The Importance Of Being Earnest Lies Analysis

1098 Words3 Pages

Chris Rehberger
Unit 2 In The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde I believe lies is what connects everything because every single character has a reason but the reason varies between characters and then for the lies to lies on top of other lies to protect their original lies. Every lie has a reason but the reason varies between characters. Algernon and Jack both create people that aren't real and use those people to their highest advantage, this is called bunburyism. Algernon is very good at lying, so good he lives a double life. He uses an imaginary friend, Bunbury, to get out of boring interaction with people and commitments. He also created Bunbury to give his life some more excitement. As he says, “Nothing will induce me to part with Bunbury… A man who marries without knowing Bunbury has a very tedious time of it.” Algernon’s doubt about getting married is shown here. The fact that he thinks Bunbury will be useful for lying and getting out of things for a husband or wife shows that he does not have any faith or commitment to a person or believe that anyone does …show more content…

Algernon gets caught up in his lies and had to kill off Bunbury to not let himself seem like a crazy liar. “Oh! No! Bunbury doesn't live here. Bunbury is somewhere else at present. In fact, Bunbury is dead.” (III. 49) Algernon finally realized that the lies are not going to work if he wants to continue his relationship with Cecily. By killing Bunbury he kills his whole lie. Also, Algernon lies to stop himself from future lying. By killing off Bunbury, Algernon is sets himself up to be honest from here on out. He lies so he can have a better and more honest life with Cecily. In the end Algernon getting caught up with his lies and killing Bunbury was a good improvement on being a better

Show More
Related

  • Judith Viorst The Truth About Lying Analysis

    172 Words  | 1 Pages

    Judith Viorst is an American journalist. Her essay “The Truth about Lying”, printed in Buscemi and Smith’s 75 Readings: An Anthology. In this essay, Viorst examines social, protective, peace-keeping and trust-keeping lies but doesn’t include lies of influence.

    Read More

  • Stephanie Ericssson The Ways We Lie Analysis

    583 Words  | 2 Pages

    Stephanie Ericsson is a seasoned writer who draws from deeply personal experiences to find inspiration for her writing. She has battled with substance abuse for years, and had to deal with the sudden death of her husband while pregnant with their only child. Several pieces of her work have been published by Harpercollins and “The Ways We Lie” was originally published in the Utne Reader, a magazine that offers readers thoughtful writing from many perspectives.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Being Earnest

    1249 Words  | 3 Pages

    AThe Importance of Being Earnest a play written by Oscar Wilde is set in England in the late Victorian era. Wilde uses obvious situational and dramatic irony within the play to satirize his time period. According to Roger Sale in Being Ernest the title has a double meaning to it and is certainly another example of satire used by Wilde. With a comedic approach, Wilde ridicules the absurdities of the character’s courtship rituals, their false faces, and their secrets. (Sale, 478)

    Read More

  • Algernon Satire

    1316 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Importance of Being Earnest, a farcical satire written by Oscar Wilde in 1895, is a play that aims to point out the absurdity and hypocrisy of Victorian culture while, of course, making the audience laugh. It achieves this goal thanks to an assortment of bizarre yet dynamic characters. Easily the most intriguing of these characters is Algernon Moncrieff, a wealthy, narcissistic socialite who is friends with the main protagonist, Jack Worthing. Algernon makes the play much more entertaining with his witty dialogue and unique views on life and society, but what makes him the most interesting character of all is his role in the play from a literary analysis perspective. Algernon fits the description of the “dandy” archetype that is common

    Read More

  • The Ways We Lie

    826 Words  | 2 Pages

    When initially asked about the morality of lying, it is easy for one to condemn it for being wrong or even corrupt. However, those asked are generally guilty of the crime on a daily basis. Lying is, unfortunately, a normal aspect of everyday life. In the essay “The Ways We Lie,” author Stephanie Ericsson makes note of the most common types of lies along with their consequences. By ordering the categories from least to most severe, she expresses the idea that lies enshroud our daily lives to the extent that we can no longer between fact and fiction. To fully bring this argument into perspective, Ericsson utilizes metaphor, rhetorical questions, and allusion.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Being Earnest Quote Analysis

    352 Words  | 1 Pages

    In “The Importance of being Earnest” the quote by Gwendolen that states “A home is the right place for a man and yes once a man begins to fail in his house duties he becomes painfully feminine or does he? In which makes him attractive.” shows the reversal of gender roles in Gwendolen’s mind. It shows this by turning around the traditional roles of man and women. This tests the ideal’s that say women should raise the children while men work. Instead it shows how women can have jobs or occupations such as men. Thus showing us in this quote how man and women are equal.

    Read More

  • Bunburying And The Importance Of Being Ernest

    302 Words  | 1 Pages

    If bunburying or bunbury did not happen in the movie The Importance of Being Earnest a significant amount of the major event in the film would not have happened. If both Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff did not bunbury about being Earnest, they would not have fallen in love, and neither one would have gotten married. If Jack had not bunburied he would not have found out he was the baby in the black bag, he was Algernon's old brother, Lady Augusta Bracknell was his aunt, and his real name was, in fact, Earnest. When thinking of a similar event that someone had bunbury and the ending result was favorably on the good side, The Parent Trap came to mind. In the movie The Parent Trap two preteen girl meet at a summer camp. They come to find

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Ways We Lie

    1035 Words  | 3 Pages

    In “The Ways We Lie,” by Stephanie Ericsson, she defines various types of lying and uses quotations at the beginning of each description as a rhetorical strategy. Throughout the reading she uses similar references or discussion points at the beginning and ending of each paragraph. Most believe lying is wrong, however, I believe lying is acceptable in some situations and not others when Stephanie Ericsson is asked, “how was your day.” In “The Ways We Lie,” she lies to protect her husband’s feelings, therefore, I think people lie because they are afraid of the consequences that come with telling the truth.

    Read More

  • Lying And Blanton: An Analysis

    321 Words  | 1 Pages

    Lying is only acceptable in specific situations. Lying can be acceptable in a life or death situation to save someone or yourself. According to Barbara Ballinger author of, “Brad Blanton: Honestly, Tell the Truth” from article 3, quotes Blanton as stated, “Yes, but we shouldn’t manipulate the truth except for rare times - if you’re hiding Anne Frank in your attic because her life is in danger” (Ballinger Par. 11). This proves that lying can be acceptable when someone is in danger.

    Read More

  • We Know Algernon Analysis

    117 Words  | 1 Pages

    Both jack and Algernon are very complex in their own way. Jack creates an alternate identity so that can be confusing in itself. He says so himself by saying "I have always pretended I have a younger brother of the name of Earnest" he uses this 'younger brother as another identity, which also shows he is not earnest at all. However Algernon is a confusing way of thinking of thing such as the line "the truth is rarely pure and never simple." However unlike Jack from what we know Algernon is earnest as he is very suspicious of jack when he thinks jack stole the cigarette case. This makes us believe that Algernon is trustworthy or

    Read More

  • Annotations Of The Importance Of Being Earnest

    132 Words  | 1 Pages

    Jack invents his brother “Ernest” so that he can excuse himself from the country, where he serves as Cecily’s guardian. Under such pretense he can escape to town, where he can court Gwendolen and entertain himself with extravagant dinners. Similarly, Algernon invents his invalid friend “Bunbury,” so that he has an excuse to escape from the city when he does not care to dine with his relations. Fact and fiction collide when Algernon arrives at Jack’s country estate, pretending to the elusive “Ernest”. His arrival upsets Jack’s plan to kill off his fictional brother and nearly derails Jack’s real engagement to Gwendolen. That Algernon coins the terms “Bunburying” and “Bunburyist” after his imaginary invalid to describe such impersonations highlights

    Read More

  • Importance Of Lying

    1038 Words  | 3 Pages

    The word lying has been part of our vocabulary since the beginning of time. Is there such a thing as a little lie or a white lie? Many believe telling white lies are not harmful, or speaking part truth and part lie is ok. However, a lie is a lie and it can harm the person telling it or the individual(s) receiving it.

    Read More

  • Lying: A Narrative Analysis

    111 Words  | 1 Pages

    Take these two illustrations, the lying and the taking of an innocent child's life, this could be seen as being equally wrong. Although, with that being said, the end that is supporting for one's household and the saving of a woman's life are without doubt morally right. Alternatively, one must learn to categorize what should be done in order to avoid the consequences of what is done. To elucidate my perspective what if the individual lying was not given the job due to the fact that they lied? What if the aborted baby had the cure for cancer? To conclude the wrong means used can lead to ruin rather than good.

    Read More

  • The Double Life in The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

    1331 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...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.

    Read More

  • Satire in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest

    1998 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about The Importance Of Being Earnest Lies Analysis

Open Document