The+Importance+of+Being+Earnest

=**Title of the Work**= The Importance of Being Earnest =Author= Oscar Wilde =Nationality/Ethnic Background= English =Genre and Sub-genres= Play, Comedy of Manners, Victorian Melodrama (Sentimental Comedy) =Pertinent Biographical Information= Wilde won several prestigious scholarships and awards while studying the classics. After graduating and marrying, he began work revitalizing "Woman's World Magazine," until he started publishing stories and novels, including __The Picture of Dorian Gray.__ His real success came in 1892 with the play “Lady Windermere's Fan,” which led him to his most notable literary period of playwriting, which produced "The Importance of Being Earnest." Wilde developed a homosexual relationship in the summer of 1891 with the son of the Marquis of Queensberry, Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas. When the Marquis accused Wilde of homosexuality, Wilde sued for libel. After withdrawing his case, Wilde was imprisoned for gross indecencies. Wilde produced little literary works after his release, touring Europe in near poverty.

"Oscar Wilde." __The Official Website of Oscar Wilde.__ 12 August 2005. 8 January 2009. <__http://www.cmgww.com/historic/wilde/credits.htm__>.

=Literary Historical Period/Movement and Pertinent Background=

Wilde was an author of the Victorian Period in Europe, 1837-1901 under the rule of Queen Victoria, in which responsibility to society and moral values were extremely important. Etiquette and proper behavior were key, and they would often avoid using words with sexual connotations. During the time period, prosperity flourished and the Victorians were self-assured and self confident. These values are exhibited in __The Importance of Being Earnest__ by Lady Bracknell, the proper busy-body mother of Jack's love interest, Gwendolen. During the period, people started to question Christianity, moving towards more scientific thinking. In households, males were the dominant authority and women were to be submissive. However; unmarried women had more power than married women. People never married outside of their social class, which appears in Wilde’s play.

=Major Characters, Their Relationships, Their Conflicts=
 * Jack Worthington- A character who searches for a way to marry his friend Algernon's cousin, Gwendolen Fairfax. Jack presents his alias, Ernest, which gives him an excuse to visit the city whenever he pleases. However, this creates a moral dilemma for Jack when his beloved Gwendolen refuses to marry anyone that is not named Ernest. He lies throughout the whole play, and closes the play with the final lie stating his name really is Ernest.


 * Algernon Moncrief- This character is an eccentric deadbeat who runs from debt collectors. He is the nephew of Lady Bracknell, and Jacks best friend. He is the first one to inform Jack about Bunburying; where one creates a person/friend that they must come to aid whenever there is a less then exciting event going on. Algernon's fake friend is Mr.Bunbury, who Algernon uses to escape to the country where he meets Jacks charge, Cecily Cardew. Cecily falls in love with Algernon and the couple get married.


 * Lady Bracknell- A very stuck up old woman who refuses to allow Jack to marry her daughter Gwendolen. She does everything in her power to separate the two from each other. Before she will allow Jack to become part of her family, she insists he find out his ancestry. This is a woman who oozes the Victorian values of her time: she is proper and uptight. Ironically, when discovering Jack's origin, the reader discovers that Lady Bracknell was actually born and raised on lower standards and married to a higher class.


 * Gwendolen Fairfax- Lady Bracknell's daughter who is infatuated with Jack, and is being separated form him by her mother. She is just like her mother in some ways. She is very proper and cares mostly for appearance. As the play draws to an end Gwendolen and Jack are untied to together. She only loves Jack because he claimed his name is "Ernest" and she always knew she would marry someone with the name "Ernest."

=Brief Plot Summary= The play begins in Algernon's home, in the city, when his best friend Jack stops by for a visit. Jack is questioned about a cigar case that is found by Algernon with an inscription written on the inside addressed to Jack from a woman named Cecily. Algernon is baffled by this since Jack is completely infatuated by Algernon's cousin, Gwendolen. This is where Jack's true--and fake identity--come to light, and where Jack learns about Bunburying. Algernon's aunt, Lady Bracknell, and his cousin, Gwendolen, stop by for a visit and Jack reveals the real reason why he stopped by for a visit. Jack and Gwendolen find themselves alone, and Jack proposes to her. Lady Bracknell forbids the impending marriage because Jack does not know his parents; it is important the Lady Bracknell and her Victorian ideals that Jack find out his heritage before she gives her consent. Jack decides to kill of his Bunbury Ernest because he is becoming troublesome to him. He goes back to his home in the country, however, to his surprise, Ernest is already waiting for him at home. Algernon claims to be Jacks brother Ernest and has fallen desperately in love with Jacks charge, Cecily. But just like the good father figure he is, Jack refuses to allow his charges marriage. The situation deteriorates when Gwendolen arrives looking for her fiance, Ernest. The two infatuated girls icily argue over who has the proper claim to their lover, who they believe to be the same Ernest. The two Ernest's arrive near the end of the argument, where Gwendolen and Cecily quickly realize that they have been deceived: each man has falsely claimed to be Ernest to suit their Bunburyist purpose. The girls, now fast friends, leave their men in "horrible trouble (41)." The men explain that they used their false names to meet their women. The girls do not buy the lie, but Gwendolen claims that "In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity is the vital thing (44)." Though Cecily and Gwendolen forgive the men's treachery, they are reluctant to marry men of such ordinary names. Jack and Algernon explain that they have made appointments to be christened Ernest, and all is forgiven. Lady Bracknell shows up, and forbids the two weddings until she learns Jack's noble heritage, and the wealth Cecily would bring to her struggling nephew, Algernon. Jack learns that he is Algernon's older brother, and that in fact his given name is Ernest. Jack learns his identity, and the the love interests finally come together. =Motifs (Recurring Images, Ideas, Figures of Speech, Symbols, Colors) & Their Thematic Significance= =Other Significant Thematic Elements (Significant Character's Names, Significant Quotations, Significant Actions/Events)= > Algernon: “All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his.” > This paradox criticizes both men and women: women can be materialistic and controlling, while men can become wild or violent like their fathers. It would seem, that in a society where moral obligations are said to be important, offspring follow the worst characteristics of their parents. =Major Themes=
 * Cecily Cardew- Jacks charge and the romantic interest of Algernon. She is the foil to Gwendolen in that she spends all her time daydreaming about romantic fantasies; she is not what most would consider a mannered Victorian woman to be. She pictures her lover as a rugged "knight in shining armor."
 * Marriage: Both Jack and Algernon spend the play chasing women toward marriage; Algernon cynically criticizing marriage with puns and paradoxes the whole way. Algernon calls marriage business, and says that "divorces are made in heaven (3)." Marriage is a societal norm: business, not pleasure, and a way to exchange wealth and title and advance the morality of society without regard for love or desire.
 * Death: Jack attempts to kill his troublesome and fabricated brother with a chill in Paris, however Ernest pulls through when Algernon arrives at Jack's house impersonating the troublesome Ernest. Lady Bracknell heartlessly decrees that Algernon's sickly and fabricated friend should simply follow his doctor's advice and decide whether to live or die. Lady Bracknell also claims that her recently widowed friend looks "quite twenty years younger (8)." Death seems trivial to these people. They care less about a life lost, and more about the proper procedure of dying, as in the case of Bunbury.
 * Food: food appears constantly, from cucumber sandwiches, to tea and cake, to muffins. The characters use food to satisfy their desires; in a Victorian society, eating is the only fun to be had without bunburying.
 * Deception: Both Jack and Algernon create double identites and lie just to obtain something they want, which in both cases are women. Jack lies to Gwendolen, saying his name is Ernest which is ironic since the word "earnest" means honest or truthful and Jack is anything but earnest. Even at the end, he lies once again saying is name is actually Ernest even though it isn't. Algernon also lies to Cecily, claiming his name is Ernest as well. Both characters feed of lies and create a double identity, becoming extremely deceitful to those around them.
 * Class: Throughout the play, the issue of class arises multiple times. During the interview between Lady Bracknell and Jack, Lady Bracknell asks many questions pertaining to wealth, property and posessions, and origin. She wants the assurance that her daughter is marrying into the same, wealthy class.
 * Individualism: Both Cecily and Gwendolen are extreme individuals when choosing who they want to marry. Although Jack was not exaclty in the same class as Gwendolen, she still wanted to marry him anyway, even though the marriage would not be approved of. The same goes for Cecily. Both did not care for approval, but only made decisions based on what they wanted, even if their choices were not acceptable.
 * The name Ernest: Cecily and Gwendolen are attracted to this name because it alludes to honesty, depth of character, strength, and solidness. However, they do not care that their chosen love interests do not exhibit these qualities: only the appearance that they do. Wilde uses this devotion to appearance and superficiality to critique the Victorian society and system of values to which these girls belonged.
 * Paradoxes are a hallmark of Oscar Wilde's style of writing. He uses these witty inversions to comment on the inconsistencies and hypocrisy of Victorian society, as exemplified by this passage: Jack: “You don’t think there is any chance of Gwendolen becoming like her mother in about a hundred and fifty years, do you, Algy?”
 * In a Victorian society, marriage is an obligation imposed by society. Algernon says that a proposal is business, not pleasure. In his critical eyes, marriage is a convention of society that the wealthy are duty bound to follow. A marriage is not necessarily initiated by love, as represented by the infatuation between Cecily and Algernon and between Gwendolen and Jack. The women are simply attracted to a name, and the men are simply attracted to women. With no real courting, these two couples set themselves up to wed, following the conventions society imposes.
 * Appearance in Victorian society is more important than reality. On page 44, Gwendolen says that "in matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity is the vital thing." She does not care that Jack has lied to her, only that he appears clever and repentant. She does not care that he is not a particularly earnest person, only that that is his name. The Victorians sacrifice all for a positive appearance.

Wilde, Oscar. __The Importance of Being Ernest.__ London: Leonard Smithers & Co., 1899. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1990.