THE BURDENS OF SOCIAL OBLIGATIONS OSCAR WILDES Essays

"THE BURDENS OF SOCIAL OBLIGATIONS: OSCAR WILDE'S "THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST"" The Burdens of Social Obligations Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest is one of his most famous works, as it is a satirical play that's purpose is to ridicule and expose the ridiculousness of Victorian society. While many accepted and followed the Victorian society's rules and moral codes, Wilde was one of the first to question and rebel against them. Using the main characters of the play, Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, Wilde exposes some of the Victorian society's social obligations, and how he feels about them through satirical strategy. Throughout The Importance of Being Earnest , various kinds of social obligations are slyly ridiculed such as the social views on marriage, obligation to attend family gatherings, and especially maintaining a "high moral tone" for one's family and society. The absurdity of these social morals is clearly apparent to modern readers, because of the contrast in societies, but in the Victorian era they are accepted and followed without question, making the importance of Wilde's meaning behind this play all the more important for the time period. For instance, while marriage was highly valued as something a man and woman must do, the monetary value of the marriage far outweighed its capacity for love and partnership. As Algernon says, "I really don't see anything romantic about proposing. It is very romantic to be in love. The very essence of romance is uncertainty. If ever I get married, I'll certainly try to forget the fact." (Algernon, pg. 1745) Algernon is saying that the re is a complete difference in being in love and being married. He even mentions that "The amount of women in London who flirt with their own husbands is perfectly scandalous." (Algernon, pg. 1739) He is expressing the Victorian view on marriage, which is the obligation to do so, and not the willingness. To Algernon, the moment you agree to marry someone and commit to them forever, you have ruined the entire romance, which is completely backwards and that is exactly what Wilde is trying to emphasize. The idea of arranged marriage goes hand in hand with this, similar to what we saw in Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice", and as Lady Bracknell displays in her dissatisfaction with "Ernest" proposing to Gwendolyn. "When you do become engaged to someone, I, or your father, will inform you of the fact. An engagement should come on a young girl as a surprise, pleasant or unpleasantIt is hardly a matter that she could be allowed to arrange for herself." ( Bracknell , pg. 174 3) Through Lady Bracknell's dialogue, Wilde is exposing the absurdity of arranged marriage, and the unfairness of the matter. On top of this, as Gwendolyn expresses her adoration for the name "Ernest" and exclaims she could not possibly every marry someone whose name wasn't Ernest, Jack uses his alter-identity to make himself favorable to a woman he loves. This is one of the many aspects of Victorian society that Wilde seeks to expose in its unfairness and absurdity. Other obligations of Jack's such as attending his Aunt's dinner's each week and maintaining a "high moral tone" for his ward Cecily are burdensome, and he eventually finds a clever way to escape all of his problems. As Algernon puts it, he is a " bunburyist ", named after his own alter-identity, meaning he has multiple identities that he uses to his advantage to escape these social obligations without seeming impolite. Jack's " bunbury " is his made-up brother, Ernest, who lives in the city and is a trouble maker. Anytime he does not wish to go to his Aunt's dinner, or he wants to escape to the city to have some inappropriate fun, he blames it on Ernest, and becomes Ernest himself. As Jack puts it, "My name is Ernest in town and Jack in the country" (Jack, pg. 1737) He excuses his behavior by explaining, "As a high moral tone can hardly be said to conduce very much to either one's health or one's happiness, in order to get up to town I have always pretended to have a younger brother of the name of Ernest" (Jack, pg.

The Real Economic Motives Behind the War on Iraq essays

The Real Economic Motives Behind the War on Iraq essays There has been much recent media attention given to the U.S plan to attack Iraq. The U.S government has made it clear that it will not stand by and let Iraq continue to harbor "weapons of mass destruction" and impede the progress of U.N weapons inspectors. What George W. Bush would have the world believe and what is actually the case in Iraq may be two very different things. The only country in the world, other than the U.S that believes that an attack on Iraq is acceptable is Great Britain. All others are opposed. So why is it that all other nations, most of which are members of the U.N, and advocate weapons inspections, are not willing to engage in a war with Iraq? Most nations believe there is not sufficient evidence to support Iraq as a threat. Iraq appears to be extremely co-operative with inspectors considering the controversy in the past. For example; in 1991 at the end of desert storm, the Iraqi government agreed to accept inspectors, believing that once it was established that Iraq posed no threat, the debilitating economic sanctions would be lifted. In Dec 98, the U.S pulled out the mostly U.S inspection teams because it was stated that Iraq was "not fully cooperating." In reality, of 423 inspections performed that month, only 5 "obstructions" occurred. These were either minor delays, or caused from attempts to inspect on religious holidays when facilities were closed. The U.S insisted however they were not co-operating and ended inspections. Less than 48 hours after the inspectors departed, the U.S began a bombing campaign known as Operation Desert Fox. In the three days following initiation of Desert Fox, the U.S and Britain dropped more than 1000 missiles on Iraq. Two weeks after the bombing, the U.S admitted that the inspectors had in fact been U.S intelligence agents who provided the bombing coordinates for operation Desert Fox. It appears that the U.S is fabricating motives to start a war with Iraq. Now with t...

On a specific documentary called Two Towns of Jasper - Image Ethics Essay

On a specific documentary called Two Towns of Jasper - Image Ethics - Essay Example The film has however tried to bridge the gap by displaying images to illustrate the widening difference and discrimination between blacks and whites. This paper therefore seeks to explore the image ethics that emerge in Two Towns of Jasper. The paper will also illustrate how the film makers approach and understand their various obligations and responsibilities to their viewers, to those who are featured in the film, to their profession as well as to themselves. Reference is made to the Moral Rights of Subjects in Photographs, Film, and Television by Katz, Gross and Ruby via analyzing Two Towns of Jasper, a documentary film. There are significant ethical issues and concerns that are provoked by the William and Whitney in the film â€Å"Two Towns of Jasper.† These issues arose where the white and black subjects used in the film were affected by the nature of the images displayed to the viewers. Therefore the two filmmakers made ethical considerations that took care of the rights of the subjects as well as those of the viewers of the film or television. The film, â€Å"Two Towns of Jasper,† observes the moral rights of those appearing in it as the subjects. However, the film has been criticized that it presents fake images of the subjects that are somehow embarrassing and intrusive to both the viewers and the film subjects. Some of the image ethics that raise concerns in the â€Å"Two Towns of Jasper† and the documentary include the situation in which the subjects were portrayed in a false light. It appears to the viewers that the subjects may have failed to secure a consent that is completely informed and therefore their images were appropriated. In this film, â€Å"Two Towns of Jasper,† the groups of minority and individuals were represented accurately and fairly. Williams and Whitney observed the peculiar moral obligations of the subjects in the film. This is a clear indication that the filmmakers understand their obligations and res ponsibilities to the subjects as well as to their viewers. By respecting the moral rights and observing image ethics when making the film, it shows that the filmmakers clearly understand well the role of their profession. From my review of the film, â€Å"Two Towns of Jasper,† the concerns and issues of image ethics that are exhibited is the journalistic integrity threat that is probably posed by the software visual editing used by the filmmakers. The type of images displayed in the film also raises concern as they appear so uncertain to the viewers. The minority group is also not presented in an appealing manner which may raise ethical questions among the viewers. It also appears in the film that there has been an erosion of civility and privacy of the minority group, the blacks, in the film. However, the book, â€Å"Moral Rights of Subjects in Photographs, Film, and Television† by Katz, Gross and Ruby, has elaborated these ethical concerns as a breach to the privacy and rights of the subjects. The mentioned authors have also amplified the qualms of image ethics as mistakes committed in darkroom of electronics. The issues of image ethics in the film add to the continuous visual development studies. The anthology in the film, â€Å"Two Towns of Jasper,† has reached into perspectives and discipline beyond any criticism and considers the dilemmas in the visual presentations. Additionally, the filmmakers, Williams and Whitney, have taken into consideration the challenge of observing, to