Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest Take Home Test 1. In the farce The Importance of Being Earnest written by Oscar Wilde, improbable coincidences pile up and become an important factor in developing the plot until the end. A very important improbable coincidence that helps the story continue is that Miss Prism, the governess at Mr. Worthing’s house, is actually the person who stole Mr. Worthing twenty eight years ago. In the play, Lady Bracknell identifies Miss Prism as the one who “left Lord Bracknell’s house … in charge of a perambulator that contained a baby, of the male sex” (Wilde 51). This coincidence is highly important as Miss Prism discloses her information revealing that Mr. Worthing is in fact Algernon’s brother and Gwendolen’s cousin. Another improbable coincidence that helps conclude the plot of Mr. Worthing’s true identity is that his name is in fact Earnest. After the whole truth is revealed of Jack’s origins, he looks through records to find his father’s Christian name which is in fact “Earnest after all” ( Wilde 54). This coincidence helps conclude the play as it guarantees Jack’s marriage with Gwendolen and reveals the fact that Jack has been telling the truth all along. 2. In the farce The Importance of Being Earnest written by Oscar Wilde, the author utilizes shallow and egotistic characters in order to display caricatures of real people. In this play, Algernon Moncrieff is an idle character who merely lounges around and in turn is very shallow to the people around him. In the opening act of the play, Algernon displays his self-absorbed attitude as he cares little of his servant’s personal life and concludes that the lower class has “no sense of moral responsibility” (Wilde 2). The attitude of Algernon is reflective of the shallowness of people and the general misconception of the moral instability of the lower class. Another example of a shallow and self-absorbed character is Aunt Augusta. Aunt Augusta, also known as Lady Bracknell, strongly objects to Gwendolen’s “engagement” as she does not think highly of Mr. Worthing and does not want her daughter to “form an alliance with a parcel” (Wilde 15). Lady Bracknell fails to see the love that her daughter and Jack share as she exhibits the established ideals of marriage to only sons from wealthy well-known families. 3. In the farce The Importance of Being Earnest written by Oscar Wilde, a trivial incident occurs that provides some comic relief but also becomes important to the plot. In the play, Gwendolen and Cecily meet and chat in the garden when a little misunderstanding of the real identity of Earnest and who is engaged to who overcomes the both of them. At first, Gwendolen is under the impression that Jack has a brother as Cecily states that “it is his brother- his elder brother… who is [her] guardian” (Wilde 36). This false conception leads to the fallout of this trivial incident as Gwendolen becomes suspicious of this situation. After this, there is a confusion of the arrangement of engagements between Cecily and Gwendolen as the identity of Earnest is blurred. Cecily believes that Algernon’s real name is Earnest and the brother of jack, and she discloses the fact to Gwendolen that she is “engaged to be married” to Mr. Earnest Worthing (in this case, Algernon) (Wilde 36). This causes an uproar from Gwendolen as she believes to be engaged to Mr. Earnest Worthing (in reality, Jack) which will eventually lead to the revelation of both Algernon’s and Jack’s real names. At last, Jack and Algernon enter the scene amid the continuous argument between Cecily and Gwendolen. The matter becomes clear as Cecily clarifies that “ the gentleman whose arm is at present around [Gwendolen’s] waist is … Mr. John Worthing,” and Gwendolen clarifies that “the gentleman who is now embracing [Cecily] is … Mr. Algernon Moncrieff” (Wilde 39). After this incident, the matter becomes clear as both Algernon and Jack have failed to keep their fake yet much desired name of Earnest. This trivial incident provides for a comic way to reveal important information that is vital to the plot of the book. 4. In the farce The Importance of Being Earnest written by Oscar Wilde, inversion is a popular literary device as it is the logic of the farce and provides a different (usually stupid) way of looking at something. First off, Algernon employs the use of inversion as he deviates from the norm in that he proposes a radical idea of how to behave with a lady. Algernon believes that the only way “to behave to a woman is to make love to her, if she is pretty, and to someone else if she is plain” (Wilde 16). This inversion is quite backward as society has certain moral standards to follow when dealing with women. Another example of inversion highlights the laziness and lethargy of people and provides an alternative viewpoint on the subject. When Algernon converses with Jack, Algernon takes laziness to a new level as he states that “it is awfully hard work doing nothing” (Wilde 17). This inversion provides for some comic relief as it exhibits the increased stupidity of the statement. A third example of inversion occurs at the end of the play when Jack discovers his true identity. After Jack learns that his real name is Earnest, he feels terrible that “he has been speaking nothing but the truth” (Wilde 54). This inversion exemplifies the attitudes of that time as everyone lied about many aspects of their lives, and so Jack feels stupid that he has been telling the truth. These inversions are the central theme of this farce as they provide a satirical and comedic look on society. 5. In the farce The Importance Of Being Earnest written by Oscar Wilde, the writer employs three different kinds of irony in the story to create a more interesting and unique plot.