In The Importance of Being Earnest I mainly respond to witty
exchanges, improbable plot, and puns. My favorite pun from Act 1 was when Jack
said, “It is very vulgar to talk like a dentist when one isn't a dentist. It
produces a false impression.” Hahaha
impression… I also thought that Jack being found in a handbag and that
Gwendolen wouldn't love Jack if his name weren't Ernest were funny because they
were so ridiculous. A couple other parts I found humorous were, “Really if the
lower orders don’t set us a good example what on earth is the use of them?”(2)
and when Cecily said that she felt instinctively that Miss Prism had a headache
(35).
A modern example of humor that I respond to is Modern
Family. The witty exchanges, irony, and exaggeration in Modern Family are what
I find funny. The characters often find themselves in ironic situations and
tend to exaggerate them making it extremely hilarious. All of the characters
are funny in their own way and the show tends to have me cracking up.
I also respond mostly to the witty word play exchanges in the play. The back and forth between Algy and Jack over the cigarette case was quite enjoyable, not only in their verbal combat, but also in the physical antics of Jack chasing Algy around the room. My favorite piece of humor from the play was the situational irony surrounding Jack and his name. He spent the beginning of the play pretending to be Earnest and being engaged to a woman who wanted to be married to an Earnest, and shortly after he is found to be Jack, it is revealed that he was truly Earnest all along.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite modern comedies are Talladega Nights and the Ballad of Ricky Bobby and How I Met your Mother. Talladega Nights employs lots of situational humor. It lacks much mental stimulation, but it’s still hilarious. How I met your other on the other hand employs humor with somewhat more intellectual value. The characters are all close friends so they play off each other really well. Much of the humor is still situational, but it is more of situational irony than slapstick comedy.
I love Modern Family as well! I think witty and sarcastic comedy is my favorite. As well as spongebob because of the sarcasm and the critique on society that it hide in the plot.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite part of the play was when Jack and Algernon are talking about marrying and the romanticism in being in love. especially on page 4 when Jack is saying he came to propose to Gwendolen and Algernon replies "I thought you came up for pleasure... I call that buissines.". As you all stated I also responded to the witty exchanges in the play. Another part that I like was between Gwendolen and Cecily get into a spat with each other when they are saying things like "I had no idea flowers were so common in the country."
I thought this was very funny as well. We have the same sense of humor, as I think modern family is funny as well. Modern family relies a lot On dramatic irony as we often know a lot that the actors don't, which makes it a lot funnier. I can think of many times when the two married men are feuding and one is trying to cover up sometning tnat the other did, and we know but the other man does not. This is often used in IoBE as well. Primarily it is used when Jack's brother "dies" a he "mourns him" but then algernon acts like he is Jack's brother, and jack blurts out that he does not have a brother. They think he is just in denial but we actually Know he doesn't and this made me crack up.
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