How Does Oscar Wilde Create A Satire In The Tea Party
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Assignment 1
The play, Tea Party, written by Betty Keller is an incredible story of two lonely elderly women. The reader is given a detailed account of how Alma and Hester prepare for the arrival of the paper boy; it is his day to collect the money for their monthly subscription. This drama is very short, but has a powerful impact on the audience, and gives explicit details of the loneliness of the two sisters. The preparations they make are very detailed as they wait in hope the paper boy will come by and be coaxed inside to visit for a minute. They are preoccupied with the perpetrations and selecting a memory they will share when the paper boy arrives. They are concerned the previous paper boy told the current one of their need for companionship.…show more content… Wilde’s play dramatizes the superficial ideas of the English upper class and exaggerates the trivial concerns as major issues. Wilde focus on the ridiculous rituals of selecting a suitable marriage agreement for their daughters, and used the interview for marriage as a way to use the literary device, satirical humor to exaggerate the trivial ideas of contractual marriage.
I think Oscar Wilde’s play was original in its day, and the story line is not predicable. While reading the play I thought that Jack and Gwendolen would not get married but would have an affair especially after Gwendolen’s remarks in act 1. “Ernest, we may never be married. From the expression on mamma’s face I fear we never shall.” (Wilde Act) Wilde does not seem to consider the English to be decent people, it would seem he considers them to be pretentious, gullible, and shallow. Mrs. Bracknell is a stock character, she represent the ideal of the Victorian woman who is eager to provide the best possible marriage contract for her daughter. She is the stereotypical woman who is the matriarchal head of the house who is arrogant and ruthless and will go to any extreme to get what she wants. Mrs. Bracknell reminds me of Lady Catherine de Bourgh from Pride and Prejudice. I think Oscar Wilde is pointing out that while these women are strong willed and powerful they are also very lonely and bitter old