Lady Bracknell: Algy, I hope you are behaving very well.
Algernon: I am feeling very well, Aunt Augusta.
Lady Bracknell: That is not quite the same thing. In fact, the two rarely go together.
How does Wilde divulge the secret at just the right comedic moment? How does everyone react? How does the idea of being "earnest" tie back to the idea of secrecy AND the overarching themes? How does this idea tie into the concept of Aestheticism?
Use direct examples from the text in your responses. Read you classmates blogs, and see what explore other possibilities.
If you would like to study the play one more time, please check out this classic version of the play:
I thought this play had a lot of hidden meaning and recurring themes. They were very interesting to think about when trying to understand the events in the play, especially the way that things fit together in the end. An aspect of the play that I immediately noticed was the way that this society revolved around the idea aestheticism. The society was pleasing to the eye but it was easy to realize the meaningless nature of life in this time. The people all lived in leisure, going about their daily lives. They did not care about being genuine or honest. For example, Gwendolen states that “In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing.” You can see that this attitude is similar to the attitudes of many other people living in this ignorant time. The author ends with jack stating that he has “now realized for the first time in [his] life the vital importance of Being Earnest”. We can immediately tell that this is a significant line in the play, as it leaves the viewers and readers with a lasting thought on what the writer meant when saying “earnest”. In its literal definition, the quality of being earnest typically refers to seriousness or honesty. However, in this play, the exact opposite is happening. Did Jack realize the importance of being earnest from getting caught about his secret identity or discovering his true one? This entire play revolved around one huge lie, yet it ends by a character realizing the importance of being truthful and serious. In this play, the concept of being honest was trivialized with the many lies from the characters. Most of the main characters use the idea of morality and make it a norm to be lying. Although some of the characters do this in certain degrees, they are all still not being “earnest” For example, when jack decided to solve his problem by killing of his fictitious brother, he plays a part by dressing up and putting on a show for his loved ones. Not only does he do this to solve his problem, he does not have any consideration for other people’s feelings. If you contrast this with the way in which Algernon lies when stating that he is actually Ernest, you can see that he has different intentions. He is not doing this to deceive his friends and avoid repercussions, he does this in order to meet Cecily. Although both of these scenarios can be considered immoral, they are to different degrees.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, I noticed that through the characters Algy and Jack, Wilde demonstrates this idea of keeping up appearances, or making oneself seem better than they actually are. The whole purpose of Algy and Jack changing their names to Ernest was to please and win the affection of the girls. Gwendolen states, “my ideal has always been to love some one of the name of Ernest,” giving Jack more of a reason to keep up his appearance of being Ernest. Algy pretends to be Jack’s brother Ernest, in attempts to become closer to Cecily, keeping up the pretensions of the name for the same purpose that Jack had. Both characters have kept up this lie for most of the play until Gwendolen and Cecily meet, forcing Jack and Algy to reveal their true identities. The girls are shocked and upset, now seemingly friends again, stating “My poor wounded Cecily! My sweet wronged Gwendolen!” Although Jack and Ernest ended up revealing their true identities, if Gwendolen and Cecily did not confront them, they most likely would have kept up the lie. The title being “the importance of being Earnest” is ironic in the sense that throughout the whole play, Jack and Algy are not honest at all, contradicting the meaning of being earnest. Even more ironic, in the end, Jack’s real name ends up actually being Ernest; he was ‘earnest’ the whole time.
ReplyDeleteI thought Wilde did an excellent job with The Importance of Being Earnest; the play was filled with humor, voice, and had an overarching irony that was evident throughout the entirety of the plot. In summary, Wilde centralizes the work around scenery— this theme is active as each character isn’t so earnest. For example, Jack Worthing maintains a double-life in London as Ernest, where he gets to take a break from his busy life and act as freely as he pleases. Behind this alibi, Jack acts in secrecy to keep up with this appearance. The excerpt of the exchange metaphorically exemplifies how though “behaving very well” and “feeling very well” sound quite similar, they are simply much different to each other likewise with the situation regarding Jack and Ernest. Especially at the end, the idea of being earnest demonstrates extreme irony and even pulls together an essential idea of self reflection; this idea continues to relate to aestheticism, an idea we can all get caught up on without realization. Gwendolen, lover of Ernest, exhibits this concept while simply gushing about the name Ernest, “No, there is very little music in the name Jack, if any at all… [Ernest] is a divine name. It has a music of its own. It produces vibrations… The only really safe name is Ernest.” She continues to admire the name without any substantial justification, none other than its alleged aesthetic. Wilde impressively combines all of these small yet powerful messages into this story while maintaining a lighthearted mood that actively engages the audience to read on.
ReplyDeleteThe beauty of Wilde is his real life and his writing are never too far apart. In 'The Importance of Being Earnest', he pokes at this with a cheeky nod to his dual life “hiding in plain sight” as stated in the documentary. He not only exposes himself but the entirety of society saying they’re all hiding a piece of themselves. Wilde simply puts the truth in an exaggerated and ridiculous scenario, two men pretending to be the same person in order to marry the ones they love. In Wilde’s case, he is also pretending to be someone he’s not in order to be with those he loves, that being the freedom to be with men. The exchange above shows this same idea, saying that when one is acting respectably they’re never happy, and when one is happy one never acts respectably. In the play Aunt Augusta embodies society, dictating what is acceptable and what isn’t. At one point she says to “never speak disrespectfully of Society, Algernon. Only people who can’t get into it do that.” This too reflects what the previous exchange; it is impossible to enter society and be happy unless one has a way of Bunbury-ing. If one, like in Wilde or Algy’s cases, is a part of society, then they must act well and be unhappy. Thus, to be one’s true self you cannot be yourself, you must Bunbury. We’re all really guilty of it, having an Earnest which is our truest self but keeping it away from our own day to day reality. This is why the play is still so relevant today.
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ReplyDeleteThe beauty of art is that it points out the secrets within society and people, but doesn’t solve them. Through “The Importance of Being Earnest” Oscar Wilde uses aesthetics to point out the underlying superficial and secretive nature of society. Two men lie about their identities in order to win over the love of the women they want. As Eileen pointed out, Wilde hid parts of himself in his own life as well, making the characters have more personal connections than they may seem. When I first read the play, I felt it was so silly that the men lied about their identity since it’s so clear to readers the relationships won’t last. The women fall so easily for the men without much real conversation, with Gwendolen more in love with the idea of being with someone named Earnest than the person standing in front of her. Although the story seemed so lighthearted, in Wilde’s clever style he was able to illustrate just how problematic society and relationships are. As the exchange between Lady Bracknell and Algernon shows, there’s a difference between behaving well and feeling well. Real people often change themselves to please others, sometimes in small ways, sometimes in big ways. These changes create pockets of secrecy within each person, leading to pockets of secrecy within society. People within the play and in real life are scared of messing up, so lighthearted and easier topics are more often discussed than serious topics that actually address issues. This leaves a trail of good behavior but a trail of bad feelings underneath. It’s natural to want approval and love from others, but in a pressurized society, the measures taken are heightened. Therefore, it’s easy to see the appeal of ignorance for the people in the play as it saves lots of stress, worry and confusion. At one point Lady Bracknell says, “Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone.” The delicacy of ignorance and peace means conversations can also often be delicate and surface level as to avoid ruining the bloom of ignorance, perpetually living life unearnest.
ReplyDeleteOscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest” is maybe one of the most comical and enjoyable plays I have read in school. The smart usage of language and social commentary made this a very fun read. The secrecy and lies in “The Importance of Being Earnest” are manipulated by Wilde not only to create satire, but also to expose the fundamentals of Aestheticism itself. One of the principles of the movement is that Aestheticism involves the art of lying. Deceit, according to Wilde, is just as beautiful and can be as much of a craft as painting or poetry. Through the fibs of Jack and Algernon, the audience understands just how ridiculous Victorian customs Wilde believes them to be. In this play, the comedy is focused on the snobbery and ridiculousness of the upper class. Names, smoking habits, and the number of parents indicate unrelated ideas like personality, wealth, and future. Gwendolyn is so transfixed by the name Earnest that she believes “The moment Algernon first mentioned to me that he had a friend called Ernest, I knew I was destined to love you”. This makes it all the more comedic when both Cecily and Gwendolyn discover that neither Jack nor Algernon is named Earnest. While keeping secrets may seem like a hindrance, Wilde shows how they can be freeing. The Jack’s two names allow him to explore both urban and country life as much as he pleases. It also prevents the questioning of his origin. His art, deceit, is done so well that his double life is established successfully up to his engagement with Gwendolyn. In a way, Jack’s life imitates his art.
ReplyDeleteSeveral times during the play I found myself rolling my eyes. Not in distaste, but instead because of the extravagance throughout the play. The usage of dialogue made it made very interesting to read and follow along. I didn't even notice the stage direction after a while as it was read. The comedy in this particular play is focused on the snobbery and ridiculousness of the upper class. It also exposes idea of Aestheticism as well. It the dialogues, for example the argument between Gwendolen and Cecily, it is very controlled their words. They continue to be diligent with the way they argue with one another which often makes it even more comical. Also, Jack’s life and action imitate art itself. He has everything planned out. From his chosen name to what happened to his brother. Similarly to art, he is able to create his own narrative until he is caught. Oscar Wilde, a true artist makes it a priority to show that art is integrated in every aspect of our lives.
ReplyDeleteIn Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, the idea of lying is brought up a lot. We know how Wilde felt about lying, he spoke out about lying often, especially in his work The Decay of Lying: An Observation, where he talks about how people are now lying for all the wrong reasons. In the dialog, Vivian says “Lying for the sake of gaining some immediate personal advantage.” This makes it look like Wilde is against lying, however, by examining Wilde’s life it is fairly clear that he does, in fact, find lying useful, just in the right space and at the wrong time. It is understood by historians that his mother once said to him “facts really shouldn’t get in the way of a good story.”
ReplyDeleteSo, Wilde’s philosophy was that, lying for amusement, or for storytelling, is good, but lying to actually gain something in life or to make a point is wrong. This ties in beautifully with his philosophy of aestheticism.
So how does this play into The Importance of Being Earnest? Well, in the play, we see the main character Jack, who has created a brother by the name of Earnest who lives in the city and is a complete wreck. Jack is a respected man from the country, who every once in a while, pretends he needs to go into the city to take care of his brother, while in reality, he goes into the city to be his brother Earnest. He is allowed there to be carefree, reckless, and behave very badly overall.
But Jack creates this persona to do what he wants to do: fool around and be childish. So this begs the question; is Jack more Jack or more Earnest? In which persona is he lying? We learn at the end of the play that the main character’s name is actually Earnest, not Jack after all. Wilde’s use of irony in this way creates the argument that, not only is it difficult and useless to lie for your own personal gain, but that now a days people always seem to be lying, being more polite than they actually are, and behaving quite well, instead of feeling quite well.
Lying is pointless and it is important to be who you are inside, no matter how much that goes against society it is important to tell the truth about yourself. As said in the title of the play The Importance of Being Earnest.
Being earnest is ‘characterized by or proceeding from an intense and serious state of mind.’ I find this ironic considering the comedic secrecy that takes place during the play. By choosing the name Earnest, Oscar Wilde humorously, ironically illustrated this feud and secret. The aestheticism movement emphasizes beauty rather than social or political themes in art. In The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde crafts his play for the purpose of humor, with limited political meaning. If he is able to entertain his audience, that is solely enough to create a successful play. The play was set to ridicule the wealthy, explaining that they all lived in leisure, never working and not caring about honesty. For instance, Gwendolyn states that “in matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity is the vital thing.” This further highlights the idea of aestheticism, for outside appearance is more essential and important than the truth or the meaning of things.
ReplyDeleteWilde decides to reveal the truth about the true names at the right rhetorical moment. After the reveal, all the secret identities are revealed and the couples prepare to get married. However, we soon find out that Jack is not the son of who the audience first expected, but rather Gwendolen’s cousin. Algernon then states that “To say nothing of the fact that she is my ward...I wanted to be engaged to Gwendolen, that is all. I love her.” This suspense throughout the play is revealed by a new, unexpected twist that further highlights themes of aestheticism and ridicules the wealthy of Wilde’s time. As Cecily states, “I don’t like novels that end happily. They depress me so much.” This is further ironic because, despite lies and secrecy, the play does end happily but very differently than first anticipated.
I found The Importance of Being Earnest to be a fun reading experience, and a great introduction to our unit of plays and poetry. The use of secrecy and lies within the play were brilliant because they served a greater purpose than to set up a joke or two. The Characters of Jack and Algernon both use fake identities in order to live a freer life than they are able to live during their normal days. This secret is revealed to the other characters at the perfect moment in the play, right as Jack decides to “kill off” his fake brother Earnest, which in turn is also the character giving up his secret second life. His love for Gwyndolyn has convinced him to stick to one identity, of which he can be happier living as. The whole concept of being “earnest” is the idea that you must always be true to yourself, and no matter how hard you try and hide who you really are, expressing the real you is the most fulfilling experience. Jack realizes this at the end of the play, where he learns his family history and that his name is in fact Earnest. This play being a comedy ties very well into the concept of aestheticism, because the play can be seen just for what it is at an artistic value and nothing more. One could also analyze possible underlying meanings behind the characters and their names as I have just done.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point about aestheticism and I think it would be interesting to argue if Wilde truly just wanted his art to be enjoyed or if he, without saying, wanted us to analyze his characters and their actions.
DeleteThe characters in The Importance of Being Earnest certainly engaged in their fair share of hiding secrets. It’s possible Oscar Wilde was drawing from his own life when writing the play in the sense that he had to hide much of his personality such as his romantic partners because society was not accepting of that lifestyle. Both Jack and Algernon have invented fictional personalities to use as excuses in order to retreat to the country or to the city on a whim. Jack reveals how “in order to get up to town I have always pretended to have a younger brother of the name of Ernest, who lives in the Albany, and gets into the most dreadful scrapes.” They are able to splurge a bit and lead the lives they please under assumed identities. This convenient secret quickly raises confusing questions. Who is the REAL person, is it Jack or Ernest? Algy or Bunbury? After all, it becomes clear that Jack’s romantic interest Gwendolen is in love with Jack’s invented character and not himself. Then later, Cecily falls in love with Algernon while he too is posing as Jack’s character Ernest. In fact, it’s likely this identity crisis would have never been revealed if it wasn’t for this confusion over who is Ernest. When both “Ernests” are meant to be in the same place at the same time, they are exposed before the girls. Jack himself admits, “it is very painful for me to be forced to speak the truth. It is the first time in my life that I have ever been reduced to such a painful position.” Who knows how long he would have maintained the false personality? It speaks Wilde’s use of aestheticism as an art form. Aestheticism is art for art’s sake and the maintaining of false personalities is reminiscent of that superficiality.
ReplyDeleteIn Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest”, it almost seems quite impossible not to slip a slight smirk at the debacles and dramatics over muffins, men, and cucumber sandwiches. Wilde, who originally derived from the leisure life of the 19th century, strategically crafts jabs at the upper class by at points, purposely severely exaggerating their extravagance. Jack creates an alter ego of himself, who is ironically named Ernest, so he can swiftly transition back and forth from the country, with family, and to the city, with his love Gwendolyn. Therefore there is necessity for Jack to preserve the aestheticism in his deception and continue to escape the expectations of a proper Victorian society.
ReplyDeleteJack’s false character help hide his true self and supports Wilde’s ideas about lying and truthfulness in Victorian society. As Jack, he comically admits to Gwendolyn that, “to speak quite candidly, I don’t much care about the name of Ernest . . . I don’t think the name suits me at all”. Ernest proves to be Jack’s actual name, but he can't help but participate in activity that rebels against the strictness of the rich. Gwendolyn couldn't be more oblivious to all of this. Aestheticism is Jack’s secrecy, as according to Wilde, “Lying, the telling of beautiful untrue things, is the proper aim of Art” (The Decay of Lying). Jack’s diversions to appear as the city’s admirable suiter, captures how “art and design,” “styles,” “over practical, moral or narrative considerations,” “is the vital thing.” If art was just a series of facts, there would be no entertainment.
Wilde picks the perfect ironic moment to interrupt the flow of conflict between Jack, Algy, Gwelceolyn, and Cecily. Jack insists of a sick brother Ernest but then claims, “I have no brother, that I never had a brother, and that I don’t intend to have a brother, not even of any kind.” Lines later, Wilde surprises everyone, not only is Jack genuinely the baby in handbag, but is also Algy’s older brother named Ernest, and Ernest had “always” knew he had a brother. The audience craves uproar, but the play will continue unbothered, the art will continue to be art.
In Aestheticism, if art is really just for the sake of art, then Wilde’s play ultimately has no earth shattering meaning or conclusion and sharply diverges from the path of seriousness. Wilde’s comical exposure of Jack’s character, his release from secrecy, has no significant meaning to the story, and hardley alters the plot, but simply unravels the suspense building in the mind of his audience since the beginning of the play.Will Ernest ever truly engage to Gwendolyn? Marriage becomes an impossible idea once determining that Gwendolyn is also his cousin. The audience is also on the edge of their seat, trying to guess when Jack will get caught, only to learn at the end of the play that his name had actually been Ernest all along. Wilde doesn’t want his audience to carry such a burden of seriousness. He just wants you to enjoy, the importance of not being earnest.
To be earnest means you are “showing sincere and intense conviction.” In other words, you are very serious about something. This is quite ironic for the play to be named, “The Importance of Being Earnest,” as two characters pretend to be named “Ernest” in order be able to marry the women they are in love with. Marriage is usually considered very serious, but in this case, Jack and Algernon are pretending to be of a different name just to marry someone, which is not serious at all. Basically, the entire play is irony to the title, as none of the characters are being earnest, because they are pretending to be Ernest. Since the play is made to be comedic entertainment for the audience, Wilde focuses solely on creating a plot that is funny rather than serving a meaningful purpose.
ReplyDeleteI feel that this play directly ties into the concept of aestheticism. Since Wilde is not trying to make a play that represents something else, such as including a deeper meaning that can be applied to society. Often times, people write literature that comment on society, and focus too much on an underlying meaning rather than the plot of the story itself. “The Importance of Being Earnest” is one rare example of a piece of literature that disregards any deeper meaning and centers around creating the most comical and exciting plot as possible. The play is just comedic entertainment for the audience, and the secrecies in the plot are made for only comedic intent. This play should be enjoyed for only the plot and the secrets involved in it, as there is no other reason for the secrets other than comedic entertainment.
While some people’s intentions of keeping a secret may be to bring people closer together, in the end, they tend to tear people apart. In Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest,”, a man lives a double life as Jack in the country, his real identity, and Ernest in town, hoping to have an escape from reality. While both personas of his are different, Jack is still able to accomplish his goal and get engaged to Gwendolen, something I found to coincide with Shakespearean comedies. Even though Jack and Algernon had a major misrepresentation of character, their reveal did not cause major issues and left them with everything they wanted in the end. The play ended with them in a better position than when they started. Their secret keeping was exposed to do Algernon’s carelessness and Jack would have undoubtedly kept up with his lie. This is exactly the opposite of being earnest, which is ironically the title of the play. Overall, I was surprised that I found the play often times amusing, and it was easier to understand the humor than I anticipated. The irony Wilde placed throughout the story captivated my attention and left me wanting to read more. Wilde’s use of secrecy helps to convey the overall message and showcases his true intentions behind the play.
ReplyDeleteIn the play, The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, the character keeps secrets in order to benefit themselves but most of the time the secrets end up affecting the plot. In the play, The Importance of Being Earnest, Jack and his friend Algernon has fictional personalities that allow them to go out and not worry about societies views. In the end, however, the truth comes out that they are not who they think they are and this leads to a quick conflict as the character try and resolve the issues this secret caused. The whole facade falls apart when the two worlds combine and Gwendolen decides to drive up to the country house to find Ernest, who is really Jack, while Algernon is there as Ernest with Cecily. Both men have now used the name Ernest to engage with Gwendolen and Cecily. When Gwendolen arrives at the house, herself and Cecily begin to talk and that is when the secrets begin to get revealed. The two girls finally discover that “We are both engaged to be married to your brother Ernest, so it is a matter of some importance to us to know where your brother Ernest is at present” This forces Jack to finally reveal to Gwendolen that his name is Jack and he has never had a brother named Ernest and the same of Algernon. When this is revealed both of the girls unite against the men and walk away together. The overall play uses secrecy to make the play comedic because the reader can sense the trouble before it happens so when the moment finally occurs and the whole scene falls apart the reader could tell it was coming.
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