The Meaning Of Lakoda's The Importance Of Being Earnest

Have you ever wondered what your name may mean? My name, Lakoda, is derived from the Lakota Sioux Tribe of Native Americans. Lakota means “friend, ally”, nevertheless the tribe itself was known as Thithunwan in Teton, that meaning “prairie dwellers”. Many names derive from old sayings, colors, and other things to describe oneself. A name can’t tell you everything about a person, but it may tell you some traits and truths about one. Names essentially are used to give meaning to a person, ordinarily a person fills in that criteria. In the play The Importance of Being Earnest, Algernon, Ernest, and Cecily all have meaning behind their names and reasoning for their names that introduces themselves throughout the play. Algernon’s name comes

Ernest is a German baby name, and its meaning is “serious, determined”. People who have the name Jack tend to look at the larger, important, issues and not the delicate details that may be more significant than you think. He is also a Moncrieff, Algernon’s brother, and we find this out later in the play. Ernest’s name suits him well, simply since he doesn’t take things lightly, especially when the girls [Cecily Cardew and Gwendolen Bracknell] refuse to speak with the men after finding out their names. Ernest, who is still known as Jack at the moment, is struck at how heartless Algernon’s behavior is when he “sits there, calmly eating muffins when they’re in this horrible trouble”(Wilde 68). While it may not be his true name, Jack fits Ernest characteristics just as well when Jack takes his chance to talk to Gwendolen for her hand in marriage. Now, asking for someone's hand in marriage is great and all, but in Jack’s eyes, you don’t mention something as “small” as having a ward at your country home, which may cause a problem. When Algernon asks if he’d said anything, his only excuse was that “the truth isn’t quite the sort of thing one tells to a nice, sweet, refined girl”(Wilde 30). Way to sugar coat it, Jack. Furthermore, he is most certainly a Moncrieff because when asked if he knew anyone by the name of Cecily, he responded aghast and with “I don’t know

Cecily is the feminine version of Cecil and is derived from the Roman clan Caecilius , based off the Latin word ‘coccus’ which translates into ‘blind’. Besides being blind to things, Cecily is also the opposite of a “kept-woman”, which is one who is providing a home and money with someone who is in a sexual relationship with, and has more of a “kept-man” than anything. Now, little Cecily, who is in truth unusually tall for her age, is far from knowing when to stay away from a man who is unacceptable. She says she wouldn’t “care to catch a sensible man” because she wouldn’t “know what to talk to him about” (Wilde 42). I believe she is still far behind in the development of wanting someone who is at utmost mature person. Throughout the story, when Algy and Cecily first meet, she does not take into account as to why Uncle Jack had never invited over his “brother” Ernest. Well, Algy, trying only to see Cecily, pretends to be “brother Ernest” and tries to trick poor Cecily into thinking that “brother John’s coldness to him is peculiarly painful” (Wilde 48). This, however, lures Cecily into pitying Algy. Now this is where she finds herself a “kept-man”, which is Algy. When the two of them tell Lady Bracknell of their engagement, she disapproves, but then when she finds out about Cecily’s small fortune of “a hundred and thirty thousand pounds in funds” (Wilde 78), she becomes much more