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Essay on oscar wilde the importance of being earnest
The dramatic irony in the importance of being earnest
Gender role in literature
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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
As one becomes older, past memories and encounters can dictate the type of life someone ends up living. Ralph, Jack, and Roger are the three characters whose lives have been most impacted by their experience on the island in the last 25 years. In this sequel from Lord of the Flies, Ralph has changed greatly thanks to his inability to understand the why factor in his actions; Jack has transitioned from a vicious, irrational child, to a shy, furtive young man; However, Rodger has not changed as he still has his psychopathic tendencies, but uses it for self-protection.
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
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.
Oscar Wildes ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’’ is believed by many to be his most genius work and certainly has withstood the test of time. The play is set in London during the 1890’s in which time frame aristocracy and upper class held the majority of the countries wealth. Many of the comical aspects question the morals of the upper class in which he satirises throughout the play. One method of this, for instance is through one of the main protagonist, Algernon Moncrieff. Algernon is an upper class individual who is oblivious to the world around him in such an exaggerated manner that it makes his character comically adjusted for Wildes own views.
Jack didn’t know what to do in this situation, but all the while he suspected that his wife was cheating on him as well. Jack calls his sister Ellen to get her opinion, but in the process she ends up deciding to come down and stay with them for a while. Jack seemed hesitant but grateful for the company because Julia was never home anymore, she was too busy working at the fab plant for Xymos. When Julia hears that Ellen is coming over, she decides to leave work early. When she pulls in, Eric the middle child says he see someone in the cart with her, but when she walks through the door, she is alone. After dinner, julia abruptly leaves, but as Jack sees her pull out, he sees the figure of a man in the passenger
Oscar Wilde’s, “The Importance of Being Earnest”, play carefully uses satire as a didactic tool to mask the underlying social commentary with the help of comedy through characters theme and dialogue. Wilde uses satire to ridicule class and wealth, marriage and the ignorance of the Victorian Age. Audiences are continually amused by Wilde’s use of linguistic and comic devices such as double entendre, puns, paradox and epigrams, especially in the case of social commentary and didactic lessons. Characters portrayed in the play such as Jack, Cecily, Algernon and Lady Bracknell, allow Wilde to express his opinions on the social problems during the Victorian Age.
Algernon, disagrees with the marriage after Jack fails her test of
Jack’s character is portrayed as having a main focus on marriage, and he is evaluated based on his worth as a husband. Wilde's representation of the ideal man is inverted to the normal embodiment of the ideal man of that era, as Jack was portrayed as a dandy, in order to force the reader to question the upheld masculinity ideals of Victorian society. Although history proves that Victorian men upheld their masculine qualities they were certainly not concerned with courtship, proficient in playing an instrument and overly obsessed with their state of dress as Jack was so portrayed throughout the play. To see how the impression of the ideal man has been influenced by female views, one only has to see the perception of Jack through Lady Bracknell, the mother of Gwendolen.
The irony continues to explain how Jack and Algernon were biological brothers. They were pretending to be earlier to play out their game of Bunburyism. 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 brother "Earnest" in order to win over Jack beautiful "niece" Cecily.
own stuffy Victorian world as Jack. While explaining his presence in town to Algy, Ernest states, “Oh,
...ngagement, their re-engagement. Cecily is not the natural country girl. She possesses the self-assurance of the experienced woman. Without being cynical she makes her desires clear. And when Gwendolen and Cecily discover that their Earnests are impostors whose names are Jack and Algernon they decide that love can be restored only if Jack and Algy christen themselves Earnest.
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 satirical piece usually has a didactic side to it.
Jack is attempting to prove to Algernon that he is not a liar, ¨I'm not a bunburyist at all...¨ 124. Denying the fact that he has a made up brother that he used to get out of certain events, Jack is the definition of a bunburyist. He is taking advantage of his friend’s blindness to the situation to get unnecessary time away from them. Explaining to Lady Bracknell that he cannot attend her dinner party because. ¨… my poor friend Bunbury is very ill again. They seem to think I should be with him.¨ 127. The amount of times Algernon uses his ill, imposure brother bunburying, goes to show how selfish he is. Putting his own personal needs before making an effort to meet with his family. They only see their family when it is beneficial and convenient for
Although Jack and Algernon are completely different kinds of people, they both hold strong ties with each other. Jack and Algernon both live double lives through nonexistent characters named Ernest and Bunbury. They are always searching for pleasure in their lives. For example when Algernon asks, “How are you, my dear Ernest? What brings you up to town?” Jack replies “Oh, pleasure, pleasure! What else should one bring anywhere”(Wilde 1427)? Algernon also states “My duty as a gentleman has never interfered with my pleasures”(Wilde 1456). Nothing gets in the way of these men pursuing their loved ones.