Question

In The Importance of Being Earnest, what is the function of the characters of Miss Prism and Chasuble?

Copy/paste/[fill-in]: In The Importance of Being Earnest, the function of the characters of Miss Prism and Chasuble is to [...]. Take Miss Prism, for example; she [...]. Meanwhile, Chasuble [...]. This shows the characters were included in order to [...].

Answer 1

In The Importance of Being Earnest, the function of the characters of Miss Prism and Chasuble is to provide comedic relief and highlight the absurdity of society's conventions.

Take Miss Prism, for example; she is a governess who is preoccupied with writing romantic novels and is revealed to have a scandalous past involving a baby mix-up. This adds a layer of absurdity to the plot and emphasizes the theme of deception and mistaken identity.

Meanwhile, Chasuble is a bumbling, but well-meaning, clergyman who gets caught up in the characters' ridiculous antics. His character serves to satirize the Victorian clergy and their preoccupation with trivial matters.

This shows the characters were included in order to add humor and satire to the play and to highlight the hypocrisy and triviality of the society in which the characters live.