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Theme of double lives in the importance of being earnest
An essay on 'Importance" on Oscar Wilde's Important of being earnest
Gender roles in the Victorian era
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Oscar Wilde’s play, The Importance of Being Earnest, is an entertaining romantic comedy to say the least. Upon first reading the play, one may simply laugh at the silliness and absurdities throughout the piece. Between the mis-identification amongst lovers and the subsequent hijinks that ensues because of it, the amusement of this play never ceases throughout the course of its three acts. However, after deeply examining this text through Richard Hornsby’s approach of isolating the script, treating it as a space-time complex, and analyzing it in detail, I found it to be very clever, insightful and complex. This play is filled with thought-provoking truths about people, society, and the overall functions of the world around us. The lines of this …show more content…
He reveals in the first act that his "name is Ernest in town and Jack in the country..." (Wilde 11). Thus, his associates in town, such as Algernon Moncrieff and girlfriend Gwendolen Fairfax know him as Mr. Ernest Worthing, while his ward Cecily and servants in his country home know him as Jack Worthing. To cover up his “Ernest” persona while in the country, he tells Cecily and his servants that Ernest Worthing is his troubled younger brother. While this use of two names does cause prove to be challenging, Jack’s underlying struggle is that he does not know his family background. He explains to Lady Bracknell, Gwendolen’s mother, that he was found in a handbag, and the old Mr. Cardew raised him and left his will to him. Therefore, he does not know the truth about where he comes from, as Mr. Cardew just gave him the name “Jack Worthing” (Wilde …show more content…
His beloved Gwendolen has a certain affection for the name Ernest and reveals that it one of the factors that makes her inclined to marry him. Jack decides he will have to be re-baptized with the name Ernest in order to solve this problem. However, not knowing the truth of where he comes from becomes critical to Jack’s goals because Lady Bracknell, Gwendolen’s mother, refuses to let him marry her daughter until she knows that he descends from a commendable background. In the first act of the show, Lady Bracknell explains to Jack her concern, "As for the particular locality in which the hand-bag was found, a cloak-room at a railway station might serve to conceal a social indiscretion-- has probably, indeed, been used for that purpose before now--- but it could hardly be regarded as an assured basis for a recognized position in good society" (Wilde 27). She must know Jack’s true background before she will allow the young lovers to marry, which poses a great challenge for Jack, as he has literally no clue where he comes
Jack’s basic desire to apprehend Mr. Harvey causes him to behave irrationally. For instance, when Jack looks out the window one night and sees a “flashlight move in the direction of the fallow cornfield,” he indisputably thinks that Mr. Harvey is the one in the cornfield (136). Based off his unconscious feelings, he instinctually goes out onto the field hoping to confront Mr. Harvey, but instead “he [runs blindly] into Clarissa [Susie’s classmate] knocking her down in the darkness” (139). This causes Brian, Lindsey’s boyfriend, to assault him. This is an example of how Jack acts based on his id, which overpowers his superego, which leads to him getting hurt as a result of his behaviour. Moreover, Abigail’s desire to spend time with Len causes her to be unfaithful to her husband: “They were whispers calling her away from me, from her family and from her grief. She followed with her body” (196). Since Abigail is unable to see the reality of the situation, she behaves according to her id and against all her morals through the act of kissing Len. Abigail thinks that this temporary gratification, would cast out all the grief she has for Susie. Altogether, these desires and fears bring unconscious feelings to surface, governing their behaviours and consequently resulting in a lack of connection in different
However, in the second act, it is revealed that he does not have a brother. Shockingly, it turns out Jack does have a brother and it is none other than Algernon! I am afraid that the news I have to give you will not altogether please you. You are the son of my poor sister, Mrs. Moncrieff, and consequently Algernon’s elder
White Noise gives us an inside look into the life of Jack Gladney, showing readers that there is a Jack in every family, and maybe a little bit in everyone. Jack is a professor at the College-on-the-hill in Blacksmith, he teaches Hitler studies-an area of education that he created, partly because of his disturbing obsession with the man himself. Adding to Jacks obsession “the chancellor at the school felt, that in order for his students to take him seriously he suggested, that Jack grow into Hitler-by changing parts of his identity, and changing his name from Jack Gladney, to J.A.K Gladney” (16-17). Of course, this was only when Jack is teaching, at home he is himself, a family man. Jack’s personal life is something, unfortunately, the majority of people can relate to in today‘s society. Jack was married three times before marrying Babette-who was married previously herself, has a daughter, Denise, from her pervious marriage, and Wilder is Jacks son. Unlike Jacks previous wives Tweedy Bonner- who is the mother of Jacks daughter Bee, and worked in intelligence, Dana Breedlove-who...
In the Victorian era, courtship rituals were slightly different from modern time courtships. It started with couples speaking first, going out together, and finally they would keep each other company after mutual attraction was confirmed. The character Jack, in all his seriousness, refutes these rituals. Gwendolyn says “I adore you. But you haven’t proposed to me yet. Nothing has been said at all about marriage. The subject has not even been touched on.” (Wilde, 622) This shows that Jack is ignoring the stages of courting and jumping right into marriage. Wilde is certainly satirically commenting on courting and how there really just has to be a mutual attraction. Upon Gwendolyn’s acceptance of his proposal, the problems with different social affairs begin to be unraveled. Gwendolyn says “I am told; and my ideal has always been to love some one of the name of Ernest. There is something in that name that inspires absolute confidence…” (Wilde, 622) In fact, Ernest's love for Gwendolyn seems rather arbitrary while Gwendolyn indirectly admits that she loves Ernest only for his name. This just adds to the satirizing of courtship because the girl only will marry him because he has the name Ernest.
He marries a woman named Vivian. Vivian soon leaves Jack when she is pregnant. Later, Jack sees his daughter and goes home with her. Jack’s granddaughter calls him poppynoodle and loves Jack. Jack also loves his family and this is instrumental because this is his first actual family.
Similarly, in “The Importance of Being Earnest”, Jack and Algernon both begin their marital lives based on deception and lies. As a matter of fact, Gwendolen and Algernon both know Jack as Ernest. When Jack proposes to Gwendolen, she becomes overly attached to the idea of marrying someone called Ernest. Gwendolen exclaims: “My ideal has always been to love someone of the name Ernest/There is something in that name that inspires absolute confidence/It is a divine name/It has a music of its own/It produces vibrations” (Wilde 106), and Cecily is of the same opinion “it had always been a girlish dream of mine to love someone whose name was Ernest/I pity any poor married woman whose husband is not called Ernest” (Wilde 116). Jack and Algernon never admits to Gwendolen and Cecily that they are living a double life, their relationships are based on lies. They are more occupied with the name Ernest than the fact of actually being earnest. In spite of leading a deceptive and double life, both men
“Ignorance is like a delicate fruit; touch it, and the bloom is gone,” engraves Oscar Wilde as he sets the literary table with a bountiful demonstration of Victorian satire. “The Importance of Being Earnest” is evidently a comic critic of late Victorian value (Schmidt 5). Brought into this world from Dublin, Ireland, to well-heeled parents in 1854. Wilde received an opportunity for social improvement when graduating from Oxford University, after receiving a financial scholarship that gave him a first hand account of the upper crust society lifestyle which allowed him to acquire material to poke fun at (Moss 179). Wilde shows his characters as if they knew that people where watching them. By doing that he caused the audience to feel that the actors had authentic regret about their characters actions (Foster 19).
Gwendolen confesses to Jack, or his confidante Ernest, “The moment Algernon first mentioned to me that he had a friend called Ernest, I knew I was destined to love you” (10). That quote proved that Gwendolen’s drive to marry “Ernest” for him having the name Ernest, rather than marrying him for his character. Cecily also confesses something along the same lines as Gwendolen to Algernon, that even though she had never met him before she fell in love with him: “Well, ever since dear Uncle Jack first confessed to us that he had a younger brother who was very wicked and bad, you of course have formed the chief topic of conversation…a man who is much talked about is always very attractive…I daresay it was foolish of me, but I fell in love with you, Ernest” (32). She is led to believe that Algernon’s real name is Ernest. Cecily and Gwendolen are attracted to Jack and “Ernest” because of their histories. Gwendolen was excited to find o...
In conclusion,even the most civil character had some type of evilin him. With no parents around to teach the boys how to behave, the evil in them starts showing and Jack has to reprimand them. To reference,”We’ve got to have
Many of the events that take place in the novel may not happen to us but the way the characters respond to them is what makes them easily relatable. There are passages in the text that clearly represents these themes and the relationship that Jack possesses with them. In the passage studied on page 91, it
Jack had told everybody he had a brother in which was he used as his justification to leave his home in the country and visit his "brother" in the city. Algernon pretends to be Jack's brother "Earnest" in order to win over Jack's beautiful "niece" Cecily. Jack- "Algy’s elder brother" Then I have a brother, after all. I knew I had a brother!
...ntain her social class, and only worrying about wealth and style over the life and death of others. The art of manners and social discussions are expressed through the dialogue between Gwendolen and Cecily. Although both women showed hatred towards each other, it is done in a civilised manner. Wilde shows this by creating a stylised and artificial atmosphere by making the dialogue repetitive and parallel, thus making their dialogue and comments on insignificant subjects as part of having a polite conversation. Jack also shows the significance of high society and manners by showing that he has a high sense of duty and responsibility in the country; and being serious about Cecily’s education as it can help better her current position as well as his own. Hence, Wilde’s criticisms on high society and manners are expressed through the characters and their dialogue.
Jack and Algernon go to lengthy extents to avoid their duties to live their lives the way they want to . “When one is placed in the position of guardian, one has to adopt a very high moral tone on all subjects. It’s one’s duty to do so. And as a high moral tone can hardly be said to conduce very much to either one’s health or one’s happiness, in order to get up to town I have always pretended to have a younger brother of the name of Ernest, who lives in the Albany, and gets into the most dreadful scrapes.” (Wilde, )
She only becomes insincere towards Cecily when she sees the other as a threat to her relationship with Ernest. Although being insincere to someone is not the best decision, Gwendolen uses it to cover up her insecurity. When she finds out that Cecily is Mr Worthing’s ward, she tells the younger girl, “Disloyalty would be as impossible to [Ernest] as deception. But even men of the noblest possible moral character are extremely susceptible to the influence of the physical charm of others” (163). Gwendolen expresses to Cecily how she wished the other was older and uglier, making the chances of Ernest being attracted towards her decrease. Gwendolen is a lady of appearance, and she is confident of her own, but she is still insecure towards Cecily. Because of this, she becomes rude towards Cecily. Yet, however, Cecily explains to Gwendolen that Ernest Worthing is not her guardian, but Jack is. In response to this, Gwendolen shows her relief by telling Cecily, “You have lifted a load from my mind. I was growing almost anxious” (163). Here, Gwendolen admits that Cecily made her anxious about her relationship with Ernest; she relaxes once she finds out that Ernest most likely has not met Cecily if that is the case. With this, the audience sees how her insecurity causes her insincerity towards Cecily, and how much she cares about her relationship with
own stuffy Victorian world as Jack. While explaining his presence in town to Algy, Ernest states, “Oh,