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Oscar Wilde is a legendary author who has composed many great plays including The Green Carnation and A Woman of No Importance, however, The Importance of Being Earnest was undoubtedly the most famous of his works. First published in 1930, yet acknowledged since the late 1800 s, The Importance of Being Earnest helped to revive the theater tradition of Congreve and Sheridan. The story is a comedic view of romance and the emphasis we place on seemingly trivial articles, such as a name. In this story, contrary to the typical saying, a rose by any other name would not smell as sweet. Our first scene begins with a confrontation, and the whole story is a man versus confusing women (better known as society) conflict from there on out. Jack Worthing drops by the home of Algernon Moncreiff on a friendly call after being in the country all weekend.
Algy is expecting company, his Aunt Augusta Bracknell and cousin Gwendolyn Fairfax. After announcing this to Jack, Jack states his intentions of proposal to Gwendolyn. The confrontation comes about when Algy produces a cigarette case belonging to his comrade, and is inscribed? From little Cecily, with her fondest love to her dear Uncle Jack. ? This invokes confusion because Algy has always known Jack to be a Mr. Ernest Worthing.
At this, Jack explains that he is leading a double life as Jack Worthing in the country and Ernest Worthing in the city. In the country, Ernest Worthing is his fictional younger brother who is always getting into trouble, thus requiring him to make frequent trips to the city. This way, Ernest Worthing is also seen in town to further promote his existence and an excuse for departure. Jack proposes to Gwendolyn, who also knows him as Ernest, yet Lady Bracknell vocalizes a slight discontent.
For one thing, ? Ernest? is an orphan who was found in a handbag at the cloakroom of a train station, while Gwendolyn? s parents have strong family values.
However, Jack and Gwendolyn decide to go on with the wedding. Jack must depart for the country, so he politely excuses his egression. Once in the country, Jack is surprised by the arrival of Algernon, acting as Ernest Worthing. Sensing trouble, Jack does his best to induce the exit of his? younger brother?
but it is to no avail. Cecily, always wanting to marry a man by the name of Ernest, falls in love with Algernon immediately, and he proposes to her. To further complicate things, Gwendolyn arrives at the country home also, but before this is brought to the attention of Jack, she and Cecily have a brief meeting in the garden, which turns out to be the story? s climax. During this encounter, both happen to mention that they are engaged to be married to Ernest Worthing. We must recall that to Gwendolyn, Ernest is actually Jack and to Cecily, Ernest is Algy.
The girls are only bewildered and upset, so they decide to affront their fianc? s. Upon this confrontation, it is revealed that neither Jack nor Algy are Ernest Worthing. Instead of embracing this idea with relief that they are not in battle over the same man, the hopeful wives simply ask where the real Ernest Worthing is because they are both engaged to him, not anyone else. When it is announced that there is no Ernest Worthing, both girls rather haughtily disregard their men to pout over this horrible injustice.
This leaves Algy and Jack feeling horribly dejected, so they sit for tea and discuss their possible options. It is decided that the only action that would bring about a resolution is if they are both christened as Ernest. At the occurrence of this declaration, Gwendolyn and Cecily are profoundly relieved and flattered that any man would go through such an ordeal to win their hands in marriage. During this whole encounter, Jack has acquired an understanding of Algy, which he is not too fond of. Since he is Cecily? s legal guardian, with her future in mind, he refuses to give the consent that would allow her to marry Algernon.
She is only eighteen and her father? s will declared that she would be of legal age to decide for herself at thirty-five. Although Algernon says he wouldn? t mind waiting for a few years, Cecily remarks that she is ardently impatient and would not be able to postpone the marriage for that long. In this time of difficulty, Lady Bracknell enters the picture. She was in search of Gwendolyn, who had left home in supreme secrecy.
She wishes to take her back, however, Gwendolyn repudiates the contrivance by saying she is staying with her dear? Ernest? and they are to be married, despite any objections that may be expressed. As if her daughter? s defiance wasn?
t trouble enough, she wishes greatly for her nephew to marry Cecily, and becomes quite distressed at the news of Jack? s refusal to comply. Seeing an advantage to this quandary, Jack proposes that he would approve of Cecily and Algernon if Lady Bracknell would merely allow Gwendolyn and himself to be wed. Our resolution appears to be blackmail.
In the midst of Lady Bracknell? s response, Reverend Chasuble enters to perform the christenings and happens to mention the existence of Miss Prism, Cecily? s governess, at the estate, which conjures a reaction from Lady Bracknell. She springs forth, reprimanding Miss Prism for an action carried out years ago.
Twenty years prior to this incident, she had left the Bracknell estate with a male baby and a handbag with the purpose of running errands. It was also her duty to keep guard of the baby. She had never returned. Lady Bracknell demanded to know the location of that baby, at which Miss Prism bowed her head in shame and replied that she did not know. All she could recall was that the baby was put into a handbag and left in the cloakroom of a London rail station, the Victoria, on the Brighton Line. After that, the child was lost.
While this story is being told, Jack seems to grow anxious and he bolts upstairs, leaving the rest of the party puzzled while they hear trunks and suitcases being strewn about. Shortly thereafter, he emerges with a black handbag and presents it to Miss Prism, who identifies it as her own. He deduces that he was that baby and wraps his arms around Miss Prism exclaiming? Mother! ? But Miss Prism only pushes him off, asserting that she had no children.
Lady Bracknell explains that Jack is the eldest son of her sister, meaning he, is in fact, Algy? s older brother. Meanwhile, the Reverend is still waiting for the procession of the christenings and it is brought to Jack? s attention that he was christened at birth, therefor must have a Christian name. That Christian name turns out to be none other than Ernest. The story concludes with an entire room of happiness and love and we find that our resolution was not blackmail after all (because, honestly, what kind of a demented resolution would that be? ).
Algernon enfolds Cecily in a hug. Jack, or should I say Ernest, merrily holds his wife-to-be Gwendolyn. And, in a surprising revelation, Miss Prism and Reverend Chasuble are caught in an embrace. So, this unpredictable tale comes to a close where it is safe to say that everyone lives happily ever after. Jack Worthing is the main character in The Importance of Being Earnest, as we can plainly see because out of all of the utterly deranged characters in this play, he seemed to be the most lucid. He had a real taste for deception, which became eminent throughout the story.
Yet even with this uncanny lying disorder, he still seemed to be realistic. His fabrications were all for his greater good, which is not at all uncommon, especially in our present self-emulating society. Since this was a play, the prominent technique of characterization was dialogue. The play actually had little stage direction, so virtually the only was of conveying a characters intentions or ideas was via their words.
There was no way of seeing their thoughts or alternative motives unless they were evidently revealed through colloquy. Jack seemed to be a good guy. I thought he was both interesting and amusing. He had a perfect balance of concern for himself and others.
For example, he wouldn? t let Cecily marry Algernon because he didn? t think it was best for her, but he eventually gave in because he cared about Algernon and also saw how it could be beneficial to himself. His compulsive lying was, in honesty, the only flaw I found with him.
He was steadfast in his ways and there was no modification in his character, with the exception of his Christian name, throughout the entire story. Miss Prism is one of the play? s minor characters, yet she is vital to the plot. If it weren? t for her, there would be no resolution to the tale. It is because of her that Jack discovers his origins and that his name is Ernest, which becomes the reason why Gwendolyn wants even more to marry him, and the fact that he had a family makes Lady Bracknell approve of him just a little bit more.
I could identify with Miss Prism because even though she was seen as intelligent, she was really quite ditsy. I wouldn? t leave a baby in a handbag at a cloakroom, but I have done some things that make people wonder how I do so well in school. I could sympathize with both Algernon and Jack. I really wasn?
t fond of Cecily and Gwendolyn and I definitely didn? t like the amount of emphasis they placed on the name? Ernest. ? When Jack and Algy were having tea, I felt terrible for them. They were completely in love with these great women who didn?
t love them back because of their names. I thought that was awful! If I had written the book, I would have made Cecily and Gwendolyn fall in love with a Russian Pie-Eating Gerbil Ringmaster and a Monkey-Sized Tutu Designer. The dialogue was interesting because since the story was written in the 1800 s, it seemed very formal to me, whereas then it was most likely colloquial and casual, especially when the younger characters were speaking. It made the play more difficult to read than something that had been written today in slang or illiterate terms.
It all depends on what you are familiar with and I while their words were not completely absurd, I almost completely unfamiliar with the mannerisms with which they were spoken. To cite an instance, here is an excerpt from Cecily and Gwendolyn? s garden encounter: ? (Enter GWENDOLYN. ) Cecily. (Advancing to meet her. ) Pray let me introduce myself to you. My name is Cecily Cardew. Gwendolyn.
Cecily Cardew? (Moving to her and shaking hands. ) What a very sweet name! Something tells me that we are going to be great friends. I like you already more than I can say. My first impressions of people are never wrong.
Cecily. How nice of you to like me so much after we have known each other such a comparatively short time. Pray sit down. Gwendolyn. (Still standing up. ) I may call you Cecily, may I not?
Cecily. With pleasure! Gwendolyn. And you will always call me Gwendolyn, won? t you? Cecily.
If you wish. Gwendolyn. Then it is all quite settled, is it not? Cecily. I hope so. (A pause. They both sit down together. )?
The book was written in third person, but without many of the benefits of a third person tale. As aforementioned, the reader does not know the internal thoughts of any characters unless they are spoken. The narrator stands outside of the story, but lacks the omniscient power. The play is brief, which may be due to its small duration. The entire play lasts a single day. The day is in July while the year is roughly 1895.
All action is handled chronologically, with the play going from scene to scene in a one-way motion. In fact, the only time the past is ever even mentioned is when Miss Prism is disclosing the details of the handbag incident. Otherwise, the only talk is of the present day and it? s surrounding activity. The story moves rather rapidly because so much activity must be fit into a reasonable amount of time for a play. The scenes shift from a city to a countryside somewhere in England.
When in the city, the action occurs in Algernon? s flat in Half-Moon Street. His flat is lavishly decorated with fine art on the walls and a piano in one corner of the main living room. Also in the main room, there is a sofa and a few rather small tables with a fire burning in an overly ornate fireplace against the far wall. At the manor house, much activity goes on in the garden, which is old-fashioned and full of roses. There is a large yew-tree and a table with basket chairs.
Grey stone steps lead up to the house. The third acts takes place in the drawing room at the Manor House. There is a large window that overlooks the garden and more lavish d? cor, including a grand sofa and stone fireplace. The play is fictitious, but certainly is realistic enough to have happened. I would define it as a social-realistic novel because of that.
But it is also blatantly evident that this is a tale of romance, which is why it deserves an equal amount of recognition as a romantic novel. If one was to do their best to be creative, when in actuality it is only pseudo-intelligence, one may call this a social-realistic-romance novel-type-play-thing. However, I am not that one, so I will simply maintain that it is a combination of the two sub-types that were spoken of previously. Wilde? s writing style is nothing but realistic. He wrote The Importance of Being Earnest based on the actual habits of people during that time period.
He is very realistic and straightforward, which he has to be since this is a play and is written strictly in dialogue and stage direction. Because the characters are of the highly educated upper class, there is a strenuous amount of interesting vocabulary and words that I was sure existed only in theory, such as? shall-shilling, ? but his style is not too interesting. Here is the opening of the play: ? (LANE is arranging afternoon tea on the table and, after the music has ceased, ALGERNON enters. ) Algernon. Did you hear what I was playing, Lane?
Lane. I didn? t think it polite to listen, sir. Algernon. I? m sorry for that, for your sake.
I don? t play accurately-anyone can play accurately-but I play with wonderful expression. As far as the piano is concerned, sentiment is my forte. I keep science for Life. Lane. Yes, sir.
Algernon. And, speaking of the science of Life, have you got the cucumber sandwiches cut for Lady Bracknell? Lane. Yes, sir. (Hands them on a salver. )? Algernon is the more distinguished of the two, and the author writes with a reality based influence so that you can tell simply by the words used who is the more educated. Also, realistically, a butler would say little, so Lane says hardly anything.
It? s so practical that at times it gets boring. I? m not advocating the use of pig-Latin in literature, but something creative could have been done. The most symbolic item in The Importance of Being Earnest is the name Ernest, quite obviously.
After observing the way Cecily and Gwendolyn react to the name, it? s apparent that there is more to it. The name? Ernest? is symbolic of everything the word? earnest?
means. Any man by the name of Ernest is strong and passionate and ardent, while a man named Jack, for example, is nothing more. Just Jack. Ernest stands for everything that is good and fervent, everything that is just and faithful. What woman wouldn?
t want an Ernest? The name is so symbolic in this story that it could change a woman? s feelings about a man. This might also be partially due to the fact that Cecily and Gwendolyn were devastatingly maniacal when it came to marriage, but it still played an earnest part in the story, pun intended This book helped me understand quite a bit about the reason why that one book was called?
Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus. ? If men think every woman is as odd as Oscar? s Cecily and Gwendolyn, it? s no wonder why they think we? re from different planets.
I suppose it illustrated how much weight we place on the dumb things when we should truly pay attention to the more important things. It also portrayed the importance of our childhood notions and dreams when people reach adulthood. The name? Ernest? was so important to Cecily because she had dreamed of marrying an Ernest when she was younger. My favorite character was Algernon.
He was controlled somewhat by greed and somewhat by love. He was greedy when it came to love. He went to Jack? s country home out of greed and then was going to be christened and change his name out of love. He would actually wait seventeen years for Cecily, and that was clearly driven by love. This book made me realize that some people really don?
t know what? s good for them. Gwendolyn wasn? t going to marry Jack, even though she loved him and he would be great for her.
I? ve never really noticed that much in our society today, but now that I look back at things, people do idiotic things on a daily basis. Take Las Vegas, for instance. People will go to Las Vegas and gamble away their life? s savings, when they didn? t have a reason to gamble to begin with.
I wouldn? t read another book by Oscar Wilde. The Importance of Being Earnest was far too boring for me to voluntarily put myself through that kind of agony again. It was comical at some parts; it had an all-around great plot. It just lacked that little extra something to make you intrigued with the author.
Perhaps it was the lack of creativity when it came to writing style, or that it was written in play format. Whatever the reason, the thought of another Wilde piece induces nausea. But, hey, if you like drab sentences piled on top of one another, this book is for you!
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Research essay sample on Importance Of Being Earnest Ernest Worthing
