Is The Importance of Being Earnest a sentimental comedy?

Sentimental Drama - both sentimental tragedy and comedy -
finds its origin in the reaction against the obscenity of the Restoration Comedy of
Manners. The obscenity in the Restoration Comedy of Manners was itself due to its being
a reaction against the Puritanism of the Commonwealth of Oliver
Cromwell.

"Sentiment" would of course mean 'excess of
emotion.' Sentimental drama was characterized by scenes which were meant to evoke
excessive pity -  a helpless widow with many children, a reconciliation scene between a
repentant son and a magnanimous father, a reformed husband being reunited with his
wife.

Richard Steele's (1672-1729) "The Conscious Lovers"
(1722) is a typical example of Sentimental Comedy whereas George Lillo's (1693-1739)
 "The London Merchant" (1731) is a typical example of a Sentimental
Tragedy.

For a certain period of time Sentimental Drama was
popular, but soon people got tired of it and the Comedy of Manners which had become
unpopular because of the advent of the Sentimental Drama was revived in the 18th century
by Goldsmith (1728-74) and Sheridan (1751-1816). Both these dramatists took care to keep
their plays free of the obscenity which was the reason for the Restoration Comedy of
Manners becoming unpopular. The 18th Century Comedy of Manners is different from the
Restoration Comedy of Manners in that it is not obscene. It is a sanitized version of
the obscene Restoration Comedy of Manners. After Sheridan and Goldsmith there was no one
to continue the tradition of the Comedy of Manners.

The
tradition of the Comedy of Manners had to wait till the arrival on the scene of Oscar
Wilde (1854-1900) to be revived again. The plays of Oscar Wilde follow all the
conventions of the traditional Comedy of Manners plays. They are famous for their
intricate plots and Wilde's unique brand
of epigrammatic wit.

Wilde's plays belong to the Comedy of
Manners genre.

THEY ARE ANTI
SENTIMENTAL DRAMA.

Melodrama
(Greek, melos - music and French, drame - drama) is a particular  type of drama which is
characterised by extreme exaggeration. Melodrama became popular only from the 18th
century onwards and it was always accompanied by orchestral music or
song.

The Comedy of Manners became popular as early as the
Restoration in 1660. The Sentimental Comedy which has melodramatic - exaggerated and
difficult to accept as genuine and sincere -  scenes and characters originated only
after 1700. Sentimental Drama has no orchestral musical
accompaniment.