The Importance of Being Earnest Commentary

Liz Roepke

Peifer 4

English 10 IB

19 May 2009

The Importance of Being Earnest Commentary

Gwen.: I am afraid it is quite clear, Cecily,

that neither of us is engaged to be married to anyone.

Cecily: It is not a very pleasant position for a young

girl suddenly to find herself in. Is it?

G:         Let us go into the house. They will

hardly venture to come after us there.

C:         No, men are so cowardly, aren’t they? (They retire into the house

with scornful looks.)

Jack:   This ghastly state of things is what you call

Bunburying, I suppose?

Alger.: Yes, and a perfectly wonderful Bunbury

it is. The most wonderful Bunbury I have ever had in

my life.

            In The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde uses symbolism, eloquence, and absurdity to show the egotistical, uptight nature of Victorian women. Wilde also makes a contrast between the serious character Jack and Algernon’s trivial personality. To achieve this, Wilde shows the women scorning the men, who then get into a fight over how serious their situation is. The entire scene is comical, and makes obvious Wilde’s views of Victorian society.

            The main symbol in this section is the idea of “Bunburying.” This is Algernon’s creation, which he thinks is ingenious. Bunburying symbolizes excusing oneself from society in order to have fun and stay youthful. The main point of a Bunbury is to have fun and get out of any engagements one may be supposed to attend. However, Jack believes that Bunburying only creates more problems. He asks Algernon: “This ghastly state of thing is what you call Bunburying, I suppose?” (Wilde 169). Algernon replies: “Yes, and a perfectly wonderful Bunbury it is” (Wilde 169). Obviously, their views on Bunburying are very different. Jack does not think situations should be handled with excuses. Jack’s serious tone is reflected in the manner of his speaking, which is more articulate than Algernon’s.

            Algernon is the only character that, in this excerpt, does not construct well-expressed sentences to convey his ideas. For instance, Jack mentions the “ghastly state of things” (Wilde 169), Gwendolen mentions to Cecily that the men will “hardly venture to come after us there”  (Wilde 169), and Cecily calls men cowardly, an insult one doesn’t not hear very much any more. This use of language reflects the personalities of these characters. Jack, Cecily, and Gwendolen all take life more seriously than Algernon, and therefore they speak with more eloquence. This is mainly a social comment on Victorian society and the people who are involved in it. Although the characters use eloquent language, their situation is rather absurd.

            Wilde uses absurd situations to amuse his readers and comment on Victorian society. An example of this appears when Gwendolen and Cecily discover that they really are not engaged to anyone, although they thought differently just a little bit earlier. Gwendolen says “I am afraid it is quite clear, Cecily, that neither of us is engaged to be married to anyone” (Wilde 169). Cecily replies “it is not a very pleasant position for a young girl suddenly to find herself in. Is it?” (Wilde 169). This situation is absurd because of the fact that usually, people do not just realize that they are not engaged. In a typical situation, one would be alerted of  this fact before the cessation of the engagement. This sort of twist on commonplace occurrences happens often in Wilde’s writing. It grabs the attention of the reader and amuses them while conveying a certain view of Wilde’s.

            Wilde uses symbolism, articulate language, and absurdity to amuse and educate  his audience. By using these literary devices, Wilde can impart his views of Victorian society on his readers quite easily. His viewpoints of Victorian women as being egotistical and uptight, and men being either uptight or silly, are very evident in this excerpt. 

Atsumori Commentary

Elizabeth Roepke
Peifer 4
10 IB English
5 May 2009

Atsumori Commentary

231 So Atsumori fell and was slain, but now the Wheel of Fate
Has turned and brought him back.
"There is my enemy," he cries, and would strike,
But the other is grown gentle
235 And calling on Buddha's name
Has obtained salvation for his foe;
So that they may be reborn together
On one lotus seat.
"No, Rensei is not my enemy.
240 Pray for me again, oh pray for me again."

In Seami Motokiyo's play Atsumori, repetition, personification, and symbolism are used to convey Motokiyo's purpose of showing how a situation can be turned around by remorse and forgiveness. The theme of this section is similar to the overall theme of the play, which is the salvation of a restless soul through apology and acceptance.
Repetition is used in the very last line of this section to emphasize the meaning of the words "pray for me again" (Motokiyo 240). In this line, Atsumori finishes off the play with a plea for prayers, which suggests that he is still a bit restless. This follows with the generic model of a Noh play, which involves someone helping a restless spirit accept his or her fate and calm down. Although Atsumori has now found acceptance in death, he still wants to feel better.
Motokiyo uses personification to better illustrate the twist of fate that happens when Rensei asked for forgiveness for killing Atsumori. "So Atsumori fell and was slain, but the Wheel of Fate/ Has turned and brought him back" (231-232). Even though Rensei killed Atsumori, repenting and wishing Atsumori well created a twist of fate that allowed Atsumori to come back, and be at peace. The Wheel of Fate is neither a concrete object nor anything that could have a will of its own, but it is the deciding factor in Atsumori's survival.
Symbolism is another literary device used to express Motokiyo's theme of forgiveness and acceptance. "They shall be reborn together/ On one lotus seat" (238-239). This phrase contains the symbol of the lotus, which is a very important flower to Buddhists. Atsumori and Rensei are not being physically born again, but they are beginning a new part of their lives in harmony with each other. This "rebirth" symbolizes the shift in the course of their lives, and lets the reader know that it is a change for the better. This could also refer to enlightenment.
The play Atsumori by Seami Motokiyo has a central theme of forgiveness and acceptance. Motokiyo uses repetition, personification, and symbolism to convey his message.

Chinese Literature Assignment

Liz Roepke
Peifer 4
English 10 IB
April 20, 2009

"Written in Behalf of My Wife" by Li Po

In Li Po's "Written in Behalf of My Wife," his purpose is to entertain and inform the reader how much he loves his wife. He achieves this by using dramatic imagery and metaphors about nature. Li Po's Taoist philosophy is shown in the images if and comparisons about nature. By comparing natural occurrences to his love, Li Po implies that his affection is natural, almost like destiny.
The images created by Li Po's writing are vivid and evocative. They are mainly used to compare nature to Li Po's love: " My thoughts that follow you in your wanderings/ Are as interminable as the stream" (Li Po 3-4). Other images like the moon, plants, and animals, create a mood of tranquility and harmony with nature. Harmony with nature is a central Taoist value. This poem emanates this value by comparing love to nature. It hints that Li Po's love is not returned. " I cry for the absence of my beloved" (Li Po ).
Li Po uses natural metaphors to describe himself and his wife. "I am like a peach tree at the bottom of a well…/ You are like the moon high in the sky" (Li Po 24,26). This quote shows how the author compared himself to a tree in a well to show that he is out of place without her love, and that his wife seems as distant as the moon. It also follows with the concept that it is natural that they should love each other, but it would be absurd for them to be separated.

As You Like It LRJ #5

Liz Roepke
Peifer 4
English 10 IB
17 March 2009

As You Like It LRJ #5

In Act Five, Ganymede is revealed as Rosalind, and Aliena as Celia. Rosalind becomes Orlando's wife, and can stop pretending to be Ganymede. She also speaks with her father and declares herself as his daughter.
Rosalind remains in the Forest of Arden, but disappears for a time while she changes from being Ganymede to Rosalind. She does not sneak around and hide in this Act, which is comparable to how she reveals herself as who she truly is, and does not hide behind the mask of Ganymede anymore.
In the final Act, Rosalind gets what she desires. She is married to Orlando, she is reunited with her father, and her and Celia remain best friends. Her main goal in this Act is to make it known that she is Rosalind. This goes against her goals in the other four Acts, in which she wanted to conceal her identity. To marry Orlando, she tells him that they will be married if he wants to. "I'll have no husband, if you be not he" (5.4.127). To bring to light who she really is, Rosalind as Ganymede leaves with Aliena as Celia, then re-enters as herself.
Rosalind and Celia, as ever, are best friends and cousins, and now sisters-in-law as well. Orlando and Rosalind are finally married. Rosalind makes it known that she is Duke Senior's daughter as well. "I'll have no father, if you be not he" (5.4.126).

As You Like It LRJ #4

Liz Roepke
Peifer 4
English 10 IB
17 March 2009

As You Like It LRJ #4

In Act Four, Rosalind continues to be Orlando's mentor. Ganymede is loved by Phoebe, and continues helping Silvius with her. Rosalind and Celia are still best friends.
Rosalind is in the Forest of Arden, testing Orlando's abilities to love her. She hears from Oliver that Orlando did not come to her because he saved Oliver from a lioness attack. Earlier, Rosalind is with Silvius reading a letter from Phoebe and twisting it so that Phoebe sounded cruel. This could have been to try and convince Silvius that it was not good to love someone who could be so mean. "Mark how the tyrant writes" (4.3.42).
Rosalind's goals in Act Four are to be sure that Orlando loves her, help Silvius get over Phoebe, and keep everyone thinking that she really is a boy. To accomplish the first, she makes Orlando pretend that Ganymede is Rosalind. For the second, Rosalind reads Phoebe's letter to Silvius and acts as if it is mean and harsh, even though it is a love letter. To try keep her alias as Ganymede believable, Rosalind tries to convince that she faked fainting to be more manly, even though she was just distressed by the bloody napkin. "I pray you commend my counterfeiting to him" (4.3.192). Rosalind wants Orlando to know how manly Ganymede is because how well he can fake swooning.
Rosalind's relationships are ever more complex in Act Four. Her and Celia and best friends as always, and as Ganymede and Aliena they are siblings. Ganymede and Oliver are friends now, and Ganymede is still mentoring Orlando and Silvius. Phoebe still loves Ganymede, which causes problems between them and Silvius.

As You Like It LRJ #3

Liz Roepke
Peifer 4
English 10 IB
17 March 2009

As You Like It LRJ #3

In Act Three, Rosalind keeps up her character of Ganymede, and becomes a love counselor to Orlando and Silvius. Her and Celia are still best friends, and brother and sister as Ganymede and Aliena.
Again, in this Act, Rosalind is in the Forest. She reads the poems written for her by Orlando, wondering who the author is. She waits for Orlando to come to her for their counseling session, and is distraught when he is late. When Rosalind, Celia, and Touchstone see Silvius wooing Phoebe, they hide in the background so as not to disturb them in their talk. Eventually however, Rosalind comes into view and tries to help Silvius by telling Phoebe that she should accept his love.
Rosalind wants to make sure Orlando really loves her, so she makes him pretend that her as Ganymede is really Rosalind to see how he acts around who he thinks is his love. Rosalind also wants to help Silvius, so she tries to convince Phoebe that Silvius is truly in love with her. "Cry the man mercy, love him, take his offer" (3.5.66).
Rosalind and Celia are still vest friends, and they are still known as Ganymede and Aliena. Ganymede is still siblings with Aliena. Ganymede begins to teach Orlando about the ways of love, and Silvius about how he should keep pursuing Phoebe. In the process of trying to convince Phoebe to love Silvius, Ganymede becomes who Phoebe loves instead. Rosalind's relationships with the other characters become more and more complex as the play progresses.

As You Like It LRJ #2

Liz Roepke
Peifer 4
English 10 IB
17 March 2009

As You Like It LRJ #2

In Act Two, Rosalind becomes known as Ganymede, the young man who is traveling with his sister Aliena (Celia). “He” protects her and escorts her through the Forest of Arden. They both need to be concealed for who they really are because they do not want Duke Frederick’s henchmen to find Celia.
Arriving in the Forest of Arden with Celia and Touchstone, she immediately sees Silvius and Corin. The three travelers step into the background so they will not disturb the others. In the Forest, there are many more places to hide, making it ideal for listening to other people’s conversations “Rosalind, Celia, and Touchstone step aside to eavesdrop” (2.4.SD).
Rosalind (as Ganymede) and Celia (as Aliena) talk to Corin about buying the cottage and its pastures. “I pray thee, if it stand with honesty, buy thou thy cottage, pasture, and the flock, and thou shalt have to pay for it of us.” (2.4.95-96). This shows that they will be staying there for a while instead of just passing through. It also helps set up the pretense that they are shepherds. This action reinforces the aliases of Ganymede and Aliena, making them more believable characters. Their goal of running away and settling down in a new place is beginning to be achieved. To realize these goals, Rosalind buys the cottage from Corin and pretends she is a shepherd.
The relationships Rosalind has with the other characters have not been changed very much, only added to. Her and Celia are still best friends, but are now brother and sister as well. Rosalind is pretending to be Touchstone’s master as well as just a traveling companion.