Wherefore Art Thou Ernest?

TKC!

John Mester 1

John Mester
AP Literature
Mrs.Clifford
8/30/12

A Treatise on Earnestness

The Importance of Being Earnest is a comical play set in London, 1895. Perhaps the most noticeable feature of the play is its humor. Many jokes are made, many paradoxical things are said, but Oscar Wilde manages to fit in a storyline between all the shenanigans. Perhaps I am not capable of laughter, but I personally did not find this play too funny. The female characters are capricious and easily change their minds while the male characters are deceptive and will do anything to marry the women.  Most of the jokes are dry and poke fun at the seriousness of the upper class or social institutions in general.

Jack and Algernon are two men that are bent on marrying Gwendolen and Cecily, respectively. Their double-life escapades have allowed them each to live under two identities in the city and in the country. Jack is Ernest in the city and Jack in the country. Algernon is Algernon in the city and Bunbury in the country. To get away from their lives as Jack and Algernon the two pretend to go and visit their counterparts (which they call their brothers) whenever the feel the need. The whole play is centered around the lie that Jack’s name is Ernest (which is the only reason why Gwendolen wants to marry him)

“Gwendolen.

...my ideal has always been to love someone of the name of Ernest. There is something in that name that inspires absolute confidence. The moment Algernon first mentioned to me that he had a friend called Ernest, I knew I was destined to love you.”- Act 1

This lie causes Ernest much anguish and things turn for the worst when he tries to fix it. The story has to do with his name being revealed (or not).

From the beginning of the first act the main conflict is established and continues throughout the play. Jack tries to kill off Ernest in the minds of his country friends by coming back and spreading the tale of his brothers death. But, his plans are foiled when Algernon decides to go “bunburying” under the pseudonym of Ernest. Long story-short, Jack’s false identity is found out; however, in the last scene he finds something that could have saved him all the guilty trouble in the first place.

“Jack

Lady Bracknell, I hate to seem inquisitive, but would you kindly inform me who I am?

Lady Bracknell.

...You are the son of my poor sister, Mrs. Moncrieff, and consequently Algernon's elder

brother.

Gwendolen.

[[To Jack.]] ..What is your Christian name, now that you have become someone else?

Jack.

Good heavens! . . . I had quite forgotten that point. Your decision on the subject of my name is irrevocable, I suppose?

Jack.

...what name was I given?...

Lady Bracknell

Being the eldest son you were naturally christened after your father.

Jack.

[[Irritably.]] Yes, but what was my father's Christian name...

[[Rushes to bookcase and tears the books out.]] ...Moncrieff! Lieutenant 1840, Captain, Lieutenant-Colonel, Colonel, General 1869, Christian names, Ernest John. [[Puts book very quietly down and speaks quite calmly.]] I always told you, Gwendolen, my name was Ernest, didn't I? Well, it is Ernest after all. I mean it naturally is Ernest.”-Act 3

That the main conflict is solved by a last second chance-encounter should indicate how comical the play is.

The last scene in which Jack finds out that his true name is really Ernest is a significant part of the play because the ongoing conflict that Jack’s name is not Ernest ,as Gwendolen would like it to be, is resolved. Jack can marry Gwendolen and Algernon can marry Cecily. It is the final crescendo of the plot in which the main issue is resolved. It ties up the rest of the play as a whole. The play as a whole is vain and worldly, and not very serious at all. This final scene reveals the hollowness of the play- the characters have little depth and the overall irony obscures any possible moral of the story.

“Jack.

Gwendolen! [[Embraces her.]] At last!

Lady Bracknell.

My nephew, you seem to be displaying signs of triviality.

Jack.

On the contrary, Aunt Augusta, I've now realized for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest.”- Act 3

The author is sure to include the title of the play as the last words of the act. It is a comedy through and through.

Works Cited

Oscar Wilde The Importance of Being Earnest in Plays, Prose Writings and Poems. , London, Everyman (1930) pages 450–509
"'The Importance of Being Earnest': The First Stage Production, 1895." Victoria and Albert Museum. Web. 30 Aug. 2012. <http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/the-importance-of-being-earnest-first-stage-production/>.