Algernon Satire

The Importance of Being Earnest, a farcical satire written by Oscar Wilde in 1895, is a play that aims to point out the absurdity and hypocrisy of Victorian culture while, of course, making the audience laugh. It achieves this goal thanks to an assortment of bizarre yet dynamic characters. Easily the most intriguing of these characters is Algernon Moncrieff, a wealthy, narcissistic socialite who is friends with the main protagonist, Jack Worthing. Algernon makes the play much more entertaining with his witty dialogue and unique views on life and society, but what makes him the most interesting character of all is his role in the play from a literary analysis perspective. Algernon fits the description of the “dandy” archetype that is common

As a dandy, Algernon’s wealth and social status grant him the privilege of being able to avoid his responsibilities and obligations without any serious consequences. He does this by creating the fictional character of Bunbury, an invalid friend of his who he must attend to regularly, conveniently whenever he has a commitment he does not wish to fulfill. This practice allows Algernon to live a sort of alternate life, which is another parallel to Wilde. For a long time, Wilde, thanks to his wealth, was active in the homosexual community of Britain, despite such sexually deviant behavior being criminalized at the time. Algernon’s “Bunburyism” is an example of how in Victorian society, the upper class was able to ignore many of their responsibilities thanks to their wealth and social status. This can be interpreted as a criticism of the elites of British society, essentially an attempt to paint them as irresponsible and arrogant (two words that certainly apply to Algernon). However, it could also be argued that through his disregard for his commitments and social obligations, Algernon is rebelling against the status quo in order to maximize his own happiness, like a true dandy

As the dandy of the story, he fights the system he so harshly condemns from the inside, indulging in the superficial aristocracy he finds himself a member of and, in the process, exposes the sheer hypocrisy and phoniness of his peers - all while having a jolly old time. This is precisely what Oscar Wilde did through his literature, and Algernon is a prime example of the irreverence and aestheticism that defined much of Wilde’s