The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest英文戏剧赏析..doc

Theme My Thought of the Drama —The Importance of Being Earnest Well, I think the whole plot of drama is very humor and attractive.It takes a humorous way to express the importance of being earnest more deeply. In contrast to much theatre of the time, The Importance of Being Earnests light plot does not tackle serious social and political issues, something of which contemporary reviewers were wary. Though unsure of Wildes seriousness as a dramatist, they recognized the plays cleverness, humor and popularity with audiences George Bernard Shaw, for example, reviewed the play in the Saturday Review, arguing that comedy should touch as well as amuse, I go to the theatre to be moved to laughter. Later in a letter he said, the play, though extremely funny was Wildes first really heartless [one]. In The World, William Archer wrote that he had enjoyed watching the play but found it to be empty of meaning, What can a poor critic do with a play which raises no principle, whether of art or morals, creates its own canons and conventions, and is nothing but an absolutely willful expression of an irrepressibly witty personality? However , about the drama, I want to say something about themes, cause I am impressed by it. The Nature of Marriage Marriage is of paramount importance in The Importance of Being Earnest, both as a primary force motivating the plot and as a subject for philosophical speculation and debate. The question of the nature of marriage appears for the first time in the opening dialogue between Algernon and his butler, Lane, and from this point on the subject never disappears for very long. Algernon and Jack discuss the nature of marriage when they dispute briefly about whether a marriage proposal is a matter of “business” or “pleasure,” and Lady Bracknell touches on the issue when she states, “An engagement should come on a young girl as a surprise, pleasant or unpleasant, as the case may be.” Even Lady Bracknell’s list of bachelors and the prepared interview to