The Importance of Being Earnest is a play with many different themes: marriage and morality to name a few. There’s also an argument to be had regarding the word in the title, “earnest” and what being “earnest” means in this play. For this essay, conduct some preliminary research to decide on a research topic for this essay. You can frame your research historically (what is going on in the time period in which it was written), socially (what were some of the social practices of the time), in terms of feminism—to name a few options. Your research should be within the “framework” of your argument. For instance, if you want to research some of the historical points from this period, you would then integrate that information into your argument. How does some of the historical information impact the play or your interpretation of the play, for example. Research should be done via the library’s website using the databases provided like JSTOR.
