The Importance Of Being Earnest By Oscar Wilde And...

Oscar Wilde was a 19th century poet and playwright, well known for works such as The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest. One of Wilde’s famous quotes claims that, according to history, disobedience is a valuable human trait that promotes social progress. Disobedience is defined as the refusal to obey rules or someone in authority; in society, it is fueled by the free will of the people and their desire for freedom and justice. There have been both altruistic and malevolent leaders at every point in history, as well as those who follow them peacefully, or stage a rebellion. The ability to disagree with one’s government and to act upon this discontent is the core skill of the people when attempting to dethrone†¦show more content†¦Prior to her act of defiance, Park was active in the civil rights organization, the NAACP, so she fully knew the personal and political consequences of her decision. Disobeying the Jim Crow laws nonviolently was a key technique in the civil rights movement; in this instance Parks’s rebellion resulted in her being arrested and fined. In both the civil rights movement and the holocaust, laws were put in place to put one group of people unfairly above another. Through perseverance and courage, people have fought against the law and those enforcing it, to create racial tolerance in society. Some may think that disobedience is a dangerous action because laws are in place for protection and guidance, and if they are broken, then society would be damaged. In many cases, the damage is obvious, such as with the Las Vegas shooting on October 1st of this year. Over 600 people were injured or killed by a man who decided that the law, and all of the people that he hurt, didnt matter. One could argue that violence is the inevitable outcome of people thinking that obeying the law is conditional. However, applying this assumption to every situation would be unreasonable; breaking the law may heal so ciety, instead of harming it, such as when someone kills an attacker in self defense. There will always be those who break the law for selfish reasons, but to make it impossible for anyone to ever break any laws would require the absence of all freedom; it is necessary forShow MoreRelatedGender and Class in Oscar Wildes Play1575 Words   |  6 PagesGender and Class in Oscar Wilde’s Play A Marxist critic uses an approach that treats literary texts as material products describing them in broadly historical terms. In Marxist criticism, the text is viewed in terms of its production and consumption, as a product of work that does identifiable cultural work of its own (Chaucer, 297). Gender, is in other words, a construct, an effect of language, culture and its institutions (Austen, 427). Many gender critics are interested in how a culture constructsRead More Escaping Social Rules in The Importance of Being Earnest Essay2220 Words   |  9 Pagesfreedom, are able to create alternative physical lives. Jack pursues a double life due to the pressures of rural, family responsibility. Algy does the same due to the authoritarian influences of his relatives and his financial troubles. The Importance of Being Earnest was written in the tradition of the well-made play, fast paced and almost farcical plays peopled by stock characters, as described by Peter Raby; two pairs of young romantic lovers, a pair of older grotesques, separated orphan brothers