The Importance of Being Earnest: Dramatic Techniques

Characterisation and Identity

The Importance of Being Earnest is a farcical comedy, and Oscar Wilde uses dramatic techniques to create larger-than-life characters and exaggerated situations. Characters are often portrayed as caricatures of Victorian society, demonstrating Wilde’s satirical commentary on social norms.
A major theme within the play is the double life, characters using various pseudonyms (“Ernest”) and double identities, which Wilde explores using dramatic irony.
Costuming also plays a vital role in accentuating identity, with characters frequently changing clothes to signify changes in their identity or status; Algernon’s dress symbolises his pretentious upper-class lifestyle, for instance.

Language and Dialogue

Wilde employs epigrammatic style, writing sharp, witty dialogue loaded with social satire, paradoxes, and humour that often exposes social contradictions.
Repetition is used as a comedic device, but it also signifies the lack of original thought among the characters, hinting at Wilde’s satirical perspective on the Victorian society’s conformity.
Characters often conduct verbal duels, using language as a weapon to critique or mock others, emphasisising a preoccupation with appearances and superficial relationships.

Humour and Comedy

Wilde uses farce, including mistaken identity and absurd situations, to create humour and criticise the fallacies of Victorian society.
Wit forms the backbone of the play, and Wilde’s clever wordplay, puns and paradoxes are part and parcel of the characters’ dialogues.
Comic timing through punch lines much like those found in stand-up comedy contributes significantly to the humorous effect of the play.

Structure and Form

Three Act Structure: The play has a typical three-act structure, each act escalating in dramatic intensity and complexity, maintaining engagement and interrogation of the issues raised.
Closed Setting technique is used to create a sense of confinement and artificiality, emphasising the restricted and hypocritical nature of the society at the time.
The climactic unraveling of the comic misunderstanding forms the structure’s pivotal moment, allowing the play to reach a humorous resolution.

Stage Directions

Wilde uses explicit stage directions, instructing actors how to deliver lines or react, which illuminate character emotions and social conventions.
These directions also provide significant subtext, adding depth and nuance to what the audience perceives, thus enhancing the reading and performance of the play.
They also help in demonstrating the physical comedy of the play, enhancing its farcical elements.