Importance Of Being Earnest: Status, More Important Than The Truth

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Status, More Important Than the Truth The Victorian society was more about social status than anything else; if you were from the upper class they live a life of luxury and power. If you were from middle class, most had successful businesses, but did have a lot of political power during this time period. The working class, they struggle to find good jobs and keep food on their tables (Victorian). Lies and deception were used by people in Victorian society to either gain status or not to hurt their standing in society. Oscar Wilde was quoted saying “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth (Oscar)”, I believe this statement is so true for The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar …show more content…

In the first part of the play Jack goes into the city to meet his good friend Algernon at his house. The interesting part is that Algernon only knows Jack by his alternate personality of Ernest Worthing. Algernon thinks that Ernest/Jack is hiding something because of cigarette case that Jack had left the last time he was there. The cigarette case has an inscription and Algernon reads part of it to Jack “From little Cecily with her fondest love (Wilde 120)”, so he confronts Ernest/Jack about who Cecily is. At first Jack tries to say that it was a gift his aunt and makes up a story about it, but then Algernon reads the rest of the inscription to Jack “to her dear Uncle Jack (Wilde 120).” At this point Jack comes clean to Algernon and tells him that his real name is Jack and not Ernest. Algernon tells Jack that he “always suspected you of being a confirmed and secret Bunburyist; I am quite sure of it now (Wilde 121).” Not knowing what a Bunburyist is Jack asks Algernon to explain what that is and he agrees to after Jack explains why he has a different name in the city than in the country. Jack explains since he is the guardian to Cecily, he has to set an example of high moral character. So he decided to make up that he has a younger brother that lives in the city and gets into …show more content…

Gwendolen and her mother Lady Bracknell came to the house and as Algernon was occupying Lady Bracknell attention, Jack took the opportunity to ask Gwendolen to marry him. His plan was if she said yes, he would tell her his real name and kill off his brother so no one would know about his secret. Jack is so happy when Gwendolen says yes, but then he is somewhat concerned after she makes the statement “my ideal has always been to love some one of the name of Ernest (Wilde 128).” I believe Gwendolen was more in love with the name Ernest than with Jack himself. He starts talking about how he does not really like the Ernest and mentions the name Jack and Gwendolen says “Jack? No, there is very little music in the name Jack, if any at all (Wilde 129).” At this Jack realizes that he will have to get christened as Ernest so that would become his legal name, before he marries Gwendolen. As Lady Bracknell comes back into the room Gwendolen tells her of their engagement, where Lady Bracknell becomes very upset because Jack is not on her list of suitable people to marry her daughter. Gwendolen is sent away by her mother so she can question Jack to see if is suitable to marry her daughter. Lady Bracknell seems more concerned about the social status that Jack has than about her daughter being in love and

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