On Absurdity and Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest is, without a doubt, a premiere example of the comedic genre of the "comedy of manners." The key component of these works is the satirization of high society's manners and social norms. Oscar Wilde's Earnest, however, goes above and beyond what is expected of such a work by not only satirizing such manners, but introducing other species of comedy through the manipulation of those manners. The character of Algernon, for example, provides a willfully mischievous influence on the events of the play. Algy's frequent quips and attempts to irritate his opposite, Jack, serve to elicit humor from situations in which a well-mannered character would not do. Furthermore, Wilde's plot goes far beyond what would normally be expected of a comedy of manners. The usual comedy of manners' plot is primarily the result of mistakes made by the characters for the sake of manners. But in this case, much of the plot is driven either by the characters absolute absurdity (e.g. Gwendolen's attachment to the name Ernest) or to the ludicrous circumstances themselves (e.g. Jack having been "born" in a handbag). These elements all eventually collide in the end, as we are given an utterly absurd ending wherein Jack discovers he is not only Algy's brother, but that his true name was, in fact, Ernest the whole time.

Ernest was, in all honesty, one of the funniest works I have ever read, and I owe this to my love of comedy which perfectly mixes the absurd with the painfully mundane. Many works, modern or otherwise, exemplify such a sense of humor, but I find the example that comes to mind most readily is an anime titled Nichijou. For context, Nichijou is typically classified as part of the "Slice of life" genre of anime, a comedic genre much like our sitcoms, wherein the comedy is mostly drawn from the humorous interactions of the characters, who lead largely normal and relateable lives. Nichijou, however, veers towards the absurd in its treatment of the genre - while the setting and basic character interactions in the show are hardly unusual, surreal or even science-fictional elements rear their heads at unexpected times. One group of characters who command large amounts of screentime, for example, is composed of an eight-year old scientist referred to only as Professor, her robotic guardian, and their talking cat. Despite the absurd details of the characters, they lead mostly normal lives, and their interactions tend to reflect this.

Humor is, as always, difficult to explain but easy to recognize. Here's a clip that I think exemplifies the general style of Nichijou's humor. Enjoy.