The comedy of manners

The importance of Being Earnest

Oscar Wilde

One of the most important figures in the British literature is Oscar Wilde, a talented writer, poet

and aesthete during Queen Victoria’s authority. His education is overwhelming since he

followed different well known universities such as Dublin or Oxford. The artistic skills and pure

imagination he detained represented the background for a flourishing writer career. Among his

famous works there is the novel “The picture of Dorian Gray”, or “The Happy Prince”, a story

dedicated to children generally. But his theatrical success was brought by “The Importance of

Being Earnest”, a comedy of manners in 3 acts.

During the long regency of Queen Victoria, the British society suffered different

important changes, such as industrialization, the territorial expansion, the imperial expansion

and a bigger democracy. Even though people were generally very poor, there were exceptions

where other persons used to have a quite bohemian life. The society reached a point when

superficial aspects played a more important role than deeper qualities. There was not a

balanced connection between morality and authenticity. The Victorian social mores were at a

standstill where people who didn’t have success were considered insignificant. Another strong

belief was dominant in the sexual matters, marked by the Puritanism, where guilt and hypocrisy

were not missing from the daily life.

Many writers criticized those times and the society in discussion, in theatrical plays

(comedies especially). “The Importance of Being Earnest” is one suitable example, as Wilde

captures and transfigures many of the Victorian virtues. The play was an artistic breakthrough

and was centered on one protagonist Jack Worthing, a correct and respected figure in

Hertfordshire, where he is the guardian of Cecily Cardew, a wealthy nineteen year-old girl.

Apparently he has got a brother, Ernest, an opposite personality, who, as we find out later, is

Jack himself. The play brings into light the idea of a double life, in order to increase the heavy

criticism of the Victorian period, when people, obliged to obey certain uncomfortable rules or

virtues try to find ways of running away from those boundaries. The new concept brought here

is “Bunbury”, the imaginary friend of Jack’s best friend, Algernon Moncrieff. Both Jack and

Algernon created these to persons to evade from the daily routine, to have an excuse to be able

to act according to their own pleasure and will, not according to what society demands. The

difference between these two characters is that Algernon admits he is a Bunburyist, while Jack

totally disagrees with the concept.

The plot is very winding, as the reader finds out information that completely changes

the character’s life. Algernon is the nephew of Lady Bracknell and he has got a cousin named

Gwendolen Fairfax. On the other hand, Jack is in love with Gwen, but Algernon doesn’t agree

with this possible marriage since he suspects Jack of being a Bunburyist. Also, Algernon falls in

love with Cecily, whose governess is Miss Prism. We find out that Jack was abandoned by his

parents when he was a child and therefore Lady Bracknell totally disagrees with the relationship

between him and Gwen. In the end, as the secrets come out, it turns out that Jack is Lady

Bracknell’s sister son, so he is the brother of Algernon. One important detail that must be

mentioned is that both Jack and Algernon used the name “Earnest” in order to reach to their

beloved girls’ heart.

Jack calls himself Earnest everytime he is around Gwendolen, as she fell in love with this

name. She claims that she could never marry somebody who is not called Earnest. Therefore

since Jack started this game, he has to continue playing after the rules, if he doesn’t want to

lose Gwendolen’s attention. She claims that this name “has a music of its own” and that it

“inspires absolute confidence”. Furthermore, Cecily seems to be so alike when it comes about

this “Ernest” obsession. When Algernon went to her dressed as Earnest, she didn’t hesitate to

reply to his love feelings. But she automatically established the same restriction: her feelings

can only be shared with a person names Earnest. Cecily, same as Gwendolen, believe that

Earnest “inspires absolute confidence”.

We can notice that the plot is being built around 4 figures, which shape many parallel

patterns. On the one hand, if we observe Jack and Algernon, it is easy to notice the striking

resemblance in their behavior: both invented a second “personality” to escape from their own

life, both used the name “Earnest” to reach their targets and both were thinking about the idea

of being rechristened for the sake of the desired women. On the other hand, Cecily and

Gwendolen set priority on superficial values rather than on deep and natural qualities. They

both long for a man named Earnest, without taking into consideration a man’s personality,

behavior or background. Cecily is also cunning when it comes about using her imagination and

creativity. When Algernon comes to her house dressed as Earnest, he finds out that she has

already written a diary where she invented a whole relationship between them (she received

letters from him, they acted as if they were engaged, they also went through a break up). It

looks like having many identities was something common those times and anybody could

practice it.

Lady Brecknell is the mean character in the play. She throws evil phrases, she only takes

into consideration superficial aspects of life and has a very blunt behavior. One proof is her

reaction when she found out that Jack is an orphan and he has been abandoned as a child. If

before she could consider agreeing the marriage between Gwendolen and him, this information

completely changed her opinion. The shift of the action is prominent when Jack discovers his

true identity, as he is a relative of Lady Bracknell.

Among the themes of the play, the most important is the one connected to morals and

morality. The behavior of the characters is a rich source of comedy. They flaunt the moral

strictures of the day, without ever behaving beyond the pale of acceptable society. Wilde

makes fun of the whole Victorian idea of morality as a rigid body of rules about what people

should and shouldn’t do. These restrictions and assumptions suggest a strict code of morals

that exists in Victorian society. One example is Miss Prism who fakes a headache only to have

the opportunity to go to a walk with Canon Chasuble (who she is in love with). Moreover, there

are Jack and Algernon who faked their own identity and lied all the persons around them.

Wilde’s characters are stereotypes and most of them lead a double life: the formidable

dowager, sweet ingénue, fussy clergyman and so on and so forth.

Marriage is another important aspect in the Victorian age, as women did not have a

significant role in the society, unless they were wealthy enough. Wilde ridicules women who

choose their life partner depending on their name, which basically plays no role in a

relationship. The characters debate marriage as being pleasant or unpleasant and serious

issues seem not to affect the relationship between partners (such as Jack’s secret of having a

double life or Algernon’s guts of pretending to be someone else in front of Cecily). The

characters seem to neglect the real aspects of a happy life. Instead, they set as priorities

shallow demands or aspects. The paradox is that though Jack, Gwendolen or Canon set a big

price on honesty and sobriety, they act vice versa, being hypocrites and superficial.

The title holds the entire clue of the play. Still, its meaning comes only in the end of the

play, after the whole chaos is settled. It is important to mention here that the meaning of

“earnest” is very important, as it has many different interpretations. On the one hand, it is

related to seriousness and trust or sincerity. The paradox lays in the attribution of this name to

a person who basically faked a human life, who pretended to be someone that he is not. It is

true that in the end Jack finds out that his true name is Earnest, but still he did lie, since he did

not know his origins when he started the whole chaos. The second meaning of the word is

related to serious and sincere intentions. Both Jack and Algernon used this name to fulfill their

amorous intentions, which we can label as sincere. Finally, another meaning refers to someone

who shows determination and strong feelings towards something, who shows interest in

reaching his targets. After Gwendolen and Jack are given the consent of getting married, after

Algernon can propose Cecily and after Miss Prism and Dr. Chasuble find their peace, Jack comes

with the summarizing line, where he acknowledges that he discovered the importance of being

Earnest.

To sum up, even though it criticizes the Victorian society, “The Importance of Being

Earnest” is not a satire. It is centered on people’s behavior, on their ridiculous values or

immature ideas, the absurdity of the aristocracy, and the triviality of marriage. The play was a

huge success the time it appeared. Though Wilde has had already shaped a certain artistic

value, this play underlined his natural talent. I believe that Wilde managed to depict realistically

enough different Victorian aspects and any reader can settle into shape general ideas about

that era by reading this play. It is both a proof of skill and deep understanding of reality.