did have elements of a double life in him, for while he earned his living as a government tax official, he was quite interested inShow MoreRelatedThe Misunderstood Legacy of Oscar Wilde Essay1663 Words   |  7 PagesThe Misunderstood Legacy of Oscar Wilde Surrounded by scandal caused by his own deception, Oscar Wilde left this world with a legacy of often misunderstood wit, a brilliant collection of writing, and sordid tales of an extramarital homosexual affair. The playwright progressed from a fashionable, flippant fop immersed in London society to a man broken by the public discovery of his relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas. 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