The importance of being earnes
The importance of being earnes“The Importance of Being Earnest” By Oscar Wilde.
In “The Importance of Being Earnest”, Oscar Wilde pairs characters and he also splits his characters into two contrasting groups. Explain how he does this and why.
“The Importance of Being Earnest” is a play of childlike innocence and nonsense. In order to present this to the audience Wilde had to be simple, and therefore, he uses seven main characters in the play, which he simply pairs and contrasts. Wilde pairs characters through their values, ‘ideals’ and relation. However, opposing traits form the contrasting groups. Initially, Wilde’s approach is not easily identified until Act 2 when all the characters have been introduced to the audience. It is here, where the audience begins to pair and contrast the characters.
The first pair in the play are Jack and Algernon who are both “Bunburyists” leading double lives. Algernon has invented an “invaluable permanent invalid called “Bunbury”, which enables him to go on pleasure trips to the country. On the other hand, Jack has created a fictitious brother named Ernest in order to go to the city whenever he wishes. At the start of the play, we find that Jack wants to marry Gwendolen Fairfax whom he adores greatly. Moreover, in Act 2 the audience sees Algernon proposing to Cecily Cardew: “I love you, Cecily. You will marry me, won’t you?” However, it has always been Cecily’s and Gwendolen’s ideal to marry someone of the name Ernest. As a result, both men think of being christened first when proposing: “I must get christened at once.” In Act 2 they look to Dr Chasuble to rechristen them Ernest, arguing that “We both can’t be christened Ernest.” In the play, both men commit ‘murder’. Early on in the play Jack promises to kill off his fictitious brother if Gwendolen accepts him: “If Gwendolen accepts me, I am going to kill my brother.” Algernon is left with no choice but to kill Bunbury when his life is exposed in Act 2: “I killed Bunbury this afternoon.” In many respects, Jack and Algernon are the same, it is therefore, significant that they are actually brothers in the end: “I have a brother after all.”
Wilde also pairs Gwendolen and Cecily together. Both women find beauty in the name Ernest and claim it has always been their ideal to marry someone of that name. They think any other name does not provide the confidence as Ernest: “It had always been a girlish dream of mine to love someone whose name was Ernest.” As the play progresses, it is evident that Cecily and Gwendolen possess some level of vanity. Cecily likes to hear Algernon talk about her beauty and love for her, whilst Gwendolen enjoys being the centre of attention, looking for admiration: “I hope you will always look at me just like that, especially when there are other people present.” Gwendolen is the daughter of Lady Bracknell who has a high position in society. Similarly, Cecily is the daughter of Mr Thomas Cardew and has a substantial amount of money in her funds. In addition, both women have been brought up to be proper ladies. They have not been allowed to experience many things, making their lives very sheltered: “I have never met any really wicked person before.” Clearly, Cecily and Gwendolen have similar traits and it seems appropriate that they should call each other ‘sisters’ when they first meet: “You will call me sister, will you not.”
Miss Prism and Dr Chasuble are comparable. Both characters make references to the Church. Dr Chasuble is a keen follower of the Primitive Church and Anabaptists, whilst Miss Prism repeats, “As a man sows so let him reap”, to impress the learned Dr who has a Doctorate of Divinity. Miss Prism and Dr Chasuble are also guardians of the moral code. Miss Prism strongly disapproves of the immoral character of Jack’s fictitious brother Ernest and the Primitive Church is clearly against marriage. Dr Chasuble and Miss Prism are single, yet they secretly want to marry each other. Their sexual inexperience leads them to make slips of the tongue that reveal deep and repressed sexual longings: “Were I fortunate enough to be Miss Prism’s pupil, I would hang upon her lips” and “Maturity can always be depended on. Ripeness can be trusted. Young women are green.”
It is possible to pair Lady Bracknell and Miss Prism together. They both have high moral codes and they are both representatives – Lady Bracknell of the town and Miss Prism of the countryside. Although they are from different backgrounds, the characters have similar standards. Miss Prism is the embodiment of the Victorian middle class code of duty and morality. She is considered to be a stiff and intellectual person. On the other hand, Lady Bracknell is keen to maintain and strengthen her superior social position. Similarly, Lady Bracknell and Miss Prism want the best from their younger wards – Lady Bracknell of Gwendolen and Algernon and Miss Prism of Cecily.
It can be argued that Lady Bracknell is the only character who is not part of a pair. She stands opposed to marriages in the play, disagreeing about the marriages of Algernon and Gwendolen and Cecily and Jack. Lady Bracknell has her own code of behaviour, which is that of British aristocracy, and throughout the play the audience sees Lady Bracknell attempting to impose to her values on to other characters. Clearly, she is a dictative character and Wilde uses Lady Bracknell to satirise upper class values in Victorian society. Above all, she is concerned with wealth and is keen to marry Algernon in to a wealthy family. For example, at first, Lady Bracknell opposes the marriage of Algernon and Cecily until she hears about Cecily’s wealth: “A hundred and thirty thousand pounds! And in the funds! Miss Cardew seems to me a most attractive young lady.” When questioning Jack, Wilde presents Lady Bracknell’s high standards. She comments on society and is shocked to hear that Jack does not know who his parents are: “You can hardly imagine… to marry into a cloak room, and from an alliance with a parcel?”
Wilde contrasts Jack, Gwendolen, Algernon and Cecily against Miss Prism and Dr Chasuble. The first group are all young, childish, pleasure seeking and unafraid to express their feelings. In contrast, the second group follows a strict moral code, are religious, have high standards and are embarrassed about showing their feelings. Jack is 29 years old yet still acts like a child playing adult game. Gwendolen does not act in an adult way. She only wishes to marry Jack because of his name. Cecily is indeed a child in her playful, irresponsible attitude towards life as is evident to the audience from her first appearance as the pupil of Miss Prism. Cecily behaves like a stubborn child, refusing to work and throwing books. Cecily also plays childish games – writing letters to herself and planning her engagement to Ernest shows how she dreams like a little girl. The first group also plays childish games with each other. Jack and Algernon fight like two infants over a plate of muffins whilst Cecily and Gwendolen argue over tea and cakes. When proposing, Jack, Algernon, Cecily and Gwendolen clearly express their love: “Miss Fairfax, ever since I met you I have admired you more than any girl…” and “You are the prettiest girl I ever saw.” However, Dr Chasuble and Miss Prism find it impossible to admit their true feelings to one another. There is sexual tension between the two characters.
It is also possible to contrast Jack, Cecily and Gwendolen against Algernon, Miss Prism and Dr Chasuble. The former group being childish in behaviour and wearing masks. The latter group being gay and pleasure seeking and nonsensical in dialogue. In Act 2 Dr Chasuble says Jack “is not one of those whose sole aim is enjoyment”, and in contrast, in Act 1 Jack tells Algernon, “Algy, you always adopt a strict immoral attitude towards life.” Jack, Cecily and Gwendolen are characters who can be said to wear masks of Victorian morality because they only behave morally when their social environment forces them to. For example, Jack's real personality emerges when he goes to London on pleasure trips. In Act 3, Algernon makes it clear that he puts happiness first: “I don’t care two pence about social responsibilities.” In addition, Miss Prism’s name Laetitia means “joy” or “happiness” in Latin. Throughout the play Algernon says many nonsensical statements: “It is awfully hard work doing nothing.”
Wilde paired and contrasted his characters to achieve simplicity and create an atmosphere of nonsense and innocence. Wilde wanted focus to fall on dialogue and the play’s main plot. Many characters and complex dialogue would have drawn the audience’s attention away from the mood Wilde wanted to create. Moreover, Wilde used the basic method of pairing and contrasting to satirise Victorian values. Each pair reflects or upholds a standard or value and it was clear to see this on stage due to Wilde’s simplicity.