文档介绍：A Farce for Art’s Sake
—A study on Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest
(师范学院外语系李逸雅)
(学号: 2002122161)
Acknowledgements
It is a great pleasure to give my sincere gratefulness to the people who helped me prepare this
dissertation.
First and foremost, my heartfelt gratitude goes to my supervisor, Miss Gao, whose guidance, expertise,
encouragement provided an important support in writing and revising this paper. She was so patient in
revising my thesis that my thanks to her could never be enough.
Secondly my sincere thanks go to the faculty of English Department of Normal College, Shenzhen
University. I particularly wish to thank Professor Jiang Daochao, Professor Xu Wenbo, Miss Qian Bing, Mr.
Li Guangxi, Mr. Wang Hui and Robert. They gave me endless help and guidance during my four years of
undergraduate study.
There are other people who offered me help in finishing my paper. I owe my thanks to their kind support.
【Abstract】An Irish-born writer and wit, Oscar Wilde is one of the four peaks in the history of English
drama, with the other three Shakespeare, Ben Johnson and Sheridan. He is the chief proponent of the
aesthetic movement, upholding the principle of “Art for Art’s Sake”. Among all edies, The
Importance of Being Earnest is considered by critics as the edy of modern times.
Major critic attention has been attracted by edic effect of The Importance of Being Earnest,
especially that of the dialogue. Few have explored Wilde’s philosophical ideas incorporated in this play. This
paper aims to explore Wilde’s aesthetic philosophy “Art for Art’s Sake” reflected in The Importance of Being
Earnest from three aspects—the typical Wildean protagonists, the nonsensical dialogue, and the artificial
plot, in the hope that it can contribute to the further studies on Oscar Wilde’s plays and his aesthetic
philosophy.
【Key words】 Oscar Wilde, farce, Art for Art’s Sake
【摘要】奥斯卡·王尔德是英国文学史上久负盛名的剧作家,与莎士比亚、本·