Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin to unconventional parents on 1854. Like Ibsen, Wilde wrote satirical pieces about society but his talent was comedy. Wilde is best known for his comedy The Importance of Being Earnest that was written in 1895. It was a comedy of manners. John Worthing (who prefers to call himself Jack) and Algernon Moncrieff (Algy) are two fashionable young gentlemen. John tells that he has a brother called Ernest, but in town John himself is known as Ernest and Algernon also pretends to be the profligate brot

Wilde explores in depth what it means to have a dual identity in Victorian society. This duality is most apparent in Algernon and Jack's episodes of "Bunburying," or their creation of an alter ego to allow their own evasion of responsibility. Wilde drops some hints that Bunburying may describe homosexual liaisons, or at the very least is an escape from the oppression of marriage. As a closeted homosexual most of his life that was also married, Wilde was well aware of the dual identities of sexual orientation. But other characters go beyond this; just as Algernon and Jack seemingly "write" their fictional personae of Bunbury and Ernest, so does Cecily literally write correspondence between herself and Ernest (before she has ever met him). Cecily says, “Yes, you’ve wonderfully good taste, Ernest. It’s the excuse I’ve always given for your leading such a bad life. And this box in which I keep all your dear letters” (453). Unlike the men who are free to come and go as they please, she must be mentally satisfied with this fictional identity. That Jack truly has been unwittingly leading a life of dual identities shows that our alter egos are not as far from our "real" identities as we would think.

The themes and characterization I illustrate are some of the predominate parts in both novels. The themes of mask of mannerisms and dual identities help to exploit the plot and suspense in the both novels. Where as the similarities in characterization of Lady Bracknell and Nora help to explain the true strength women and their inherent ability to become equal if not superior to males, where power in concerned. Ibsen and Wilde display a truth of reality in a satirical fashion of a modern drama and comedy.

A position of strength is one way to characterize the Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest. The Lady Bracknell may seem as if she is a senile old lady who is incapable of anything relevant. However, she controls much more than the reader can comprehend from first appearances. Lady Bracknell says, “But of course, you will clearly understand that all communication between yourself and my daughter must cease immediately from this moment. On this point, as indeed on all points, I am firm” (464). She is the one who can approve the marriage b

Some topics in this essay:
Jack Algernon, Ibsen Nora, Lady Bracknell’s, Doll’s House, Lady Bracknell, Gwendolyn Cecily, Algernon Jack's, Ernest It’s, Torvald Nora, Ibsen Wilde, lady bracknell, 19th century, position strength, dual identity, mask mannerisms, doll’s house, importance earnest, dual identities, late 19th century, ibsen wilde, century died, 19th century died, means dual identity, women 19th century,