Aphorisms In 'The Importance Of Being Ernest'

660 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Jane eyre and victorian marriage

Sudat Khan European Literature pd. 7 Mrs. Huhn The Complexity of a Truth “The truth is rarely pure and never simple. Modern life would be very tedious if it were either, and modern literature a complete impossibility!” Throughout, The Importance of Being Ernest, Oscar Wilde uses aphorisms to convey truths about society. A good example of the above aphorism’s reference to society is in the form of “bunburying”. Algy suspects Jack of being a “Bunburyist”, someone who has a fake story to get out of certain situations. After some pressuring Jack says, “in order [for me] to get up to town I have always pretended to have a younger brother by the name of Ernest, who lives in the Albany, and gets into the most dreadful scrapes. That, my dear Algy, …show more content…

After denying this accusation of being a Bunburyist, Jack announces that he plans to kill off his imaginary brother and his suggestion that Algy do the same with Bunbury. Algy replies, “Nothing will induce me to part with Bunbury, and if you ever get married, which seems to me extremely problematic, you will be very glad to know Bunbury. A man who marries without knowing Bunbury has a very tedious time of it” [Act 1]. In one perspective, this exchange could merely be Wilde continuing to make fun of marriage, and treats the whole Victorian notion of “married bliss” with a kind of humor. However, it initiates the play’s darker subtext. What Wilde, through Algy’s little monologue, suggests is that all husbands in Victorian society lead double lives. Wilde hints that in Victorian society husbands have this double life that make their lives easier, and explaining the truth to their wives would be a lot harder than just making up a fake excuse. In Wilde’s perspective, Jack denying the fact that he is a Bunburyist is what distinguishes him from Algy in a purely moral sense. When, Jack is forced to confess that Ernest was fictional he makes a speech about the pain involved in being forced to speak the truth. Jack explains that once he gets married to Cecily, he won’t need this double life, but Algy disagrees. Jack’s whole story is a good

Show More
Related

  • The Importance of Being Earnest

    797 Words  | 2 Pages

    Oscar Wilde, the writer of The Importance of Being Earnest, celebrated the Victorian Era society while criticizing it in his play. Through his play, he utilized the humorous literary techniques of pun, irony, and satire to comment on the impact of Victorian Era society left on the characters themselves. These comedic literary devices also help to show how the members of this society in the Victorian Era live by a set of unspoken rules that determine politeness, as well as proper etiquette to live by. Wilde uses a pun in the title of the work, as well as in the character personalities. Different types of irony appear in many scenes in the play, to flout the rules of society, as well as mock the intelligence of the upper-class characters, compared to the lower-class characters. Wilde satirizes the rules of the upper-class society of the Victorian Era through the dialogue of the characters. The time period in which these characters live, impacts their daily lives, and their personalities.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Being Ernest's Search For Personal Civility

    1758 Words  | 4 Pages

    Everyone is a Bunburyist in their own unique way. Some are more professional than others, some merely treat their Bunbury 's as a convinces of life, but in one way or another every person has a Bunbury. Like actors, the characters in oscar Wilde 's The Importance of Being Ernest search for personal liberty from their own unique circumstances by role play to fulfill their shallow desires. Algernon pursues personal liberty and amusement through Bunbury, Jack pursues the same through Ernest, and Cecily pursues personal liberty and affection through her self-scripted love life.

    Read More

  • Irony in The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

    383 Words  | 1 Pages

    Irony in The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde The play The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde is full of irony. Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, the protagonists in the play, get themselves into a complicated situation called Bunburyism (as Algernon refers to it). They pretend to be someone that they are not to escape their daily lives. They lie to the women they admire, and eventually the truth is revealed.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Being Earnest By Oscar Wilde

    1272 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...erpreted as dark and significant to the period. The comedy Wilde achieves is at the expense of the characters who are seemingly intelligent adding to the ironic structure that much of the comedy is based on. Many of the comic elements of the play are shown through human reactions to Victorian repression and the effect it has on the men and women of the time. Love seems to be nonexistent within the finds of the fierce and brutal Aristocracy when so many of the qualities they value are not based on human qualities but that of the class’s social norms. Wildes Characters are at often times not subtle about their distaste in marriage and love, Algernon is no exception to this “In aried lie, three is company, two is none” showing that they all have distorted views on many of the social practices that make them morally sound, thus adding to the satire elements of the play.

    Read More

  • Satire in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest

    1998 Words  | 4 Pages

    In conclusion, The Importance of Being Earnest strongly focuses on those of the upper class society and the vanity of the aristocrats who place emphasis on trivial matters concerning marriage. Both Algernon and Jack assume the identity of "Ernest" yet ironically, they both are beginning their marital lives based on deception and lies. Lady Bracknell represents the archetypal aristocrat who forces the concept of a marriage based on wealth or status rather than love. Through farce and exaggeration, Wilde satirically reveals the foolish and trivial matters that the upper class society looks upon as being important. As said earlier, a satiric piece usually has a didactic side to it. In this case, Lady Bracknell learns that the same person she was criticising is actually her own flesh and blood.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Being Earnest

    1120 Words  | 3 Pages

    Every text is an argument to the audience and every argument is influenced by a text and the audience surrounding the author. The Importance of Being Earnest is a play written by Oscar Wilde which was first performed in 1895. The plot centers around the proposal of marriage between Jack Worthing and Gwendolen Bracknell and also the proposal from Jack’s friend and Gwendolen 's cousin Algernon Moncrieff extended towards Jack’s ward, Cecily Cardew. In The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde uses the ideas of his time period, his own background, and absurd comedy to argue that the views of marriage and gender held by those in Victorian Era England are wrong and hypocritical.

    Read More

  • Comic Devices in The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde

    1687 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...es the morality of Victorians by centring the comedy around marriage, which arguably should be a serious religious ceremony, yet Wilde portrays it as a trivial affair, suggesting that he views marriage, or the way people treated it, in a Victorian society as a joke. Also, Wilde uses Lady Bracknell’s haughty comments to create elements of a satire comedy that parodies the upper class society in a Victorian era. Wilde also uses inversions and subversions of gender roles in society to challenge the social order. Through this Wilde exposes the upper class and their morals concerning social matters, therefore it can be said that the purpose of Wilde’s comedy was to educate people of the Victorian society and question their social norms and values.

    Read More

  • The Double Life in The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

    1331 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Importance of Being Earnest appears to be a conventional 19th century farce. False identities, prohibited engagements, domineering mothers, lost children are typical of almost every farce. However, this is only on the surface in Wilde's play. His parody works at two levels- on the one hand he ridicules the manners of the high society and on the other he satirises the human condition in general. The characters in The Importance of Being Earnest assume false identities in order to achieve their goals but do not interfere with the others' lives. The double life led by Algernon, Jack, and Cecily (through her diary) is simply another means by which they liberate themselves from the repressive norms of society. They have the freedom to create themselves and use their double identities to give themselves the opportunity to show opposite sides of their characters. They mock every custom of the society and challenge its values. This creates not only the comic effect of the play but also makes the audience think of the serious things of life.

    Read More

  • Ernest Moncrieff

    1214 Words  | 3 Pages

    Just as Jack Worthing’s existence is circumstantial, his true identity, Ernest Moncrieff, arises from happenstance. Through the action of Act III, which enlightens the bizarre events of Jack’s “birth” from a handbag in a coatroom, Jack gradually takes on the trimmings of the well-connected and desirable Ernest Moncrieff. Jack Worthing no longer requires the trappings of an established family, such as respectable names, which arise from the sacraments of strategic and extravagant marriage and baptism. As Miss Prism points out, Lady Bracknell is best able to reveal Jack’s identity, and, his true family connections and name (53). After explaining that Jack is the eldest son of the Moncrieff family, Lady Bracknell remembers that Jack was indeed christened as his father’s namesake. Citing the relevant military directory, Jack discovers his father was indeed Ernest (54). With this revelation, Jack claims his position as a member of the wealthy, respected Moncrieff family, without a marriage or baptism. Because his Christian and family names now hold social relevance, he no longer has to resort to the manipulation of church institutions in order to meet these collective requirements. This sequence further displays Wilde’s insistence that the imposed social value associated with names relies only on circumstance and is far from substantial evidence of

    Read More

  • roosevelt

    658 Words  | 2 Pages

    Oscar Wilde establishes a difference between Jack and Algernon by creating a spoof on Jacks masculinity, through Algernon’s dandyish nature and by giving each of them certain characteristics.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Being Earnest Marriage Theme Analysis

    1070 Words  | 3 Pages

    Both Algernon and Jack assume the identity of "Ernest" yet ironically, they both plan on starting their married life with a lie. Lady Bracknell represents the typical aristocrat who focuses the idea of marriage on social and economic status. She believes that if the men trying to marry these girls are not of proper background, there is to be no engagement. Through this major exaggeration, Wilde satirically reveals the irrational and insignificant matters that the upper class society uses to view

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Being Earnest Analysis

    1184 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wilde’s criticism of high society and manners are explored through the characteristics of Lady Bracknell; the dialogue between Gwendolen and Cecily; and the characteristics of Jack in the country. Wilde’s criticism of high society and manners is shown by creating absurd situations and characters whose lack of insight causes them to respond in an inappropriate manner. An example is shown in Lady Bracknell’s preoccupation with her own parties and that the lack of sympathy for invalids makes her react to the news of Bunbury’s illness in an exaggeratedly cold manner. “I think it is high time that Mr Bunbury made up his mind whether he was going to live or die. I should be much obliged if you would ask Mr Bunbury, from me, to be kind enough not to have a relapse on Saturday, for I rely on you to arrange my music for me”.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Being Ernest Research Paper

    545 Words  | 2 Pages

    When Jack was first caught in his lie he awkwardly says “Gwendolen- Cecily- it is very painful for me to to forced to speak the truth...I will tell you quite frankly that I have no brother Earnest.” (Wilde Act II. Scene 1. Line 6). This embarrassing confession is Wilde’s way of making a point: that living a double life almost always ends up terribly awkward and inconvenient. Lies become exposed more often than they remain

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Being Earnest Humour Essay

    606 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Importance of Being Earnest is a comedic play, bringing humor to readers through sarcastic and witty words, ironic situations, and foolish ideals. Jack, best friend of Algernon, guardian to Cecily, and respected man of Hertfordshire, is surrounded by humorous situations and people. Jack himself creates a comical situation through his scapegoat, Ernest, who has a lady in love with him. Oscar Wilde fabricated the classic and very humorous play, The Importance of Being Earnest, through cucumber sandwiches and an engagement, a man with a double life, and a naive girl who has fallen in love with an imaginary man.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Being Ernest

    985 Words  | 2 Pages

    Whether told through plays in front of an audience; stories before bedtime; or even jokes over a glass of beer, comedy as a literary form has existed for thousands of years and will continue its influence over cultures all over the world for thousands of years to come. Comedy has taken many forms, with some even defining certain eras in comedic literature. For example, most comedy of manners are directly aimed at making fun of the hypocritical aristocrats of 19th century England. One of these works, The Importance of Being Earnest, derives almost all of its comedy from the ridiculing and exposing the societal characteristics of the upper class.

    Read More

More about Aphorisms In 'The Importance Of Being Ernest'

Open Document