The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde: First Impressions

My first impression of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde is that it is very amusing and comical. This play by Wilde is a complete 180º turn from Wilde’s other novel that we read this year, The Picture of Dorian Gray. Contrary to this novel, The Importance of Being Earnest is a lighthearted and flippant comedy that reveals Wilde’s clever and witty side, while also entertaining readers by mocking society and people’s ridiculous affairs. So far, this play has been quite humorous and the characters are eccentrically funny, especially Lady Bracknell (who’s actually my favorite character so far). Although this play is “A Trivial Comedy for Serious People” (haha), it still possesses significance in portraying the ambiguousness of identity (especially in Jack), deception, and the dynamic between known and unknown truths.

Wilde immediately presents the interplay between the serious and trivial in Act I. Wilde introduces us to a society where the characters’ language is unconventional and highly intricate. This is particularly true in Algernon, who is full of sharp and shrewd criticism, as well as ironic humor. Algernon is a very interesting character to say the least. He is full of witty comments and his insults are so perfectly disguised in elegance and refinement that they are hard to detect. Also, in the Act I, Wilde emphasizes the concept of a double life in the protagonist, who is “Ernest in town and Jack in the country.” In a sense, Wilde highlights the distinction between public and private life in Victorian society, since appearance is so highly esteemed. Wilde captures the importance of appearances in society during this time prominently through Jack’s character and his deceiving image of being an upper class citizen when in fact, he literally does not know his identity (his parentage).

In fact, Jack’s ambiguous identity is appalling to Lady Bracknell, who believes social ranking and relations is of the utmost importance. Once again, Wilde uses Lady Bracknell’s beliefs regarding the insignificance of one’s genuine goodness in order to make fun of the values of London society. Similarly, Wilde also satirizes Victorian society’s fixation with image and façades through Gwendolyn, a young woman who is completely infatuated with Ernest…..’s name. Not with Ernest himself, but his name because it is oh so romantic! Clearly, Wilde is sending a big fat message about Victorian society and this time, it is not quite so subtle, but rather, as plain as day. This scene made me ponder, is Ernest really earnest? He’s not very honest with himself, but is he honest with others despite the fact that he is masking his true identity? Does he even know his own identity?

On another note, Lady Bracknell is a very intimidating woman (or so it seems) whose comments are very complex and inventive, especially in her conversation with Jack when she remarks that, “To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness,” which is an incredibly absurd and insensitive thing to say. However, Lady Bracknell clearly cares less about seeming polite, as much as she cares about Jack’s personal affairs. Although this scene with Lady Bracknell and her excessively shameless attitude is highly amusing, I was concerned for Jack because he has to put up with this brash woman in order to be able to marry Gwendolyn.