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The Importance Of Being Ernest

712 Words3 Pages

“The Importance of Being Earnest” is a play by Oscar Wilde, set in the late 1800’s. The actors are upper class citizens who are very self-absorbed. Algernon Moncrieff and Jack Worthing are both smooth and deviant characters, and have “alter egos”. Cecily Cardrew and Gwendolen Fairfax are both upper class young ladies who are looking for love. Working together but separate all the same time, sets off this comical lovers quarrel. The play starts off with Algernon Moncrieff welcoming his friend Earnest Worthing in for a visit, when we all learn over a conversation he is actually Jack Worthing. Jack lives in the country leading a boring life. Jack must be the adult and take care of his ward Cecily Cardew. Meanwhile, Earnest (whom is Jack’s brother), …show more content…

When a writer is writing, they must not only see the words on paper, but envision the whole atmosphere and environment around the scene. The writers must be able to envision what the characters will look and act like, stage devices and other theatrical techniques for creating the audience's reactions (Mays 1380). The very first few lines of The Importance of Being Earnest set the setting and the scene for the story. The audience can visualize Algernon and Lane in conversation, while a piano is playing in the background (Mays 1603). Act II clearly sets the scene in the Garden at the Manor House (Mays 1619). Either way, one proceeds to construct this play, whether it be in the movies or on stage, the producer has a clear setting of how to set the scene. Dramas also include conflict, protagonist and antagonists, plot, setting, style and theme. The Importance of Being Earnest theme is Tragedy and Comedy. Tragedy is not only death. A tragedy in this play consists of growing up as an orphan, having to make up a new identity just to get away from the boring life in the country or imagining a romance with a person whom you have never met. John (Earnest) Worthing is the protagonist in this play. Although he is a responsible and respectable young man, he is also leading a double life. Everyone seems to dislike Lady Bracknell, leading her to be the

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This piece is derived from Oscar Wilde’s Importance of Being Earnest. In the story two main characters, Algernon and Jack, get caught up in their lies of being someone who they are not. Jack Worthing develops a method of lying about his brother who is irresponsible and needs his assistance in town often, allowing him to leave his country home periodically to live a separate live in the city. Algernon Moncrieff also has a method of lying for his own advantage, also a fake brother who is chronically ill to get out of his duties of dinner and other societal expectations. He also then fakes the identity of Jack’s made up brother in order to court Jack’s niece.

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He is the guardian of Cecily and wants to marry Gwendolen, but is not allowed to because her mother does not approve of his being found as an infant in Victoria Station, which is a train station. Jack in “The Importance of Being Earnest” tells Algernon at the beginning of the play that “when one is in town he amuses oneself. When one is in the country he

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