The Importance of Being Earnest is funny, but is it a comedy? If so, what type of comedy? The Importance of Being Earnest is a farcical comedy, and this essay will show it through the definition of comedy, the definition of farce, and the different areas of comedy. To be considered a comedy, there are five requirements a play has to fulfill. One of the requirements is that the subject of the play is treated lightly even if the subject is serious. Throughout the play, mannerisms, status, and marriage are treated as light subjects, when in real life they are quite serious. The light manner in which these subjects are referred to makes audiences laugh and think about these things in their own life, which fulfills the second requirement. It is very probable and possible for young men to invent friends or brothers as an excuse to get out of an unwanted engagement and this probability and possibility fulfill the third requirement. The characters themselves are humorous, which makes the situations they get into all the more comical. The characters are realistic and easy to imagine existing in the real world. The Importance of Being Earnest is a comedy because it fulfills all five requirements.
             The Importance of Being Earnest is a farcical comedy. This is because Oscar Wilde used the lowest levels of comedy to write this play. The main levels he used were a plot device and verbal wit. Wilde focuses on these two levels, staying away from the other levels. There are two levels that are lower, obscenity and physical mishap. Then there are two higher levels, inconsistencies of character and comedy of ideas and satire. Wilde does not venture to the other levels, rather using only two levels to portray the comedy in the play. Wilde's use of farce, or low comedy, shows how The Importance of Being Earnest is a farcical comedy.
             The Importance of Being Earnest fits into two areas of comedy. One of these areas is plot devices, and...