Oscar Wilde The Importance Of Being Earnest Marriage Essay

Wilde uses satire especially with the idea of marriage. In the society that he lived in, marriage is seen as a business arrangement. When Lady Bracknell questioned Jack to determine if he is suitable for her daughter, she

Oscar Wilde’s play entitled “The Importance of Being Earnest” illustrates the concept of dual personality, fantasy, love, and lies. Jack, Algernon, Gwendolyn, and Cecily all live in lies. They are manipulated by their fantasies and desire for perfect relationship and love. Jack, the protagonist in the play, is the root of lies because of his imaginary brother named Earnest. Algernon uses the name to win Cecily, while Gwendolyn and Cecily are both fascinated by this name because it expresses strength and perfection of manhood. Due to their search and desire to have Earnest, the male and female characters escape from the reality. Therefore, Wilde in The Importance of Being Earnest portrays a gender doubled

she demanded to be told if robert had done some shameful thing, in which case they would separate. This irony shows the hypocrisy of being too earnest. Morality is an important factor of earnestness which is mocked in An Ideal Husband by the dialogue of the play, especially the characterised dialogue of Mrs. Chevely. Through her dialogue"Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people whom we personally dislike.", wilde, through Mrs.

Marriage is meant to be a cherished union between two lovers; however, Algernon’s behavior towards marriage is inherently selfish. Many times throughout The Importance of Being Earnest, Algernon acts as though marriage is an outdated and boorish concept. Directly after Jack confesses his proposal plan to Algernon, Algy says “I thought you had come up for pleasure? … I call that business” (Wilde 3). Algernon takes the romance out of the proposal. Algernon’s shallow nature lends

During the mid 1800’s, commonly referred to as the Victorian Period, social hierarchy was an enormously profound aspect of European societies. Therefore, arranged marriage and the desire to “move up” on the social ladder was a common pursuit. Throughout the text, it becomes apparent that Wilde strongly opposes this concept, as he includes several power-struggles between Lady Bracknell and the younger generation based on their conflicting desires. To expand, Lady Bracknell insists that “An engagement should come on a young girl as a surprise, pleasant or unpleasant, as the case may be. It is hardly a matter that she could be allowed to arrange for herself” (Wilde 16-17). This quotation reinforces the fact

Wilde’s characters are identified through their sexual preferences and attitudes. These preferences and attitudes create the characters themselves. Algernon, is an upper-class aristocrat whom is always overdressed. Caring much about his appearance and pleasure. Algernon, has made up fictional character Bunbury in order that he may escape the mundane life and live only for pleasure. Jack is a young immature man with a lot of responsibilities. Jack creates the fictional character

That exchange between Lane and Algernon about the champagne is immediately followed by Algernon’s exclamation: “’Good heavens! Is marriage so demoralizing as that?’” Lane replies, “’I have had very little experience of it myself up to the present. I have only been married once. That was in consequence of a misunderstanding between myself and a young person’”

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, is a story in which the attitude and dialogue simply distinguishes each character for who they truly are. Additionally, the key setting of The Importance of Being Earnest revolves around the idea of deception. Throughout the story, the characters begin to unveil their actual backgrounds after committing the act of telling a variety of lies. Correspondingly, in this victorian era society the character live in, it is ingrained in the minds of individuals that marriage has everything to do with status; or in this case, the name. One character in particular that caught my attention was Algernon Moncrieff. I believe this because through the use of deception, Wilde manages to contribute to the work as a whole through his bravado attitude, comedic relief, and the honest threaded into his lies.

This idea of superficiality is later magnified by the evidence that Wilde gives proving Algernon and Jack to not be at all earnest. Wilde takes advantage of the name Ernest and makes it a pun, as both women have the logic that a man named Ernest must be earnest. Wilde ensures the audience knows this and uses this pun to create irony, as many times Algernon and Jack are presented as morally askew, and not at all earnest. On the subject of Bunburying, Algernon says “in married life. Three is company and two is none.” Which states his view on having two different lives, and this is seemingly how he justifies him lying, as he sees cheating as a normal part of married life. There is also the matter of Jack and Algernon’s acceptance of them having to change their names to be able to marry Gwendolen and Cecily. Of course, lying about their names in the first place is a clear indication that Jack and Algernon are not very honourable, but their acceptance of the fact that Gwendolen and Cecily would not have accepted their proposals if their real names had been revealed presents Jack and Algernon as characters who aren’t bothered by the prospect of lying to their wives for their entire lives.

It was highly moral for a man to have a family and to be current in marriage; it boosts up his image and role in society. A man, who has been out of marriage for too long, is seen as idle. Wilde presents two characters, Algernon and Jack, who have a dispute whether marriage is silly or not. It suggests that not every Victorian man were keen on the idea of marriage. In the Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde displays a

Wilde uses a deceptively flippant tone and irony to criticize the hypocrisy of the upper class in Victorian society in relation to living an earnest life. Earnestness as a virtue was of paramount importance during Victorian Society, with people constantly striving to live an earnest life, that is, a life of honesty and seriousness in intention and purpose. The Victorian society was passionately obsessed with the ideals of earnestness, that individuals in the upper middle class were pressured to go to any lengths to lead such a life, even if it meant a difference between what they said, how they acted in public and what they honestly thought. "My dear fellow, the truth isn't quite the sort of thing

The main character of Wilde's story, Jack Worthing creates an elaborate deceit in which he invents a brother in the city but also reinvents his entire self. He created his fake brother to get away from the country and go live a more exciting life in the city. However, his deceitfulness leads to him being completly honest with himself, and finding a true love. Something genuine. There one would see the dichotomy in Jack, or as he's known in the city, Ernest.

Satire, in which Wilde places throughout the dialogue, is used to deride Victorian age concept of marriage and exhibit the theme to the audience. This is evident when Wilde addresses how Gwendolen and Cecily refuse to marry a man if their names were not

“Pardon me, you are not engaged to anyone. When you do become engaged to someone, I, or your father, should his health permit him, will inform you of the fact. An engagement should come on a young girl as a surprise, pleasant or unpleasant, as the case may be. It is hardly a matter that she could be allowed to arrange for herself” (Wilde, 622). Lady Bracknell’s harsh criticism and stubborn ways are customary of upper-class mothers in the era. Ironically enough, Algernon later develops a kind of forbidden love. The object of his affection is young and being taught to be unimaginative and serious.

In Oscar Wilde’s play, he showed the upper class had many requirements for potential wedding partners, wealth being a key requirement. He also showed that women weren’t allowed to marry outside of their class, even if they loved the person. Overall, the text above shows that marriage was different for the lower and upper classes of society.