The Importance of Being Earnest By Oscar Wilde
COMMENTARIES 1/2
Key Facts
full title · The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People
author · Oscar Wilde
type of work · Play
genre · Social comedy; comedy of manners; satire; intellectual farce
language · English
time and place written · Summer 1894 in Worthing, England
date of first production · February 14, 1895. In part because of Wilde’s disgrace, the play was not published until 1899.
publisher · L. Smithers
tone · Light, scintillating, effervescent, deceptively flippant
setting (time) · 1890s
setting (place) · London (Act I) and Hertfordshire, a rural county not far from London (Acts II and III)
Spark Notes
the persons in the play: John Worthing, J.P.,AlgernonMoncrieff,Rev. Canon Chasuble, D.D.,Merriman, Butler,Lane, Manservant,LadyBracknell,Hon. Gwendolen
Fairfax,CecilyCardew,Miss Prism, Governess
the scenes of the play
ACT I. Algernon Moncrieff's Flat in Half-Moon Street, W.
ACT II. The Garden at the Manor House, Woolton.
ACT III. Drawing-Room at the Manor House, Woolton.
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protagonist · John Worthing, known as “Ernest” by his friends in town (i.e., London) and as “Jack” by his friends and relations in the country
major conflict · Jack faces many obstacles to his romantic union with Gwendolen. One obstacle is presented by Lady Bracknell, who objects to what she
refers to as Jack’s “origins” (i.e. his inability to define his family background). Another obstacle is Gwendolen’s obsession with the name “Ernest,” since she
does not know Jack’s real name.
rising action · Algernon discovers that Jack is leading a double life and that he has a pretty young ward named Cecily. The revelation of Jack’s origins causes
Lady Bracknell to forbid his union with Gwendolen. Identifying himself as “Ernest,” Algernon visits Jack’s house in the country and falls in love with Cecily.
climax · Gwendolen and Cecily discover that both Jack and Algernon have been lying to them and that neither is really named “Ernest.”
falling action · Miss Prism is revealed to be the governess who mistakenly abandoned Jack as a baby and Jack is discovered to be Algernon’s elder brother.
themes · The nature of marriage; the constraints of morality; hypocrisy vs. inventiveness; the importance of not being “earnest”
motifs · Puns; inversion; death; the dandy
symbols · The double life; food; fiction and writing
foreshadowing · In stage comedy and domestic melodrama, foreshadowing often takes the form of objects, ideas, or plot points whose very existence in the
play signals to the audience that they will come up again. The fact that Jack was adopted as a baby, for instance, predicates a recognition scene in which
Jack’s true identity is revealed and the plot is resolved by means of some incredible coincidence. Miss Prism’s “three-volume novel” is another example: Her
very mention of it ensures that it will be important later. An instance of foreshadowing that operates in the more usual way is Jack’s assertion that Cecily and
Gwendolen will be “calling each other sister” within half an hour of having met, followed by Algernon’s that “[w]omen only do that when they have called
each other a lot of other things first.” This is literally what happens between Cecily and Gwendolen in Act II.
Spark Notes
Historical Background to The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest is first and foremost a farce, a comedy of manners whose main goal is to amuse the audience, rather than to make them
think. As a comedy, it is rooted much less in a specific history or place than many plays. Nevertheless, the play does contain a few references to
contemporary historical events, which suggest a troubled society underneath the glossiness of the characters that Wilde portrays. One of the primary
critiques of Wilde's play is that it is form without content, and does not deal seriously with any social issues (this, of course, is consistent with Wilde's
doctrine of Aestheticism). In a contemporary review, the socialist playwright George Bernard Shaw reacted to The Importance of Being Earnest's seeming
heartlessness--he would prefer to think that people are capable of speaking something other than nonsense.
However, some of the topics mentioned briefly in the play indicate larger political issues that were the subject of heated debate at the time that it was
produced. One such subject was the issue of Home Rule for Ireland. William Gladstone created a controversy in 1886 when he committed the British Liberal
party to support Home Rule--self-governance for Ireland within the framework of the British Empire. A contentious Home Rule Bill was suppressed by the
House of Lords only two years before the production of the Importance of Being Earnest. As Lady Bracknell examines Jack's suitability as a partner for
Gwendolen, she inquires about his politics. Jack is a Liberal Unionist, meaning that he is a Liberal who does not support Home Rule. Lady Bracknell appears
relieved, saying: "Oh, they count as Tories. They dine with us." The political distinction matters only insomuch as it affects Lady Bracknell's social
engagements, rather than having to do with the right or wrong of Home Rule for Ireland.
The only reason for Wilde's characters to get incensed about politics is if politics threaten to disturb their hedonistic lifestyle or the social hierarchy that
they have grown comfortable with. The threat of a revolution like the French revolution continuously hangs over British society. Lady Bracknell is
exceedingly alarmed to hear that the imaginary Bunbury died by explosion. "Exploded! Was he the victim of a revolutionary outrage? I was not aware that Mr.
Bunbury was interested in social legislation. If so, he is well punished for his morbidity." Her unease reflects a general feeling of fear regarding social unrest
in the 1890s, particularly after a working-class riot in Trafalgar Square in 1885. The word morbidity does well to describe Wilde's characters' attitudes toward
politics. It is difficult for them to understand an interest in something that is so far removed from their daily pleasures.
In last analysis, it is unfair to suggest that The Importance of Being Earnest is a shallow, universal farce which has no ties to the historical context in which it
was created; however, Wilde's references to the crucial issues of his time are usually overshadowed by his characters' own petty concerns.
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COMMENTARY 3
OVERVIEW:
Ernestness-- that is, a high-minded and serious devotion to duty and virtue-- was a quality advocated by such central Victorian figures as Arnold and
Tennyson, but it was mocked as a trait of the rigidly moralistic middle class by other Victorians who found middle-class values self-serving and middle-class
tastes dull.
WILDE'S STYLE:
In this satire, being earnest is made as superficial a trait as possible; it means simply having the name Earnest. The characters are motivated and controlled
by a hollow and artificial set of social standards that have little substance but are used to maintain social distinctions and social class privileges. Against this
rigid system of controls the young lovers pursue their dreams of romance. The play is structured as a series of verbal fencing matches in which showing the
right form is as important as making one's point. The plot is nonsensical, a mere excuse for causing the lovers some temporary setbacks before the inevitable
comic happy ending. The tone is brightly serious; none of the characters have any inkling that they are speaking absurdities. Even the self-indulgent
Algernon is earnest in his self-indulgence.
ACT I. The opening act takes place at tea time in Algernon's fashionable London apartment. Algernon immediately establishes his role as an aesthetic by
the "artistic" style of his room and by the sentimental style of his piano playing. He contrasts with his guest, Jack, who claims to be seeking pleasure but who
is actually rather serious and plans to propose marriage to Algernon's cousin Gwendolen, who also comes to tea, along with her mother and Algernon's aunt,
Lady Bracknell. Before the ladies arrive Algernon requires Jack to explain who Cecily is. She is Jack's ward, the granddaughter of his adoptive father, and she
lives in Jack's country estate while he comes up to town on supposed visits to his nonexistent brother, Earnest. Thus he is called Jack in the country by
Cecily and is known as Earnest in town by Algernon and Gwendolen. This confession leads Algernon to reveal that he has an imaginary friend, Burbury,
whose recurrent illnesses provide excuses for Algernon to leave town whenever he wants to get away from his relatives, particularly from his aunt. At this
point Lady Bracknel and Gwendolen arrive. After some chitchat about the newly windowed Lady Hanbury, whose "hair has turned quite gold from grief,"
Algernon gets Lady Bracknell to leave the room so that Jack/Earnest can propose to Gwendolen. This he does in proper form, on his knees, and she accepts.
They are interrupted by the return of Lady Bracknell, who disapproves of the marriage on the grounds that Jack/Earnest has no proper family, having been
left as an infant in a handbag at a railway station. Admonishing Jack to obtain some proper parents, she hurries Gwendolen away. But Gwendolen sneaks back
for a moment to pledge eternal love to Jack/Earnest and to get his country address. Algernon overhears and makes a note of the address, having developed
some curiosity to meet Jack/Earnest's hidden ward, Cecily.
ACT 2. The second act takes place in the garden of Jack/Earnest's country house. At the opening, his ward Cecily is resisting the lessons of her
governess, Miss Prism. Cecily keeps a diary of her fantasy life, and Miss Prism admits that she once wrote a novel, though it was lost and never published.
The local clergyman, Dr. Chausible, enters, and it becomes obvious that Miss Prism aspires to marry him. When these two have moved off to take a walk
Cecily is surprised by the unexpected arrival of Algernon, who pretends to be Jack's younger brother, the ne'er-do-well Earnest. He finds her charming and
she sees him as the fulfillment of her romantic dreams. Miss Prism and Dr. Chasuble return from their walk. Jack enters mourning dress and announces the
death of his (invented) brother Earnest. In the midst of expressions of sympathy Cecily comes out of the house to announce that the supposedly dead
Earnest is in the dining room. Algernon, still pretending to be Earnest is in the dining room. Algernon, still pretending to be Earnest, emerges from the house
and dares Jack, through meaningful looks, to reveal the truth that there is no Earnest. Jack orders a cart to take Algernon/Earnest back to the train station for
his return to town, but he refuses to go, saying that he has fallen in love with Cecily. She returns to the scene and they cancel the order for the cart. In the
subsequent love scene Cecily reveals that she has been conducting an imaginary courtship with Earnest in her diary ever since learning of his existence
from Jack. She declares that she could marry only a man who was named Earnest. Algernon rushes of to arrange to be newly christened with that name. In his
absenceGwendolen Fairfax arrives, intending to visit her fiancee, Earnest (really Jack). In a scene of high comic tension, both Gwendolen and Cecily claim to
be engaged to Earnest. As they have tea together and make icily candid remarks, Jack returns, followed closely by Algernon. The truth comes out that neither
of these men is named Earnest. The two deceived young women, now that they realize that their fiancées are two different men, joining together in
sympathy and outrage at the deception. They retreat into the house, leaving Jack to blame Algernon for the debacle while Algernon consoles himself by
eating muffins.
ACT 3. The final act follows without any lapse. The two young women are inside, looking out at their rejected suitors and hoping they will come in to be
reconciled, although the women vow to each other that they will be cold. When Jack and Algernon do enter, there are mutual recriminations, but the final
point of conflict is that neither man is really named Earnest, a name both women insist on as the only acceptable name for a husband. Jack and Algernon both
volunteer to be christened with that name, causing an outburst of admiration from Gwendolen and Cecily. Just as the lovers have been reconciled, Lady
Bracknell arrives, having followed her daughter Gwendolen to prevent mischief. Cecily is introduced to her as Algernon's betrothed, but Lady Bracknell
rejects the engagement until she hears that Cecily is heiress to a substantial fortune. Lady Brcknell persists, however, in objecting to Jack as a son-in-law on
the ground that he lacks family status. Jack makes a countermove, denying permission for his ward Cecily to marry Algernon. During the impasse Miss Prism
comes in. By the wildest of coincidences, Miss Prism turns out to be the absent-minded nurse who had misplaced Jack as an infant, putting the manuscript for
her novel in the baby carriage and the baby into her handbag, which she left in the railway station. As it turns out, Jack is the nephew of Lady Bracknell and
Algernon's brother. Therefore, he is of good family and can marry his cousin Gwendolen. And his original name was Earnest. The play ends with multiple
embraces: Earnest and Gwendolen, Algernon and Cecily, and even Dr. Chasuble and Miss Prism. Earnest's final line is the title of the play.
Any outline of this comedy's silly plot misses its essence-- the witty word play that reveals the disparity between the artificial social customs of English
aristocratic society and this group's mercenary values and shallow family relationships. Everything is evaluated according to its style, its conformity to
fashion.
Oscar Wilde's satire was aimed against the aristocracy, a class on the brink of ruin, clinging absurdly to its artificial forms and standards. Satire and irony do
not advocate a program of change, however. It merely shows up what is wrong.
COMMENTARY 4
About The Importance of Being Earnest
Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest opened at the St. James's Theatre in London on February 14, 1895, only a month after Wilde's previous
success, An Ideal Husband. The packed-in audience rollicked with laughter at the on-stage caricatures. Considered Wilde's best play, many hail it as the
greatest stage comedy of all time.
Part of The Importance of Being Earnest's success comes from Wilde's seemingly infinite supply of piquant epigrams. Though some of the concise, often
paradoxical statements refer to contemporary events (the state of 19th-century French drama, for instance), most are universal, reflections on beauty, art,
men, women, and class; they are endlessly quotable and continue to delight audiences with their blend of sophistication and absurdity.
One feature of epigrams which ensure their durability is that they can be separated from the play's narrative. Epigrams have little effect on the story because
they encapsulate many of Wilde's beliefs on how art should function: above all, art should be beautiful and serve little use. The epigram is the epitome of this
ideal; beautiful in its elegant construction, it is also dramatically useless to the play.
Beyond reflecting on beauty, the play is also a masterful send-up of Victorian manners, especially in regards to marriage and morality. Marriage had long been
an important issue in English literature, and Wilde exposed its manipulative use as a social tool of advancement; except for Miss Prism, all the women in the
play have ulterior motives when it comes to romance. As for morality, Wilde critiqued the starchy facade of politeness he observed in society; he details the
"shallow mask of manner," as Cecily calls it, that aristocratic Victorians wore.
One of the chief sources of humor in The Importance of Being Earnest is the characters' confused sense of values. Wilde described the play as "exquisitely
trivial, a delicate bubble of fancy, and it has its philosophy that we should treat all the trivial things of life seriously, and all the serious things of life with
sincere and studied triviality." Wilde directed his actors to speak all their lines in deadly earnest, without signaling to the audience that they were in on the
joke. While it is in essence a comedy of manners, the play also uses overtly farcical techniques to downplay its seriousness, and the audience is willing to
forgive the characters' irresponsibility and various indiscretions.
Within the play's framework of false identities, Wilde also planted several possible allusions to the male characters' homosexuality. By the time he wrote The