The Importance of Being Earnest as Earnest as a Society Comedy
The Restoration of the English Theater can be related to Oscar Wilde, the most important playwright of the late 1800’s. He was a famous “figure of fashion, a dandy” (Carter 150), his reputation coming not only from his literary success, but also from aesthetic ideas. His writing career began with The Happy Prince and Other Tales, Tales, a volume volume of tales. It was followed by his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, but the ultimate success came with his plays: Lady Windermere’s Fan, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Earnest. His masterpiece, The Importance of Being Earnest is a society comedy satirizing the late Victorian society. Wilde describes his work as “a play written by a butterfly for butterflies” (Myers 185), referring to the fine use of language which can be understood easily by everyone. Like many other comedies, The Importance of Being Earnest has a complicated plot, which is made up by several story-lines. Compared to the length of the play there is a quite large number of characters. Their lives are connected by complicated and almost inextricable relations. For example, at the beginning Algernon Moncrieff and Jack Worthing are just friends, but they end up as brothers because of the discovery of Jack’s real origin. Wilde depicts all the characters in a ridiculous way, making fun of the “social etiquette” (Varty XXII). The most important characteristics of the figures are: “deception (Bunburying), self-deception (Cecily and her diary), tyranny tyranny (Lady Bracknell’s Bracknell’s prohibitio prohibitions) ns) and aggression aggression (Cecily and Gwendolen Gwendolen at tea)” (Varty XXII). The male protagonists intend to marry, but their ways are barred: “In comedy, something prevents the characters from achieving what wha t they desire” (Gill 240). As Richard Gill points out, “forbidden love and social inequalities are common bars” (241). Jack cannot marry his love, Gwendolen because of Lady Bracknell’s pretensions. Algernon, who falls in love with Cecily, is also unable to marry. Wilde “parodies the bar in the form of two girls who discover they are both engaged to the same man, who in fact does not exist” (Gill 241). The writer makes fun of the Victorian society. The characters are from the upper class, and moreover a typical snob is depicted in the person of Lady Bracknell, Gwendolen’s mother.
When she learns about Jack’s intention to marry her daughter she starts to interview Jack and notes every important detail about him. The Lady is disgusted when Jack confesses that he was found in a handbag. Algernon pretends to be Jack’s brother, Ernest, to marry Cecily, but after a short time he is revealed. Both Gwendolen and Cecily dream about marrying a man called Ernest. For their sake Jack and Algy both pretend to be called Ernest. At the end of the play they even want to be christened Ernest. The girls forgive their lovers quickly; by their act Wilde satirizes the much valued false Victorian morality. Finally Gwendolen’s dream comes true, because Miss Prism explains Jack’s real family background. Everyone is surprised when they learn that Jack is Algernon’s lost brother, who is in fact called Ernest. This chaotic and surprising end is a characteristic feature of a comedy. We know from the very beginning that there will be a happy ending, but we do not know exactly how it will be. Disguise, another device used in comedies, is also present in Wilde’s masterpiece. The protagonists, Algy and Jack use a pseudonym to create their alter egos. Jack uses the name Ernest to create his non-existent brother, who lives in the town and is always sick. Therefore he is able to go in the city without making excuses to his ‘cousin’, Cecily. Jack is actually Cecily’s guardian, not her cousin. Algernon uses his alter ego for similar purposes. He has an imaginary friend called Bunbury and every time he wants to go to the country and get rid of her snob aunt, Lady Bracknell, he just pretends to visit his friend. This is why Algernon refers to going to the country as ‘Bunburying’. Some critics interpret the term Bunburying as a reference of Wilde’s homosexuality and his double life. Continuing the theme of disguise, the handbag in which Jack was found as a baby was place in a cloakroom; a place where scarves, coats and other clothes are left. All these clothes can be used to hide or disguise someone’s real identity. At the end of the play Jack shows the mentioned handbag and his social ambiguity comes to an end by ‘entering’ the rich family. Like in all comedies, in The Importance of Being Earnest there is a scene when one of the characters overhears a discussion: Algernon overhears Jack’s and Gwendolen’s conversation. This is how Algy finds out Jack’s country ad dress, and due to this he is able to meet Cecily in the country. Without this act of overhearing, the events would have happened in a different, and maybe in a less interesting way.
The central theme of the play is marriage. As Richard Gill observes, “marriage is the fitting close to a comic plot” (246). Wilde offers three marriages to his readers at the end of the comedy: Algernon and Cecily’s, Jack and Gwendolen’s and surprisingly Miss Prism and Doctor Chasuble’s marriages. Only the imperious Lady Bracknell remains alone. This happens because she is the only negative character, or with a little exaggeration, the villain of the play and it is well-known that negative characters do not have a right to be happy. Her daughter’s engagement is also a punishment for Lady Bracknell. Comedies cannot lack cheer and good humour. There are three types of humour in Oscar Wilde’s play: verbal, behavioral and situational humour. The verbal humour is represented by the largely used puns and epigrams. The pun in the title is an outstanding example. ‘Earnest’ does not mean only honest or fervid, but here it also refers to the name Ernest. Interpreting the title as ‘The importance of Being Ernest’ it is more appropriate to the plot and the characters of the play. The name Ernest is more important to both the male and the female characters than earnestness or honesty. Not only The Importance of Being Earnest, but Wilde’s other plays are also full of epigrams, which are widely quoted even nowadays. These witty phrases are often paradoxical. They refer to general truths and funny approaches of life. Wilde’s ideas are captured perfectly and they seem to be eternal. Some of these epigrams mirror his aesthetic worldview: art for art’s sake. The aesthetics created the cult of beauty and they considered it a major factor in art. We find a large number of epigrams in Lady Bracknell’s and Jack’s conversation (which is rather an interrogation). From a point of view Lady Bracknell can be seen as a representative of aestheticism. She considers beauty an important fact, follows the fashion at that time and judges education. But on the other hand she cares about morality and family background, which terms are not important for the aesthetics. Most of these epigrams are told by Lady Bracknell: “To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness” (Wilde 20), “A man who desires to get married should know either everything or nothing” (Wilde 21), An engagement should come on a young girl as a surprise, pleasant or unpleasant, as the case may be” (Wilde 19). Not only Lady Bracknell, but other characters deliver epigrams too; like Jack: “The Divorce Court was specially invented for people whose memories are so curiously constituted” (Wilde 9), Algernon: “If one plays good music, people don’t listen, and if
one plays bad music people don’t talk” (Wilde 16), Miss Prism: “The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means.” (Wilde 29), Gwendolen: “I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.” (Wilde 46) and also Cecily: “It is always painful to part from people whom one has known for a very brief space of time. The absence of old friends one can endure with equanimity. But even a momentary separation from any one to whom one has just been introduces is almost unbearable.” (Wilde 39). Behavioral humour appears at each and every character. All of them behave in a funny, ridiculous way. For example, Lady Bracknell takes notes while talking with Jack. The two girls, Cecily and Gwendolen behave like children when they find out that they are engaged to the same person: “You have filled my tea with lumps of sugar and though I asked most distinctly for bread and butter, you have given me cake” (Wilde 48). Algernon talks about marriages and divorces when he bursts out: “Please don’t touch my cucumber sandwiches” (Wilde 9). In Act III Jack also behaves in a ridiculous way; he runs out from the room and returns with the old handbag. All these surprising and humorous manifestations contribute to the comic aspect of the play. Situational humour, the third type of humour, appears many times throughout the play. Beginning with the cigarette case’s incident, Lady Bracknell’s interrogation, to the conflict between the two girls Wilde describes these humorous situations in a perfect way. Due to its simple, everyday language, the play and its japes can be understood by everyone. Beside all these types of humour a comedy cannot lack irony. There are numberless examples of verbal irony in the play, like finds out what happened to him when he was a child: “Miss Prism, […] I was the baby you placed in it.” (Wilde 65). But the device called dramatic irony is more important than simple ironies. Dramatic irony is an element of comic play “when the audience knows a particular fact that the other characters do not.” (Hub Pages). The most significant dramatic irony is at the climax of the play, when Jack announces the death of his brother, meanwhile Algy is pretending to be Ernest. The audience knows about Algernon’s presence, but Jack does not know anything at all. Jack’s ignorance gives a comic aspect to the scene.
This comic aspect is present not only at this scene, but throughout the whole play. Due to this and to all the other characteristics of the play, Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest is an outstanding society comedy.
Works Cited Carter, Ronald and John McRae. Guide to English Literature: Britain and Ireland . London: Penguin Books, 1996. Print. Gill, Richard. Mastering English Literature. 3rd ed. New York: Macmillan, 2006. Print. Hubpages. Dramatic Irony in The importance of Being Earnest Hubpages.com, 2008. Web. 25 May 2012. Myers, Tony. The Essentials of Literature in English Pre-1914. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print. Varty, Ann. Introduction. The Plays of Oscar Wilde. Chatham: Wordsworth Editions, 2002. Print. Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest . London: Penguin Books, 1994. Print.
Works Consulted
Pritchard, David. Oscar Wilde. New Lanark: Geddes & Grosset, 2001. Print. Shmoop Editorial Team. The Importance of Being Earnest Themes Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 24 May 2012. Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest . London: Penguin Books, 1994. Print.
