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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
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.
As a dandy, Algernon’s wealth and social status grant him the privilege of being able to avoid his responsibilities and obligations without any serious consequences. He does this by creating the fictional character of Bunbury, an invalid friend of his who he must attend to regularly, conveniently whenever he has a commitment he does not wish to fulfill. This practice allows Algernon to live a sort of alternate life, which is another parallel to Wilde. For a long time, Wilde, thanks to his wealth, was active in the homosexual community of Britain, despite such sexually deviant behavior being criminalized at the time. Algernon’s “Bunburyism” is an example of how in Victorian society, the upper class was able to ignore many of their responsibilities thanks to their wealth and social status. This can be interpreted as a criticism of the elites of British society, essentially an attempt to paint them as irresponsible and arrogant (two words that certainly apply to Algernon). However, it could also be argued that through his disregard for his commitments and social obligations, Algernon is rebelling against the status quo in order to maximize his own happiness, like a true dandy
Plot: Two men, John Jack Earnest Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, use the deception [a Bunbury] that both their names were Ernest, in order to secure marriage to the women they love, Gwendolen Fairfax and Cecily Cardew. Then there is the ultimate unraveling of their lies, which still ends in their impending nuptials.Cast of Key CharactersJohn Jack Ernest Worthing"Bon-vivant" [Jack to Algernon 2] Algernon is asking Jack what brought him to town. Jack has come to town to get away from his responsibilities in the country, his ward Cecily, and to see Gwendolen, whom he wishes to propose marriage. In order to do this he has committed the Bunbury that he has come to see his brother, Ernest, who doesn't exist. He wishes to enjoy the pleasures before attending to his guardian duties.
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.
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
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.
Jack: How utterly unromantic you are! (I.36-38) Pointing at the ideal of marriage is deteriorated by the Algernon reflecting on Wilde’s own thoughts of marriage.
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
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 unveiled.
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.
Oscar Wilde begins with a joke in the title that is not only a piece of frivolity. It concerns the problem of recognising and defining human identity. The use of earnest and Earnest is a pun, which makes the title not only more comic, but also leads to a paradox. The farce in The Importance of Being Earnest consists in the trifle that it is important not only to be earnest by nature but to have the name Earnest too. Jack realizes "the vital Importance of Being Earnest"(53) not till the end of the play. Algernon calls the act of not being earnest Bunburying which gives the plot a moral significance. Bunburying means inventing a fictitious character by which one can escape the frustrating social norms. Algernon says to Jack:
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.
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.
...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.