Sincere Triviality: The Comedy of Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde creates a successful, complex comedy by maintaining consistent conflict and contradiction in the action, dialogue, and characters of The Importance of Being Ernest. Dramatic or comedic action is essentially exaggerated conflict. Wilde preserves the conflict between what is and what should be important in every interaction. That which is most trivial is treated with the most sincerity, and vice versa. This reversal is his greatest contradiction and fundamental tool as a writer of …

…treatment of characters interacting and experiencing inner conflict in a humorous way presents a distinct vision of morality. The Importance of Being Ernest is more than a descriptive title. It is at the core of his perception of human interaction. The word "ernest," has obvious significance in its meaning. The fundamental sincerity with which each character plays into ridiculous and humiliating situations is more than a comic strategy. It is Wilde's interpretation of human nature.