The Importance of Being Earnest

MAIN THEME OF PLAY: CUCUMBER SANDWICHES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Oscar Wilde’s comical play, The Importance of Being Earnest, the main characters undergo a physical journey from the city to the country that contributes to the critical assessment of the Victorian time period and those who partake in the society’s trivial and pompous customs. Wilde questions the validity of the morals and manners of the Victorian era, as well as the theme of trivial details being more significant than the emotional ups and downs that reality brings. The physical journey of the main characters illuminate the act of hypocrisy that accompanies the petty manners that are required to be accepted in the society.

            Jack Worthing’s journey from his city life of being Ernest to his home in the country where he is simply referred to as “Uncle Jack” connects to the title of the play because for Jack it is extremely essential that he becomes Ernest. Being Ernest means that he will be able to marry his love, Gwendolen Fairfax, a pompous and oblivious woman who believes that it is her destiny to marry an “Ernest” and that the name Ernest “produces vibrations”. Something as insignificant as a name can make or break this engagement which contributes to the criticism of the Victorian society because such a trivial detail is more important than the emotional connection and love they share. A majority of the conversations taking place amongst the characters are about irrelevant and shallow topics such as: who ate Aunt Augusta’s favorite cucumber sandwiches.

Jack continues the journey to the country by completing it by saying that his brother Ernest has passed away and he pretends to be mourning the death of his imaginary alter ego while Algernon Moncrieff randomly appears and claims to be Jack’s brother Ernest. Algernon is on a quest to woo Jack’s ward, Cecily Cardew, who is very anxious and determined to meet Ernest. The theme of separating reality from fiction is a major problem for Cecily. She has convinced herself that she has met Ernest (Algernon) before and claims that he has done things when in reality he did not. By incorporating the idea of separating reality from fiction Wilde enhances the ridiculous and pompous attitudes occurring in the play and the time period.

At this point in the play, both Cecily and Gwendolen believe that they are engaged to Ernest. When the two eventually realize that they have been deceived they immediately become the best of friends which contributes to the theme of hypocrisy because a few moments before they were insulting one another, with proper manners, of course. This scene is significant to Wilde’s critical view of the society because the two girls are fighting with one another but neither one of them is allowed to lose composure because it would be “improper” and  “immoral”; so instead of using foul language and human emotions to express their anger they use petty retaliations such as putting sugar in the tea and serving cake although bread was requested. After the two girls had finished their childish argument, they confronted the men and discovered that they were being deceived the entire time and neither one of them is engaged to Ernest, so naturally, they are able to be friends. This scene is hypocritical because the two girls were just insulting one another, and now they are on the same team because they have been deceived.

The final act of disregarding significant topics occurs in the last scene where Jack discovers that he is related to Algernon. Jack reveals the handbag expecting to have an emotional and tender moment of awakening and Miss Prism is in disbelief because she is relieved to have the handbag back because it was a “great inconvenience.” Instead of having raw, human emotions that would be expected at a time like this the reaction is heartless and trivial. Wilde uses this trivial and pompous attitude to criticize the morals of the Victorian society; they claim to have manners and morals, however, when it comes to the important human emotions and topics such as: death, marriage, and realizing you have a long lost family, the society ignores it and continues to discuss silly and insignificant items, like a hand bag and cucumber sandwiches.

The journey from the city to the country side revealed the immature behavior of the characters. Jack’s journey is ironic because he starts off claiming to Gwendolen his name is Ernest and then when he is in the country he “kills off” his brother Ernest, and in the end he is really Ernest after all. The play criticizes the importance of being earnest, because none of the characters were able to talk about honest and serious topics. They were only able to focus on the status, morals, and manners that the Victorian society claimed acceptable.