Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Wilde uses obvious situational and dramatic irony within the play to satirize his time period. Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest Historical Context. The Importance of Being Earnest by Madeline Tafoya - Prezi Oscar Wilde - The Importance of Being Earnest (Act 2) | Genius Algernon Moncrieff is Lady Bracknells nephew and Gwendolens cousin. 'The Importance of Being Earnest' Review - ThoughtCo An allusion to Exodus 16 in the Bible, when Moses leads the Israelites into the wilderness and God feeds them with "manna" and quail from the sky. tells Cecily, who has just offered her sugar and cake, that sugar With this foundation, they learn not to question and not to change dramatically the society in which they live. 3- Twelfth Night - Poetry - Scene III Enter Sir Toby and Maria. " Introduction to The Importance of Being Earnest. When Gwendolen takes Jacks return address Algernon overhears and notes down the address. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. insulting each other quite steadily for some time, but Cecilys Wilde is referring here to the duty of the upper class to provide moral role models and convert those who are wicked to the "good" way of life. Exposition: