Algernon And The Importance Of Being Earnest Essay

The importance of being earnest is a satirical play, as such, most of its humor comes from poking fun at some of the customs of the time. One such example is diaries. Algernon, while playing the part of Jack’s mischievous brother Earnest, reveals to Cecily of his emotions and feelings of her. She then proceeds to take out her diary and begins writing all that Algernon is saying. It is a bit irregular to reveal ones diary and then write in it all that is happening while it is still happening. This contradicts with a diary’s original purpose, to write down the thoughts and feelings felt after the event. Then to reveal that the diary will be published is also contradictory to diary’s further expanding the humor of the situation, also further expanded by the abnormal dialogue happening, Algernon’s words and Cecily’s interpretation of them further add to the humor.

Cecily then proceeds to exclaim to Algernon that she cannot accept his proposal for marriage because they are already engaged. This then results in Algernon and the audience learning that Cecily may not be as normal as first believed. She reveals to Algernon that she has played the role of Earnest and of herself and that, through her, Earnest proposed to her in February and she accepted. Although this in itself is irregular, it gets worse, as she continues to explain that he was on her mind a lot and that, through her, they wrote to each other and a relationship was made. It gets worse, as she explains that the engagement was broken off, and in no time, was reinstated. This is as satirical as it gets, this is above and beyond of poking fun at the social conventions of the time. It is ironic and inexplicable how, through Cecily, marriage and engagement is made into a joke, as she believes that in order for an engagement to be a “serious” engagement, it has to be called off at least