The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde

Story Summary:

The Importance of Being Earnest is a play by Oscar Wilde about the lives of two young men, Jack and Algernon, and their invented alter-egos, both named Ernest; when pursuing their love interests, the men find themselves caught in their lies as both fake Ernests are revealed.

Reflections:

In The Importance of Being Earnest, the four main characters take great pains to establish themselves as different from the social norm. They each strive to ensure they don’t fall into the category of “typical,” as being typical is boring and unfashionable. Consequently, the characters are drawn to one another and form relationships based upon this common desire.

On page 22, Cecily hopes that a novel being discussed will end tragically, saying, “I hope it didn’t end happily? I don’t like novels that end happily. They depress me so much” (22). This statement defies the social standard in two ways. It can be assumed that the majority of novels written in her time period end happily; Cecily announces her preference for sad endings, because sad endings are less common. Furthermore, Cecily goes against the social norm when she asserts that happy novels “depress” her. Generally, happy endings make a person feel happy, and tragic endings make a person feel sad. Cecily refuses to let herself fall into this standard category, so she decides to reverse the typical emotions evoked from a happy story in order to differentiate herself from mainstream society.

Cecily’s main goal throughout the story is to assert herself as being unique, and she chooses her relationships based upon the same sentiment. Cecily is drawn to Algernon, even before their first interaction, because she idealizes him as being “wicked” and possessing a major disregard for socially sanctioned rules. On page 24, she says, “I have never met any really wicked person before. I feel rather frightened. I am so afraid he will look just like everyone else.” Cecily is not really afraid of Algernon’s “wickedness,” she relishes it because it separates him from conventional society—the biggest disappointment at risk is the possibility that Algernon will be completely normal. Fortunately for Cecily, Algernon defies social standards as well. On page 1 of the novel, he tells Jack, referring to the piano, “I don’t play accurately—anyone can play accurately—but I play with wonderful expression.” Like Cecily, Algernon takes great strides to make sure people know that he’s different from the average citizen and breaks social norms on a regular basis.

Jack and Gwendolyn also establish their desire to escape monotonous social standards. Jack quite blatantly vocalizes this desire several times throughout the play, saying things such as, “For Heaven’s sake, don’t try to be cynical. It’s perfectly easy to be cynical,” and, “I am sick to death of cleverness. Everybody is clever now-a-days” (7 & 16). Jack feels the need to make sure his comrade knows his utmost disdain for the average. Gwendolyn illustrates the same sentiment as well, saying, “I have known several Jacks, and they all, without exception, were more than usually plain. Besides, Jack is a notorious domesticity for John! And I pity any woman who is married to a man called John.” (11) Gwendolyn decides she could never be with a man who has such a common name as “Jack” or “John,” because it’s not fashionable to be like everybody else. In this sense, Jack and Gwendolyn are a perfect match, just as Algernon and Cecily are; each character despises the idea of being “typical,” and seek what is atypical.

Words: 537