TheImportance of Being Earnest
Inthe “Importance of Being Earnest,” Jack Worthing and AlgernonMoncrieff emphasizes on respectability such that they travel awayfrom their home areas when they want to engage in happinessactivities. Jack disguises himself as Earnest n the city whileAlgernon claimed that he was going to visit an imaginary friendcalled Bunbary. This essay asserts that the Victorian societyemphasized too much on respectability to the extent of overlookingthe significance of personal duty to earnestness.
JackWorthing is portrayed as a wealthy and highly disciplined person atHertfordshire. He lives a respectable life, as well as ensures tohelp the needy community members. He is a role model to individualssuch as Cecily, his ward. During one of Jack’s visit to the city,Algernon inquires from him what he had been doing in the rural area.Jack responds, “Whenone is in town one amuses oneself. When one is in the country oneamuses other people. It is excessively boring(Wilde 2).” This statement shows that Jack helped the society toconform to their standard of living, but he was not inspired to helpthem in any way. Algernon inquires further whether he has goodneighbors Jack responds, “Perfectlyhorrid! Never speak to one of them(Wilde 2).” The conversation proves that Jack treats his neighborswell to conform to the standards of being accorded respect in aVictorian society, but he lacked the earnest for doing well.
Inaddition, Jack secretly engages is self-pleasure practices under thedisguise that he was going to check on his allegedly socialitebrother, Earnest, in town. However, he had no sibling in the city, sohe just used earnest as a scapegoat to hide his behavior of engagingin unethical behaviors that could taint his names in the village. Ina conversation with Algy to explain the reason he was earnest in townand Jack in the village, Jack confides in Algernon, “Whenone is placed in the position of a guardian, one has to adopt a highmoral tone on all subjects(Wilde 2).” Jack pretends to be a straight and well-behaved personto earn respect from the society, but he lacks the self-drive formorality hence, the reasons he often he regularly sneaks to the cityfor pleasure escapades.
Onthe other hand, Algernon is a self-confessed hedonist. He reveals toJack, “Ihave invented a permanent invalid called Bunbury, in order that I maybe able to go down into the whenever I choose (Wilde9). Just like jack, Algy is careful to portray an image of aconformed person, with high respect to the ethics of the society.However, he is hypocritical because he engages uses the excuse ofvisiting a chronically ill patient called Bunbury when he wants to gothe countryside for personal pleasure escapades. During aconversation with Jack, Algy confesses that he cannot do withoutBunbury even after getting married, which implies that heconsistently breached the code of earnestness that was highly valuedin his community.
However,at the end of the book, both Algy and Jack reveal their realidentities to their suitors, Cecily and Gwendolen. Jack discoversthat he was living a double standard lifestyle that was not pleasantbecause it was against the ethics of the Victorian society that hewas residing. Besides, as Cecily’s guardian, he needed to breakthe code of respectability by revealing that he had been cheatingabout Earnest, but uphold earnest through showing his commitment todo well. Similarly, Algernon reveals his real identity to Cecily sothat he could marry her. The revelation tainted both Algy’s andJack’s respectability because it proved they were liars, but iturged them to uphold the duty to earnestness.
Wilde,Oscar. TheImportance of Being Earnest.New York: Dover Publications, 1990. Print.