Pages of a novel : July 2012

Soooo today I wasn't planning on going QUT open day but then parents made me since it's only a ten minute walk away from my house :x I was planning on doing english and chem :\ Didn't actually do either, I only 'decided' on my poems and like rewrote my journal, thats it. This is really scaring me, I'm so chill about everything its scaring me quite a bit. I feel as though everything will be alright no matter what happens ._. Dude omg today when I went to the open day I realised I was too scared to ask the people for information. Last time I told Natsuki I was to scared to go post things at the post office by myself, she laughed, because she said I could speak english yet I was scared. T_T I'm so chicken, I don't even know why. In the end, my forced me to go ask, well she approached the lady first and started talking about how i'm shy etc = = so obviously I had to take over and save myself.

Went to the law section :3 Considering doing law despite the fact that I might find it hard to find jobs? :\ I don't know. I'm still thinking. To be really honest, I don't think I'll make it to med. I didn't want to be one of those who gave up on their own dreams quickly but.. :\ Now i'm just giving myself excuses for everything. Went home afterwards and then everything sucked really bad cause yeah. This is so really random but yesterday I burned myself o_o somehow on this hot plate thingyo.

At night I had golden daytime again :3 Yeah yeah yeah food is life. Oh... and just before I showered I tried on this BB cream I bought in Japan. It was originally going to be a birthday present for whoever I thought would want it, but I've never owned a BB cream so I got slightly curious + the packaging looked pretty. Well mainly jennifer & I were talking about BB cream and foundation last time and she said it would be hard to apply concealer/foundation well etc and i was telling her how I had BB cream.

She told me to test if it matched my face colour o-o Well I can't really tell but yeah, here is a picture. Haha oh and I successfully put eyeliner on one eye ( well in my opinion successful) but mum just stared. Usually I poke myself or the colour doesn't evens how up when I get bored and do it at home. I scab from mums makeup (Y) So much effort though.. so I only did one eye.

o_o creepy difference in skin colour after I moved the camera. I look like a dead person on the left LOL

I shouldn't be wasting time, every time I climb back to the top something drops again. Yup being misleading aren't I? Well thats all of the ravings of a crazy person for today :s I'll go do Jap homework to make myself feel better :\ Need to hardcore pull my marks up. WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY. I'm being serious here, somebody please please please slap me, not even kidding.

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SATIRE INSPIRING MORE THAN JUST A LAUGH

Through evoking laughter, the ability of satire to remedy human weaknesses and follies inspire us to wonder, is satire more than just trivial comedy? PENNY CHEN

Somewhere between a hilarious ridicule and a savage swordplay against human failings, lies the sharp needle of satire, a stinging antidote to the poisons of society. More often than enough, we as humans are happy to reside in our little bubble of oblivion, blind to the very ugliness of our human nature. In essence, it is satire, with all its witty quips and biting humour that seeks to mend the fragmented shards of a society.

A brilliant combination of both wit and intellectual farce, Oscar Wilde’s The importance of being Earnest can be described as a satirical masterpiece of the 19^th century. However, beneath the exterior of a humourous Victorian melodrama lies more than just a comedic duel of euphemisms.

Exploring the social norms of Victorian England, the trivialization of sacred institutions such as marriage is a prominent theme in Wilde’s play. Composed earlier, is Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, which also scorns such a weakness in the society of Regency England. Marriage is ironically not a commitment of love, but rather a way for an individual to get what they want.

You might think them silly, but before scorning, think again my dear friend. For even in our society today, there is an astonishing 46% of new marriages which end in divorce. Who’s to say we are any better in terms of commitment?

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu once said, “Satire should, like a polished razor keen, wound with a touch that’s scarcely felt or seen”. Conforming to the conventions of the gentle Horation satire, Oscar Wilde’s The importance of being Earnest subtly criticizes through ridicule. Gender roles are reversed and it is the female characters who take charge of their own love lives while men

herded around like sheep, happy to contend with the wishes of their partner.

Pictured: Jack and Gwendolen; Algernon and Cecily

Superficiality at its best, Gwendolen Fairfax is a silly and shallow character whose engagement is all about her ideal to “love someone of the name Ernest”. Such a narrow-minded obsession is thoroughly exposed when she insists even that prior to her acquaintance with Jack she had been “far from indifferent” to him.

Supposedly head-over-heels in love with a man whom she believes to be called Ernest, one cannot help but chuckle at such absurdity. Simultaneously, we learn of Wilde’s disdain towards the superficiality of marriages in Victorian England.

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice starts off with a curious statement, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife”. However, from delving into the historical setting of the novel, we must note that ironically, the reverse appears to be more applicable. Women of the 18^th century it seemed, were expected to find themselves a partner to which marriage would prove financially beneficial.

For Charlotte Lucas, being the age of 27 and “without having ever been handsome”, marriage had “always been her object” as it was the “only provision for well-educated young women of small fortune”. Her marriage to the ridiculous Mr. Collins was based “solely from the pure and disinterested desire of an establishment” and to put it bluntly, a mercenary marriage.

Don’t get me wrong, it is not her character at fault but rather, Austen utilizes Charlotte’s dire situation to criticize the family reliance upon a female’s marriage for financial security. Contrary to the opening sentence of Austen’s novel, it is the poor Charlotte who must throw

herself at the buffoon, Mr. Collins, with love not even being close to a contributing factor.

Pictured: Elizabeth, Mr. Collins and Charlotte

Like sharks drawn to blood, there are also those who wait to leech from the benefits of matrimony. Oscar Wilde’s Lady Bracknell is one such character. As Algernon’s domineering and social-climbing aunt, she is at first disinterested in the idea of union between her nephew and Jack’s ward, Cecily.

When broached with questions concerning Cecily’s fortune, Jack casually replies, “Oh, about a hundred and thirty thousand pounds in funds. That is all”. Although understated, this instantly piques the interest of Lady Bracknell who suddenly claims, “Miss Cardew [Cecily] seems to me a most attractive young lady, now that I look at her.”

Anyone possessing even a shred of common sense could tell you that Lady Bracknell’s newfound affection for Cecily was spurred by her interest in the fortune. Ironically, despite the plethora of social mannerisms, being a ‘gold digger’ was considered okay.

Pictured: Algernon, Lady Bracknell and Cecily

Not to fear though, for Lady Bracknell is hardly alone. To the women of the Regency era, it seemed that the word ‘marriage’ had only a nice ring to it. A vulgar and foolish character, Mrs. Bennet from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice possesses only one ambition: to marry her daughters off to wealthy gentlemen.

The marriage of her eldest daughter proved to Mrs. Bennet “a promising thing for her younger daughters, as Jane’s marrying so greatly must throw them in the way of other rich men”. The very example of a burlesque and exaggeration of a social misfit, Mrs. Bennet is Austen’s comical yet controversial criticism of a society that trivializes the true meaning of matrimony.

Laugh as you may, at the outrageous and absurd puppets that depict our own weaknesses and inanity, for in the end it is ultimately the best medicine. We ourselves, have seen the wrongful exploitation of marriage, a match made not out of love but more similar to that of a business deal.

Having chortled at the clever interplay of characters in such satirical texts, it is hardly surprising that we might also feel a little embarrassed. For think about it, if we laughed, we must’ve been able to relate. With the ability to gently poke fun at the flaws whilst encouraging positive change, satire is ridicule with a twist that will always prove invaluable to progressive development.

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