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. Surrounded by the suppressions of social class and city life, Algernon, or Algy, frequently frees himself from the overbearing societal queen, his Aunt Bracknell, by introducing …show more content…
Though circumstantially different from his friend, Algernon, Jack still struggles under a heavy burden responsibility, but his duty is to his young and beautiful ward Cecily. Presented with these conditions, jack develops the alias of a troublesome younger brother named Ernest, who lives for the pursuit of pleasure. Under this alias, Jack enjoy the shallow pleasures in life, without taking responsibility for he actions of his “brother Ernest” (28), and easier than taking a train back to the country, Jack can return to the role of responsible guardian. In the words of Algernon to Jack, “you have invented a very useful younger brother called Ernest, in order that you may be able to come up to town as often as you like” (6). Jack 's reason 's for Bunburying are quite in alignment with Algy 's. When Algy asks him what brings him to town, Jack cavalierly replies, “Oh, pleasure, pleasure! What else should bring anyone anywhere?” followed by, “When one is in town one amuses oneself. When one is in the country one amuses other people. It is excessively boring” (2). Thought they share the same reasons, Jack 's Bunbury is not “a dreadful invalid” (9), it is an Ernest. Assuming the Alias of a younger brother named …show more content…
In a way, Cecily too has an alias, her Banbury is her Romantic self. In her diary she creates an alternate version of herself, one who suffers the blissful pains of first love, engagement, heartbreak, and remorse. Her strong desire for romantic affection is blatantly obvious, and for this reason she too creates her own characters and follow her own script, and is in her own way an even more professional Bunburyist than either Jack or Algy. A girl of shallow desires, she places great value in the superfluous, such as physical appearance and wonton drama, making statements frequently like, “I know perfectly well that I look quite plain after my german lesson” (21), and “I don 't like novels that end happily. They depress me so much,” (22), and “I have never met any real wicked person before. I am so afraid he will look just like everyone else” (24), and “Oh I don 't think I would care to catch a sensible man. I shouldn 't know what to talk to him about,” (25). Similarly, when she finally sees Ernest, who is in actuality Algernon Bunburying as Jack 's little brother, she immediately falls in love, but her reasons for falling in love are just as superfluous as her fetish desires. In
Each person, whether they realize it or not, has been shaped by their relationships with others. The effects that piers or family members can have on someone are limitless and often times profound. In many instances, people do not even know that they are being influenced by others. Even if it is in the most subtle manner, all characters in novels are directly influenced by other figures. Authors use rhetorical strategies to demonstrate the different ways in which relationships affect and shape character’s identities.
In JD Salinger’s Franny and Zooey, Franny Glass undergoes a mental and physical collapse, followed by a spiritual crisis. Every one of the Glass children is considerably precocious and deep thinking, and Franny and Zooey are no exception. With her fluctuating self-worth and perception, Franny begins to break down without any conscious awareness of why, which ultimately leaves her curled up on her mother’s couch in a state of emotional, intellectual, and spiritual crisis. This is why there is a need for urgent and vigorous “therapy” for Franny, and Zooey, having shared the elder Glass’ spiritual instruction, is the only character capable of providing any support for Franny.
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.
Gwendolen and Cecily act like air-heads and are easily won over by the men they plan to marry. Gwendolen simply wants to marry a man named Earnest. She tells Jack “my ideal has always been to love someone of the name of Ernest” (I.381-82). The mere idea of marrying a man for his name shows how easily Gwendolen can attach herself to a man. Marriage is the most serious of all relationships and Gwendolen is foolish to deter...
Written in 1895, it is Wilde’s last play, but it leaves the greatest impact of all of his literary works. The play follows Jack Worthing, an upper class man who lives a double life in England during the Victorian era. He goes by the name Jack in the country, and Ernest in the city, using the mishaps of his fake brother who he named Ernest as an excuse to go to the city. Eventually, a complicated love affair occurs as a result of Jack’s double life. The Importance of Being Earnest is such a unique classic that it cannot be truly classified with other plays of similar manner. Its message against traditional Victorian tradition is powerful while keeping an extraordinary satirical and farcical
At an early age of five, Amory was already his mother’s companion; they set off to see the country in his father’s car up to he reached the age of ten. The life Beatrice and Amory were living, was not quite conventional, they are separate from most people, but unique and quite distinct from the other wealthy people around them. Beatrice was a sophisticated and well educated woman and who ensured Amory grew up the same. These are things which set him apart from his peers.
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.
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. Many aspects of the time period are made a mockery through puns and witty remarks from the main protagonists, most if not all are portrayed in a sense that makes them undoubtedly a laughing stock. Wildes methods are not discrete; nor are they obvious, many of the comical comments made are by none other than the protagonists themselves. This furthermore enforces the corrupted morals of the time periods prestigious upper class by showing their sheer inability to acknowledge hypocrisy. For example, in act one; Algernon states “ Lane's views on marriage seem somewhat lax. Really, if the lower orders don't set us a good example, what on earth is the use of them? They seem, as a class, to have absolutely no sense of moral responsibility.” This is especially amusing as Algernon believes that the lower class have a duty to set an example when in reality the matter of fact was quite the contrary. Algernon states that he believes the lower class are lacking in morals, he being arguably one of the most morally distorted characters Wilde created makes the double standards more prominent.
Two adolescent women who incorrectly consider the men’s names to be Ernest, and who are passionate about the men for this very reason think highly of both Jack and Algernon. In relating the story of mix-ups and mistaken identities, the ideals and manners of the Victorian society are satirized in a comedy where the characters "treat all the trivial things of life seriously and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality"(Wilde, Oscar). Oscar Wilde’s amusing scenes often take their source in societal satire and unconventional (Baselga 15). All the way through his play, The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde satirizes education, women, and morality.
...ll’s power overtakes the other male characters like Algernon and Jack, who have their own personal unresolved crises in the start, putting them lower down the scale of the social group. There is the idea that Wilde portrays Lady Bracknell as the ideal figure for upper class women that both Gwendolyn and Cecily should aim to rival in the future. However, the playwright already demonstrates how the younger women in the play provide the main source of conflict, as they are the objects of affection, so the notion of the ‘New Woman’ may enable them to surpass the elder women’s, who still own patriarchal values, power in the society. At the same time Wilde is able to criticize the drama that not only the women but the whole of the upper class create from the details of each other’s personal affairs. Wilde’s ultimate point is that comedy reacts against social conformity.
Dignity is not found in a person’s position, but in the way their actions reflect upon them. The novel
Throughout the late nineteenth century, Oscar Wilde wrote plays such as Lady Windermere’s Fan, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband, and The Importance of Being Earnest- his most famous play. Earnest is a comedic work that focuses on a pair of wealthy men. They have been leading double lives so that they can go off for periods of time and enjoy living without responsibility while still maintaining their aristocratic reputation. Because of Wilde’s invlovement in the aesthetic movement, it is not uncommon (or unfair) to believe that his work, Earnest included, is nothing more than fluff. That being said, it is also fair to argue that this particular play does have meaning in it. Wilde wrote The Importance of Being Earnest as a commentary on the hypocrisy of the ideal Victorian character. Earnestness is sincerity- which most Victorians believed themselves to be- and so Wilde uses the word ironically. In his eyes, people who considered themselves sincere were actually smug, self-righteous, and pompous. He expresses these opinions clearly through the play’s over-the-top and frustrating characters.
The pun on the word "Earnest" suggests two things; it stands for the name but also refers to honesty and integrity. It is also known as a `one joke' or a play on words. Though the name is spelt as "Ernest" the reader still recognizes the double meaning of the title. Two of the main characters, Jack and Algernon, strive to be "Ernest" and "Earnest" in the play, yet they both deceive others to escape lives which they grow tired of. They both hope to marry the girls that they love, yet they are starting the relationships base on false pretence and lies. It is ironic that they both call themselves "Ernest," a name that suggests honesty and sincerity, yet they both create stories to escape something or the other. Jack creates a brother called "Ernest" in the city that he uses as a `scape goat' to leave his prim and proper, respectable country life, whereas Algernon creates a friend by the name of "Bunbury" to escape his aunt's high class society parties. He shows his lack of interest in such social events when he tells Jack,
...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.
Both Algernon and Jack assume the identity of "Ernest" yet ironically, they both plan on starting their married life with a lie. Lady Bracknell represents the typical aristocrat who focuses the idea of marriage on social and economic status. She believes that if the men trying to marry these girls are not of proper background, there is to be no engagement. Through this major exaggeration, Wilde satirically reveals the irrational and insignificant matters that the upper class society uses to view