Week 5- Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest Essay

              Throughout the play “The Importance of Being Earnest”, Oscar Wilde portrays and disdains the high- class of the Victorian society through the theme of self-identification, utilization of irony, a mock-serious tone of understatement, and condescending characterization throughout the play.

              The theme of self-identification is a recurring theme in the contents of the play. In Act 1, it is discovered that Jack does not know his lineage and creates an alter identity by the name of Ernest. Also Algernon develops a false individual named Bunbury to be an excuse for Algernon’s boredom with being in town.  Through Jack’s alter ego, Wilde implicitly depicts the high- class to consist of social-distortion and not retain an identity, but to simply manifest an identity for self-fulfillment. Jack and Algernon’s fake manifestation of non-existent individuals are an example of social-distortion within the high-class of the Victorian Era.             

Within all acts irony is often applied.  In Act 1, Jack proposes to Gwendolyn as Ernest and she states she always wanted to marry someone named Ernest. In Act 2, Algernon proposes to Cecily as Ernest and she also states she wanted to marry someone named Ernest. Each Jack and Algernon are nor Ernest nor earnest and therefore depict a deceiving character which reflects on the high-class as gullible and untruthful. The proposals of the “Ernest’s” portrayed the unsophisticated and manipulative side of the high-class individuals.  Irony is also portrayed in Act 3 as Jack discovers his real name is Ernest and is Algernon’s older brother. Jack’s self-discovery brings a new innovative meaning to the cliché “ignorance is bliss” to “ignorance is revealing” as Jack’s ignorance revealed Wilde’s depiction of high-class individuals being blindly perceptive.

A mock-serious tone of understatement is utilized in several aspects of the play. Though there are minor brotherly quarrels, Jack and Algernon’s disagreement of a cigarette case in Act 1 and argument pertaining to muffins in Act 2 is Wilde’s implicit perspective that the high-class can afford to argue over small, petty matters and reveals a small sense of greed and materialism. Also in Act 2, Gwendolyn rejects sugar in her tea and tea cake as it is “not fashionable nowadays”, but Cecily later hands both to her to create an implied insult. Cecily handing both unwanted goods to Gwendolyn proved Cecily indirectly defamed Gwendolyn as not fashionable, supporting Wilde’s perception on wealthy people as concerned with mainstream matters instead of sophisticated concerns. Minor conflicts can obtain understated implications and interpretations.

In the play condescending characterization occurs in Lady Bracknell as she looks down on Jack’s character and worthiness of being married to her daughter Gwendolyn since Jack does not know his lineage and was found in a hand bag. Lady Bracknell’s characterization is a supporting view point in Wilde’s perception of the wealthy that the wealthy are narrow-minded and intolerant of other social classes especially if unknown and suspected to be lower- classmen. Lady Bracknell’s character portrayal is an implication of Wilde’s perspective of the wealthy.