Oscar Wilde Satire Analysis

Jack illustrates the purpose of deception by using Earnest to escape his role of Cecily’s warden. When Algernon finds Jack’s cigarette case, he is shocked to find the name Jack graven inside. Jack attempts to explain by saying, “[M]y name is Ernest in town and Jack in the country” (Wilde Act I). As Jack, he has to be a responsible adult and take care of his niece Cecily but as Ernest he is able to live the wild life of a young bachelor. By pretending to be Ernest in town, Jack is freed from the restrictions of being a caretaker, yet he still fulfills the duties of one as he resides in the country. While explaining why he has two identities to Algernon, Jack states that being a guardian does not “conduce very much to either one’s health or one’s happiness” (Wilde Act I). Jack has to take care of Cecily, be responsible for her, and set rules and guidelines for her to follow. In his role of guardian, he finds himself unable to have fun, so he creates an irresponsible, carefree

The character of Algernon is clearly complex in nature, if one can get past all of the apparent superficialities. Despite this, Algernon's significance most notably lays in the fact that his idea of bunburying can be seen as a deeper metaphor for Wilde's own double

The dramatic ironies in “The Importance of Being Earnest” add to the humor of the play. At the very start of the play, the readers only have limited information about the characters. When Jack visits Algernon in his house, the readers are taken along not knowing any knowledge of the events beforehand. They learn along with Algernon that Jack has a make believe brother whose name is Ernest, and Jack uses Ernest in order to get out of many situations as well as an excuse to not be a proper gentleman at times. Algernon learns that Jack’s real name is not Ernest, but that it is really Jack. However, the readers are given the privilege of knowing Jack’s true name from the very beginning. Then Algernon confesses to his “bunburying,” which is essentially the fact that he has a made up friend who is ill in order that Algernon can use him as an excuse to free himself from unpleasant social scenes. The action continues when Jack becomes engaged to Gwendolen under the false pretenses of the name Ernest. Skipping forward, Algernon visits Jack’s niece, Cecily, at Jack’s house in the countryside. Here is one of the first instances of dramatic ironies. Algernon introduces himself to Cecily as Ernest, Jack’s younger wild brother. The readers know that he is not, and that Ernest is made up in the first place. This creates humor due to the suspension it builds. The reader anticipates when Cecily will find out the truth, and how it will affect her. The plot thickens when Jack announces to Canon Chasuble that his brother Ernest is dead, while at the same time Algernon is pretending to be Ernest at Jack’s home. Once again this creates suspension because the reader has

Algernon’s stances on marriage, relationships, and self accurately describe his selfishness. Not only does Algernon destroy his own sense of reality, he destroys everyone else’s concept of the truth. The Importance of Being Earnest is meant to make people laugh; unfortunately, Wilde’s characters are so rude and condescending that the reader can have trouble finding the humor. This play is so full of unhealthy relationships that one has to assume that nothing will work out in the end. Algernon is an egomaniac, and there is no doubt that his attitude will rub off on Cecily, Jack, and

Gwendolyn and Cecily act as friends until they learn that they are supposedly engaged to the same person. Then they learn neither of them are engaged to anybody named Ernest, and are friends again. In act three, we discover Jacks history, including that he is Algernon's elder brother. In the end, despite several lies, arguments, and much turmoil, everybody gets married.

They are presented to within a high class of society, with a lack of consideration or care for the lower classes. Both are bored by their high society lives and “stiff” lunches/meetings that they must attend, so have created alter egos which they use to have fun in a different place. Algernon has invented a sick friend called Bunbury, who he sometimes must spend long lengths of time “looking after”, and when in the country, Jack becomes Ernest.

One thing that Jack and Algernon have in common is that they both have these false faces. Algernon’s alter ego Bunbury is a version of himself used in the country but he uses Ernest to marry Cecily. The story deals with Ernest, this immorally imaginary man that both Cecily and Gwendolyn become engaged to, it exemplifies the irony within the name. Most of the irony comes from this character. One of Wilde's satiric targets is romantic and sentimental love, which he ridicules by having the women fall in love with a man because of his name rather than more personal attributes. Gwendolyn said “No, there is very little music in the name Jack, if any at all, indeed. It does not thrill. It produces

Wilde uses a deceptively flippant tone and irony to criticize the hypocrisy of the upper class in Victorian society in relation to living an earnest life. Earnestness as a virtue was of paramount importance during Victorian Society, with people constantly striving to live an earnest life, that is, a life of honesty and seriousness in intention and purpose. The Victorian society was passionately obsessed with the ideals of earnestness, that individuals in the upper middle class were pressured to go to any lengths to lead such a life, even if it meant a difference between what they said, how they acted in public and what they honestly thought. "My dear fellow, the truth isn't quite the sort of thing

This idea of superficiality is later magnified by the evidence that Wilde gives proving Algernon and Jack to not be at all earnest. Wilde takes advantage of the name Ernest and makes it a pun, as both women have the logic that a man named Ernest must be earnest. Wilde ensures the audience knows this and uses this pun to create irony, as many times Algernon and Jack are presented as morally askew, and not at all earnest. On the subject of Bunburying, Algernon says “in married life. Three is company and two is none.” Which states his view on having two different lives, and this is seemingly how he justifies him lying, as he sees cheating as a normal part of married life. There is also the matter of Jack and Algernon’s acceptance of them having to change their names to be able to marry Gwendolen and Cecily. Of course, lying about their names in the first place is a clear indication that Jack and Algernon are not very honourable, but their acceptance of the fact that Gwendolen and Cecily would not have accepted their proposals if their real names had been revealed presents Jack and Algernon as characters who aren’t bothered by the prospect of lying to their wives for their entire lives.

My culture can be considered nontraditional in that my family has always encouraged me to find out what I want to do and peruse it, I was never forced or automatically placed in a particular category or role. My family understood that every individual was unique, therefore my family culture embraces individualism; the ideal that everyone thinks for themselves and has their own mind. Everyone has their own way of doing and going about things. For example when solving a problem I have both uncertainty orientation and uncertainty avoidance. When I need an answer to a problem or ideal that I’m unsure about I tend to gather information from first an authority figure or others opinions, then I go out and look for the information through other sources

Satire at its Finest Satire is using humor, irony, and exaggeration to expose the truth. Throughout the play, The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde uses satire to reveal the truth about the society he lived in. Satire is used to reveal the nature of marriage, a double life otherwise known as bunburying, and social class. The Importance of Being Earnest revolves around the satire of marriage and acts as a primary force moving the plot along.

the characters must create alter-egos to live out the lives they actually enjoy, whilst still being able to keep up appearances and live the life they “ought to.” Except it takes a comedic lighthearted approach to satirize these principles. The main overarching joke of the play is that the fictional character “Ernest” is actually the sincerest version of the person playing him. Algernon and Jack’s “true” selves are the personas they play to fit into victorian society. Both characters only confess their feelings of love whilst under the guise of “Ernest.”

Jack and Algernon start their friendship with deception and lies. In the beginning of the play, they are alone in the morning-room and the lies, between the two friends, is are brought to the table. They have both been great friends for some time now. Jack visits with Algernon in the city where he goes by the name “Ernest”. He feels that going by a different name will let him live and experience a different lifestyle. When visiting with Algernon, Jack has become very interested in Gwendolen. Jack is expressing his love for Algernon’s cousin, Gwendolen, and tells how he wishes to marry her. Before Algernon gives his consent, he wants to know who Cecily is. Cecily is the name engraved on the cigarette

In The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde portrays a relationship between two men, Algernon and Jack, which is filled with constant arguing and disagreement. Their first dispute over a cigarette case is presented early in act one, leaving the reader with a lasting impression of the flaws in their relationship. Algernon and Jack disagree over who holds ownership over the cigarette case leading Algernon to remark “I think that is rather mean of you, Ernest, I must say” (Wilde 462). Being that both of these men are members of the upper class, the case clearly does not have true monetary value to them except to use an a manipulating factor. Algernon eventually trades the case in order to receive an explanation from Jack about why he is “Earnest in the town and Jack in the country” (464). The trivial nature of this strife shows the weak bond between Algernon and Jack. This weakness is reinforced when Jack and Algernon meet again in the middle of the play. After returning from town, Jack finds Algernon at his house and is forced to listen to Algernon lie about being his brother. In response, Jack says “nothing will induce me to take his hand. I think his coming down here disgraceful. He knows perfectly well why” (498). This is another example showing the poor relationship between Algernon and Jack. Jack’s distrust of Algernon due to his habitual lying goes hand in hand with several of their disagreements, further preventing a successful friendship between them.

Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff are both high-class protagonists in society but are lying about their lives to preserve their reputations. “You have invented a very useful younger brother called Ernest, in order that you may be able to come up to town . . . I have invented an invaluable permanent invalid called Bunbury . . . ” (Wilde 1498). Ernest is Jack’s fictional brother, who always gets into mischief and uses him an excuse to go into town. Likewise, Algernon uses Bunbury, his fictitious and ill friend, to allow him to go to the country. These characters enable these gentlemen to retreat from their social obligations. Missing an essential reception to aid their “brother” or “friend,” gives the appearance that they are caring men, which is an admirable trait among the rich, but they are not. The name “Bunbury” is an interesting name