The Importance Of Being Earnest By Oscar Wilde

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Humans often alter their reality in order to accomplish their purposes, whatever they may be. This idea is blatant in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. While it is a rather comedic play, Wilde puts forth the idea of appearances vs. reality through the two main male characters, Jack and Algernon. The two men change their names and other areas of their everyday life in order to adopt a different lifestyle. The two men, in an attempt to escape reality, change their names, their attitudes, and, consequently, their lifestyle. Jack and Algernon both change their names in order to undertake their double life. Jack changes his name to Ernest and Algernon to Bunbury. Ernest is Jack’s brother who lives in London, the less attractive side. Bunbury is an invalid friend of Algernon. Algernon later adopts the name Ernest, after meeting Jack, so he can meet and propose to a girl. Ironically, Jack is under the guise of Ernest when he proposes as well. The reality of the situation is the two girls meet and discover they are engaged to the same man, who is not one man but two completely different men, neither of which have the name Ernest. …show more content…

Jack, as Ernest, refuses to pay at a certain restaurant. It is not as though Ernest lacks the funds to pay, but simply refuses to pay; something that Jack, being a gentleman, would never consider. Bunbury’s attitude is that of a beggar. Being an invalid, Bunbury is able to acquire money and other things simply by asking for it and preying off the sympathy of others. Algernon, on the other hand, is a very wealthy man who is completely and comfortably furnished. The reality of this is that one can only pretend for so long, soon a pretense becomes a practice and Jack and Algernon behave differently with others, such as being short tempered and

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