(855) 4-ESSAYS

Type a new keyword(s) and press Enter to search

Marriage in The Importance of Being Earnest

            The Importance of Being Earnest is a famous play by Oscar Wilde. It describes a story of two young men who get tired of their daily lives and want to experience something new. They create two names for non-exist identities to cheat both themselves and others. Although everything happens accidently the same as they plan in the end, they learn that it is always important to be earnest. The whole play is full of great humor, and Wilde tries to express the importance of being earnest through different ways in the play. In this essay, I try to explore what different attitude each character holds and how it changes with plot development.
             The first two characters are Gwendolen and Cecily. In the beginning, their attitude towards marriage is naive. As time goes by, it gradually becomes mature. At first, their visions of love are ideal. Cecily falls in love with a person named "Earnest" although she never saw him before, and Gwendolen is also stuck on Jack at once without deeper understanding of him. For example, Cecily writes in her dairy that: "Worn out by your entire ignorance of my existence, I determined to end the matter one way or the other, and after a long struggle with myself I accepted you under this dear old tree here. The next day I bought this little ring in your name, and this is the little bangle with the true lovers' knot I promised you always to wear" (2.332). Cecily has obviously immersed into her imagine where she falls in love with Ernest. It is in an ideal situation that she never knows whether Ernest is a good person. When the lies of Algernon and Jack are exposed, the reaction of both Cecily and Gwendolen is showing sympathy to each other. "My poor wounded Cecily!" "My sweet wronged Gwendolen!" (2.337). They feel the two young men fool them, and the lies destroy their imagines about the young men. But eventually, the true love conquers prejudices.


Essays Related to Marriage in The Importance of Being Earnest

1. Oscar Wilde - The Importance of Being Earnest

... Bracknell adamantly refuses given Jack social status. This instance exemplifies Wilde's theory that Victorian society focuses strictly on trivial matters instead of those regarded as serious. Lady Bracknell is the quintessence of society in the Victorian era. She believes that social status is of the utmost importance and that marrying someone without money is absurd. When she finds out that her nephew, Algernon intends to marry Jack's ward ... that should just simply be taken care of. The comedy, "The Importance of Being Earnest," satirizes the statutes of Victorian society. Through hi...

  • Word Count: 732
  • Approx Pages: 3

2. Importance of being earnest

... certainly try to forget the fact." Algernon is being completely illogical about marriage. To be married to someone is a life altering commitment that can't just be forgotten. The play, The Importance of Being Earnest, uses epigrams, satire, and irony to convey the absurdity of the Victorian Aristocrats. Through the play he shows how the high society feels about minor and major issues in life. The minor issues have a large influence while the major issues seem to not ... factor in at all. Oscar Wilde ... ...

  • Word Count: 627
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Importance of Being Earnest

... the women. After Lady Bracknell finally gives marriage consent to Jack and Gwendolen, Jack finds out that he is the son of Lady Bracknell's sister and older brother of Algernon. Then, to everyones surprise, both Algernon and Jack find out they are named Earnest because their father in the military was named Earnest. The play ends on a peaceful note and they live happily ever after. One major theme in The Importance of Being Earnest is the use of ... satire. Throughout the play, the word earnest serves ... ...

  • Word Count: 525
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

4. The importance of being earnest

... be informed when a suitable man is chosen for you'. The fact that she uses informed' implies that marriage was not a symbolic emotion. It was a tool used to climb up the social ladder. Instead of coming from the heart, it was decided for the girl on the basis of social status. As far as respectability is concerned in The Importance of Being Earnest' the people living during the Victorian age were extremely prudish. There were many social ... norms on how people had to behave in society especially if one were of a high social standing. Much of ... ...

  • Word Count: 523
  • Approx Pages: 2

5. Social Criticism in

... sincere and studied triviality." Oscar Wilde1 While it is possible to declare Oscar Wilde's play "The Importance of being Earnest" as pure nonsense with the only aim to entertain, a closer look reveals its sobriety. Oscar Wilde wrote a comedy of manners, mistaken identity and social conventions.2 The story is set in the English society of the 1890's, the society against whose aristocracy, artificiality and clinging to social standards this play is aimed at. His ... which Wilde expresses his criticism with respect to the interplay of triviality and solemnity. The first is the pun built u...

  • Word Count: 1589
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

6. The Importance of Being Earnes

... Cecily who are being earnest. They do not act how they should in this society, they lie to get want they want, and are totally self consumed, but they stay truthful to themselves. They act earnestly for themselves, not for other people. And this is true irony. The Importance of Being Earnest has many goals. It pokes fun at the aristocracy, men, women, and sacred beliefs like marriage. But it ... does so in such a light-hearted, ironic manner that no one could be judgmental about it. Wilde has also created some ... ...

  • Word Count: 1025
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

7. The Life and Works of Oscar Wilde

... , his legacy. The Importance of Being Earnest was written by Wilde in 1895 (Shuman). One's quality of life was based on their social class. It was frowned upon to marry outside of your class (AngelPig). Dorian the protagonist in The Picture of Dorian Grey falls in love with Sibyl after discovering her in the slums. The Importance of Being Earnest is all about marriage. Algernon meet Cecily and the same day they meet he asks for her hand in marriage. The Picture of Dorian Grey also ... tells of quick engagements. Dorian proposes to Sibyl quickly after seeing her act ... ...

  • Word Count: 1066
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Importance

... ; sketched out to be a rebel, speaking against the fundaments of society, including marriage, and yet doing so in such a flamboyant, humorous way that the criticism itself becomes embedded in a matchless web of humor. Algernon's clever, witty humor, and by extension Wilde's own, has never been successfully matched in English theater. Overall, The Importance of Being Earnest has many goals. It pokes fun at the aristocracy, the literary world, marriage, English manners and customs, women, men, love ... , religion and all sorts of other staples in modern society. Furthermore, it does so in a...

  • Word Count: 946
  • Approx Pages: 4

9. The Importance of being Earnest

The importance of being Earnest is a satire by Oscar Wilde where being earnest simply means having the name Earnest. The film dramatization of Wilde's renowned play is a comedy of manners and what is quite comic is the way it is structured. It is a series of verbal fencing matches where all the characters are trying to make their own respective points. The story takes place in both London and the English Country Side. It all starts in Algernon's apartment in London. His ... friend Jack, who for reasons embodying the farcical nature of the play adopts an identity "Earnest", wants to marry his ...

  • Word Count: 345
  • Approx Pages: 1
  • Grade Level: High School

Got a writing question? Ask our professional writer!
Submit My Question