The Importance of Being Earnest

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The Importance of Being Earnest

A protagonist is described as the main character in the story. The

story line revolves around this one character and the events in his/

her life. In the Importance of Being Earnest, Jack Worthing is the

protagonist of the play because it is his character that dominates the

narrative. His pursuit to marry Gwendolen, and the conflicts and

struggles he goes up against to reach his ultimate goal, are traits

which develop his character into being the protagonist.

For a character to take on the role of protagonist, there always needs

to be conflict. Jack Worthing’s first conflict is getting the

approval to marry Gwendolen from her mother, Lady Bracknell. In the

beginning of the story when Jack, also referred to as Ernest, proposes

to Gwendolen, but is denied the ability to marry Gwendolen until he

has passed Lady Bracknell’s series of tests; what she sees as a

suitable husband for her daughter. This is shown through her statement

of: “I fell bound to tell you that you are not on my list of eligible

young men…however, I am quite ready to enter your name should your

answers be what a really affectionate mother acquires” (Wilde,1438).

Earnest informs her that he does not know anything from his childhood,

including who his parents are, and why he became an orphan; and now is

thought to be unacceptable suitor to marry her daughter, Gwendolen.

Lady Bracknell reinforces to Jack that “to be born, or at any rate

bred in a handbag, whether it had handles or not, seems to me to

display a contempt for the ordinary decencies of family life that

reminds one of the worst excesses of the French revolution”(Wilde,

1440), basically stating that having a hand bag for a parent is an

unacceptable “notion about family life” (Parker), and needed to find

out who his parents are before he can marry Gwendolen. It is this

sort of conflict that must arise in order for the play to pursue any

further. It is the role of the protagonist to ensure that he

continues on his pursuit in order to get what one wants, that being

the hand of Gwendolen. Jack lies and discoveries “of human freedom in

protean identity” (Parker, 185) which he “adopt[ed] identities to suit

the occasion” (parker, 185). All of these identities and secret lives

eventually led to Gwendolen’s hand but also the truth of who Jack

really was; the true importance of being Ernest, because being Ernest

gets him what he wants.

The title of the play “The Importance of being Earnest” shows

significance because this creates conflict and comedy between the

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