Summary:
Examines Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest." Discusses Wilde's use of comedy in the play. Contrasts the comedic themes with the Victorian era in which it was written.
A comedic movie, play, or book should have more importance in the world than they do. On any given night if someone were to watch the news or read the newspaper they would see just how dire and depressing the world actually is. It is important to take the time now and then and have a good laugh to ease the tension that the news can cause. Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest is a witty and amusing comedy which conveys real life everyday themes such as real love as opposed to selfish love, religion, marriage, being truthful and country life as opposed to city life. This play shows a striking similarity to many of the remarkable yet amusing circumstances of sitcoms seen on television today. To say that a comedy begins in error and confusion, and ends in knowledge, recognition, and self-discovery is a very accurate description especially when referring to The Importance of Being Earnest.
There are countless instances in the play for the first characteristics of a comedy: error and confusion. Many of these occurrences are involving Algernon Moncrieff and Jack Worthing. Near the beginning of the play Jack and Algernon are discussing the matter of the cigarette case and who it belongs to, this leads to the admission from Jack about his true country identity. Here Jack must explain to Algernon why he is calling his niece Cecily his aunt and why his alter ego is actually Earnest and that Jack is his true identity. Another comical situation is when Jack returns to the country and tells everyone that his 'brother' Earnest has been killed by severe chill when unbeknownst to him Algernon has come to the country that very day claiming to be Earnest. It is exciting to see how the characters will get themselves out of the predicaments they are in.
To demonstrate their devotion to their loves, both men wish to change their names to Earnest since both ladies' are very fond of that name. This makes light of being christened which would normally be dealt with great seriousness. Another time the play makes light of a more serious subjects is on the topic of marriage, Algernon is talking about being married with Lane and Lane says that his first marriage was the result of a misunderstanding, showing that he was not married for true love.
One of the ways that Wilde portrays his wit is with the use of puns in the play. Throughout the entire play is the theme of the meanings of the word earnest, being both the main characters names and also being a synonym of showing deep sincerity. The two main characters appear to be lying in order to be "Ernest" but they both discover that because of a series of impractical but humorous situations they were in fact being earnest. Another smaller pun is seen in the first act when Jack tells Algernon that he is acting as if he were a dentist and producing a 'false impression', Algernon replies with the witty comment "Well, this is exactly what dentists always do" (1888). Also a bit later Algernon says that he has heard that Lady Harbury's hair has 'turned quite gold from grief' since she has lost her husband. One of the best uses of humour in the play is when Jack says "I am sick to death of cleverness. Everybody is clever nowadays" (1896). This is so humours because in fact the play itself is quite clever.
The play ends happily and all the loose ends of the story come together. It also ends with knowledge and self-discovery as the formal definition of a comedy states. Both Algernon and Jack have fallen in love, (which was initially shallow on the women's part) real love and both of the couples are engaged to be married. Finally the differences that separated Jack and Lady Bracknell have been smoothed out.
More importantly, Jack and Algernon find out who they really are and as luck would have it, they are brothers who were separated during their childhood. Jack discovers that his name has actually been Earnest all along "I've realized for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest" (1924).
The Importance of Being Earnest is a fantastic play; it is truly a great work of English literature. It makes light of love, marriage, and religion which are issues that people take very seriously and that is what everybody needs is to lighten up sometimes. Despite the fact that it was written in the Victorian era, the witty comedic themes are still relevant in today's society which makes the play all the more entertaining and relatable.
Works Cited
Wilde, Oscar. "The Importance of Being Earnest." The Longman Anthology of British Literature, Vol. 2A. Ed. David Damrosch. New York: Longman, 2002. 1185-1924.
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