What Changes Lady Bracknell's Mind About Algernon & Cecily's Engagement/marriage?

Aestheticism, Functioning and The Importance of Existence Earnest

Algernon and Jack

"I could deny it if I liked. I could deny anything if I liked."

-Jack Worthing, Act II

"In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing."

– Gwendolen Fairfax, Human action III

"Gwendolen, information technology is a terrible matter for a man to notice out of a sudden that all his life he has been speaking cipher only the truth. Can yous forgive me?"

-Jack Worthing, Human activity Iii

Abstract

This paper links Oscar Wilde's play, The Importance of Being Earnest, to aestheticism, the movement to which Wilde belonged. Information technology explores the idea of performance, specifically, how the primary characters' personalities both change and remain unchanged within these performances. The first goal is to establish Algernon and Jack as opposite characters who are both bogus because they both put on a performance, or pretend to be Ernest. Information technology so aims to demonstrate that artificiality should be morally neutral because every human being is required to be artificial in life. After coming to this realization, nosotros are able to disregard the characters' artificial natures and finally conclude that Jack is moral and Algernon is immoral solely on the footing of their personalities, rather than on any caste of artificiality they brandish.

Groundwork Information

The Importance of Existence Earnest, is truly a product of its time, an artistic attestation to the values of the artful movement. It was first performed at the St. James' Theatre in London on Feb 14th, 1895. This era, the stop of the Nineteenth Century, is typically described as fin de siècle– a French word that literally ways the cease of the century, but which implies much more. Bergonzi notes that the phrase was "applied to a broad range of trivial behavior, provided information technology was sufficiently perverse or paradoxical or shocking" (xix). In order to conduct in this manner, many aesthetes adopted a conscious mode of functioning, as information technology took effort to "shock" others. Their reason for doing then was by and large to disrupt, or counteract, the strict morality that characterized the Victorian Age. The aesthetes, and many others, sought an culling lifestyle, or one that was not subjected to the Victorian perception of morality.

Performance

Performance is a cardinal theme in The Importance of Being Earnest. Both of Wilde's main characters, Jack and Algernon, lead double lives, which means that they are each pretending to exist someone they are not, or performing. Jack creates a younger, troublesome brother for himself, named Ernest, whom he pretends to be in the city. After discovering Jack'due south cloak-and-dagger, Algernon too takes on the role of Ernest, though he is no stranger to the double life. (Algernon had already invented an invalid friend named Bunbury, whom he pretended to visit ofttimes.) Essentially, both Jack and Algernon become actors in their own lives and have to arts and crafts separate performances for these additional roles. When they do become these culling characters, however, they practice not completely abandon their old selves. Jack and Algernon retain many of they key aspects of their original personalities inside their performances.

Algernon Moncrieff: Intensely Wicked

Algernon, as a member of the upper-class, is both idle and indulgent. He never attends to his responsibilities nor does he keep his commitments. In fact, he frequently uses Bunbury equally a means of escaping dinner parties which he has promised to attend. Wilde uses Algernon as a means of criticizing the elite of his order and to condemn the old Victorian values to which aestheticism was strongly opposed. In order to exercise then, he has Algernon deliver many hypocritical lines, such as, "[the lower orders] seem, as a form, to have admittedly no sense of moral responsibility" (Wilde 184). Such a argument would have been extremely ironic at the time, every bit it was the upper classes to which Algernon belongs, that were identified as suffering from moral deposition (Huggins 589-590).

Algernon is also a charming, playful character, which implies that he has a certain knack for performance. His charm comes in the class of many brilliantly witty statements that are intended to both "shock" and charm his audience. In Human action One, he declares, "You don't seem to realize, that in married life 3 is company and two is none" (Wilde 190). Algernon implies that in lodge to have a successful union, one must have another person on the side. He is referring to his own "bunburying," which ways that the tertiary person is actually himself. It is this ambiguity that allows Algernon to pull off such an indecent statement. He is able to suggest the necessity of infidelity without actually committing to his suggestion.

Another of Algernon'south personality traits is selfishness. He allows his dear friend, Jack, to dig himself into a pigsty in regards to the cigarette case, before admitting that he suspected Jack of existence a "bunburyist" all along (188). He is deeply amused by Jack's unsuccessful attempts to muffle the truth and is unaffected by Jack's discomfort.

When Algernon acts as Ernest, these personality traits intensify. Upon his arrival in the country, it is made clear that he volition go along to neglect his responsibilities. He says to Jack's ward, Cecily, "I have a business concern date that I am anxious… to miss" (209). He also continues to care for life in a playful, footling manner. When Cecily calls him her Uncle Jack's "wicked" brother, Algernon denies it (208). Afterwards sensing that Cecily is quite disappointed that this is not true, Algernon quickly retorts, "Oh! Of course I have been rather reckless!" (209) With this interaction he exposes both his ability to adapt chop-chop and to say precisely what one would like to hear, which are both indicative of strong improvisational skills. Since Algernon is aware that Cecily has shown an interest in Ernest, he puts his skills to use in wooing her. He tells her, "I want you to reform me. Yous might make that your mission, if you lot don't mind, cousin Cecily" (209-210). Algernon'south attempts to charm Cecily reemphasize his selfish nature, every bit he does and then without Jack'south permission. Furthermore, he is fully aware that Jack intends to "kill off" Ernest, yet he disregards the difficulties his arrival will crusade Jack in doing so.

Moreover, Algernon's affections for Cecily seem implausible as they have just met. In professing his intent to marry her, he completely negates the cynical remarks he previously made about marriage. Therefore, Algernon's trend to indulge reaches a climax as he throws himself into more hypocrisy. Previously, he was eating and drinking freely, at present he is professing his love for another without restraint. Proving to be the platonic match for Algernon, Cecily emphasizes Algernon's personality traits past mirroring them to an extent. For example, she claims to return his love and admits that she has felt this manner since her Uncle Jack first started talking about how "wicked" he was. She has even given herself gifts and letters from Ernest, which Algernon pretends to have sent, although both characters know that this is a consummate fallacy. This shows that neither of the characters places much value on pursuing the truth. They make whatever appeals to them most at the time their own truth, and furthermore, they are delighted by the dramatics and the performance involved in conveying on an unwelcome love affair. Their resolve to create their ain reality is emphasized when Cecily asks Algernon, "I hope your pilus curls naturally, does it?" He replies "Yes, darling, with a little help from others" (219). Rather than pointing out the obvious contradiction in his response, Cecily simply responds, "I am and then glad" (220). Therefore, Algernon'south personality traits comport over into his functioning as Ernest. Though he pretends to exist more "wicked" than he really is, he maintains most of his own characteristics. His mode of performance is more of an amplification of his own personality rather than the crafting of an entirely new grapheme.

Jack Worthing: Unwittingly Hostage

Whereas Algernon is idle, hypocritical, playful, and selfish, Jack is almost the complete opposite. Wilde emphasizes their opposing natures by having Jack contradict many of Algernon's more ridiculous statements. For case, Algernon claims, "The only way to comport to a woman is to make dearest to her, if she is pretty, and to someone else if she is plain." Jack replies, "Oh, that is nonsense" (186). Jack repeats this retort frequently throughout the Starting time Act, which in turn, causes the audition to identify him every bit their source of sense.

Jack even expresses a certain reluctance to continue living a double life. He claims that he volition "kill off" his brother Ernest, every bit before long as Gwendolen accepts his marriage proposal. Algernon, yet, says that "Zip volition induce [him] to part with Bunbury…" (190). These lines testify that Jack understands the consequences of carrying on such a lifestyle and that he desires to be truthful with Gwendolen, whereas Algernon refuses to take himself and his lifestyle seriously. Jack is as well sincere in his affections for Gwendolen. He professes his honey only afterward courting her for an acceptable corporeality of time, which makes his exclamation much more undecayed than Algernon's.

When it comes to caring for Cecily, Jack is very responsible. Non only does he outline a strict course of study for her, merely he also provides a perfect instance of sobriety with his own demeanor. In fact, her teacher, Miss Prism, claims to "know no one who has a college sense of duty and responsibility" (205). Nonetheless, Jack is not an untouchable, stoic figure in her life. He shows tenderness and general concern for Cecily. For example, in Human activity Two, Jack refuses to milk shake Algernon'southward mitt. He eventually overcomes his own pride and does then, but only after Cecily says that she volition never forgive him if he doesn't (215).

When Jack acts as Ernest, he lets loose a little, only still manages to maintain his respectability. For example, when Lady Bracknell separates Gwendolen and Jack, the stage directions indicate that they "blow kisses to each other behind Lady Bracknell's back" (196). Such an action seems foolish for a respectable man like Jack, just the audition can over-wait this instance only because his love for Gwendolen comes beyond equally sincere.

He even seems to mimic Algernon's indulgent personality to some extent. When Algernon asks why he is in London, Jack responds, "Oh, pleasure, pleasure! What else should bring i anywhere?" (184). We can see from these lines that he is much more carefree as Ernest and not weighed downwardly by the pressure of providing a good example for Cecily. Unlike Algernon, all the same, Jack is not over-indulgent. He only comes to town later he has attended to his duties in the country.

Jack also loses some of his composure in portraying Ernest. When being badgered by Lady Bracknell, who wishes to discern whether or not he is a suitable match for Gwendolen, he initially remains at-home but is still firm in his responses. For instance, when Lady Bracknell says that his lack of family history is unsuitable, he responds, "May I ask you then what y'all would advise me to do? I need hardly say I would do anything in the globe to ensure Gwendolen's happiness" (199). He refuses to requite upwards his pursuit of Gwendolen, but however questions Lady Bracknell in a polite fashion. Eventually Jack does lose his temper with her, which causes her to storm out of the room indignantly (199). By this betoken, all the same, Lady Bracknell has become so ridiculous in her inquiries that one can hardly blame Jack for getting upset. Therefore, when Jack acts as Ernest, he is slightly more playful, indulgent, and less composed, nevertheless he is still respectable.

In performing, or in acting equally Ernest, both Jack and Algernon modify their personalities, yet they practise not fully carelessness their original personalities. Substantially, Jack and Algernon are two very unlike characters; they are almost opposites. This fact will exist important in trying to discern the morality of each graphic symbol.

Artificiality & Morality

Performance, or pretending to exist something that one is non, is a type of artificiality. Therefore, though Jack and Algernon are two very unlike characters, each is artificial as they both pretend to be someone they are not– Ernest. Furthermore, nosotros tend to view artificiality as a negative attribute, fifty-fifty deeming it as "immoral" since it requires one to be dishonest. Under these constraints, both the disreputable Algernon and the respectable Jack would be immoral characters.

Wilde would disagree with this negative view of artificiality and with the consequential negative sentence of his characters. The opening remarks in his Phrases and Philosophies for the Utilize of the Young , are equally follows, "The first duty in life is to exist as artificial every bit possible. What the 2d duty is no one has as even so discovered." He justified such an assertion through the aesthetic belief that life should imitate art. Essentially, this means that each person becomes an role player and the world becomes a stage on which he must perform. A boyfriend aesthete, Arthur Symons, remarked that "[Wilde's] intellect was dramatic, and the whole man was non so much a personality as an attitude… without being an artist, he maintained the attitude of an artist, and it was precisely in his attitudes that he was virtually sincere" (Miyoshi 24). Every word that Wilde spoke and every action he took was carefully planned out in order to portray himself in the manner he desired. He felt it was important to exercise control over one's own prototype, and he did so past embracing artificiality, or by becoming a master of performance.

Though we may non all be masters of performance, we are all performing nonetheless. Therefore if it is impossible to be authentic, how can one exist deemed immoral for being artificial? Wilde and the aesthetes would have resolved this outcome past calling for a complete carve up between artificiality and morality. For them, artificiality was morally neutral. They arrived at this conclusion by way of the aesthetic belief that art should be democratic, or dissever from whatsoever type of moral instruction. Vernon Lee explains, "to capeesh a piece of work of art ways, therefore, to appreciate that work of art itself, equally distinguished from appreciating something outside it, something accidentally or arbitrarily connected with it" (qtd. in Evangelista 5). Algernon and Jack'south performances, every bit well as all of ours, are a grade of art, and equally a consequence, should not be subjected to any blazon of moral judgment.

Inside the play, Wilde arrives at this conclusion by having Jack question whether or not one is truly capable of existence honest and authentic. When Jack is forced into admitting that he never had a brother named Ernest, he says, "It is very painful for me to be forced to speak the truth. Information technology is the showtime time in my life that I have ever been reduced to such a painful position, and I am really quite inexperienced in doing anything of the kind" (227-228). Across the obvious humor in these lines, there is a serious philosophical argument being made. Jack transcends his ain character and speaks for all of humanity. He is simply repeating Algernon's before assertion that "the truth is rarely pure and never simple" in a more personal and purposeful way (189). With these lines, Jack points out how cool it is to be forced to tell the truth because humans are incapable of deciphering and pinpointing a matter as complex as the truth. Essentially, artificiality, a form of dishonesty, is a universal trait of humanity.

Therefore, Jack and Algernon must be judged for what lies beneath their artificialities– their personalities. As discussed above, Jack possesses all the traits of a moral effigy. He is sensible, responsible, and sincere. On the other hand, Algernon is the immoral figure. He is idle, indulgent, playful and selfish. Wilde solidifies Jack's morality by having all of his lies get truths at the end of the play. He finds out that he is actually Algernon'south older brother and that his name was meant to have been Ernest. Therefore, his two major lies, the creation of a brother and his role-playing as that brother, become the truth. This revelation proves that the acts of being artificial and truthful are not necessarily mutually exclusive, as Jack ends up beingness honest despite his artificiality. In a classically Wildean mode, the play leaves us with the paradoxical understanding that the simply style to exist natural is to be artificial.

Clips from the South Coast Repertory's production of The Importance of Existence Earnest. Specific examples of operation as discussed above begin around the 00:57 mark.

References:

Algernon and Jack photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Bergonzi, Bernard. The Plough of a Century; Essays on Victorian and Mod English Literature . New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973. Print.
Evangelista, Stefano. British Aestheticism and Ancient Greece: Hellenism, Reception, Gods in Exile. Great Great britain: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. Print.
Huggins, Mike J. "More than Sinful Pleasures? Leisure, Respectability and the Male Middle Classes in Victorian England." Periodical of Social History 33.3 (2000): 585-600. JSTOR. Web. 22 February. 2010. < http://www.jstor.org/stable/3789212>
Miyoshi, Masao. The Theme of the Divided Self in Victorian Literature. Diss. New York Academy, 1963. Ann Arbor: Photocopy, 1968. Impress.
The Important of Being Hostage video clips courtesy of South Coast Repertory. Video can be found on their YouTube channel: http://world wide web.youtube.com/user/SouthCoastRepertory
Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Hostage and Other Plays. New York: Modern Library, 2003. Impress.

Contributor: Delanie Laws

Source: https://sites.udel.edu/britlitwiki/the-importance-of-being-earnest/

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