The Importance of Being Earnest Pretensious Characters free essay sample

To what extent is this presented as true in ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’? In the Victorian era, society was built on set values concerning education, morality, marriage, property, and class. Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ addresses these topics in a style characteristic of a comedy of manners exposing the imprudence of society’s customs; projected through the characters he has created, this allows the audience to compare the pretensions of country characters to that of those from the town. Many people believe that in this play script, the town characters are far more susceptible to pretentious behaviour. However, others would disagree stating the playwright has cleverly created two groups of characters who may live in two different worlds, but both prove to be equally prone in succumbing to affectation. One of the key features of dramatic comedy is that â€Å"human endeavour is often seen as being pretentious [†¦] and therefore it should be exposed as foolish†. Wilde accomplishes this through most of his characters, perhaps most evidently in Cecily Cardew. The playwright first introduces us to this young woman at the beginning of the Second Act where we see her slighting the importance of education many times, commenting that German is not a â€Å"becoming language† and repetitively refers to the subjects she studies as â€Å"horrid†. She is a character who is solely concerned about what is â€Å"most fashionable† ultimately leading us to conclude this is a rather materialistic woman. However under closer inspection, some critics have interpreted Cecily’s watering the flower garden instead of studying German grammar as an indication of Cecily’s â€Å"love of nature and her disdain for tedious socio-academic expectations of society†. Critics have suggested that Cecily is perhaps the most realistic character within the play as she does not speak in epigrams as frequently as town characters such as Algernon. They would also argue that although she fibs about Miss Prism complaining about a â€Å"slight headache†, she ultimately has good intentions which are to bring Miss Prism and Dr Chasuble closer together implying she is in fact, not so pretentious when it comes to love. Conversely, other critics would argue that Cecily proves to have the same outrageous quirks as her town counterpart Gwendolen as they are both: intent on marrying a man named Earnest, eager to embrace each other as sisters, and quick to become rivals pitted against each other. Her ability to verbally spar with Gwendolen makes us truly question Jack’s preliminary description of Cecily as â€Å"a sweet simple, innocent girl† for the audience realise she is a rather quick-witted woman. She quips indirectly that Ernest’s association with Gwendolen is an â€Å"unfortunate entanglement† as if to be deliberately seeking a reaction out of Gwendolen. Wilde also shows us through stage directions that Cecily is not one to speak in outright truthfulness as she is described to speak â€Å"sweetly† and â€Å"sternly† when vocally battling with Gwendolen. She can proficiently make repartee such as â€Å"when I see a spade I call it a spade† which is a primary example that may be used to stress many a critics point that her ingenuity is much more pronounced than that of the town characters for she argues that she speaks nothing except the truth; the town characters appear to be shamelessly aware of their pretensions. Lady Bracknell in fact, insists in Act Three that she does â€Å"not propose to undeceive† her husband showing the audience she is aware Lord Bracknell state of blissful unawareness and she would â€Å"consider it wrong† to change this situation. Cecily’s adoration for Algernon is a reflection of the relationship between Gwendolen and Jack and begs us to question the authenticity of her love. Just as Gwendolen, she seems to be in love with the idea of Ernest as described to her by Jack. Cecily claims that Ernest has been the â€Å"chief topic of conversation† between herself and Miss Prism since the discovery of his â€Å"wicked and bad† status which highlights the country characters fanatical ways regarding trivial matters much like the town characters. It also implies Cecily holds a fascination for immorality, perhaps due to her quiet and arguably deprived upbringing. The idea that Ernest presents is perhaps a means of escape for her from her boring country life. She proves to be a fantasist who has â€Å"elaborated [her romance with Ernest] with as much artistry and enthusiasm as the men have their secret identities†. Wilde’s display of Cecily’s ability to act nonchalantly regarding the fact she has kept a diary recording imagined engagements and written letters to herself on behalf of Ernest is somewhat disturbing; it seems as if she believes the figment of her imagination to be true events that have taken place. Through Cecily’s inventive story-telling, Wilde shows the audience how she holds a sense of superiority over Algernon. She drives the plot during their scenes together and through her dialogue, is able to dominate Algernon by invoking the reactions which seem to please her. Wilde only emphasises her lack of depth by providing us with the excerpt of Miss Cardew’s diary regarding her broken engagement with Ernest. Here Wilde presents us with a mere three lines, one of which is in regards to the â€Å"charming† weather. This may be interpreted to represent Cecily as a restrained and inexpressive character helping highlight Oscar Wilde’s explorations of the comedy of manners as we deem the upper class woman to be emotionally deprived due to cultural expectations adding to the mockery regarding the rigid Victorian social customs. We could also argue that Jack Worthing embodies all pretensions due to the comical double identity he holds. Critics believe he represents the conventional Victorian values: wanting others to think he adheres to such notions as duty, honour, and respectability but he hypocritically flouts those very notions. This understanding attributes to dramatic comedy where characters routinely undermine the customs they set with their own behaviour. As a satirical comedy, Wilde succeeds in ridiculing the society in which he lived by exposing the trivial nature of the â€Å"respectable† people of his era. As Jack proposes to Gwendolen, he apologises to her for not being immoral stating â€Å"it is a terrible thing for a man to find out suddenly that all his life he has been speaking nothing but the truth†. This suggests that Jack has been aware of his conceited nature throughout the duration of the poem and through these words, Wilde again highlights how being pretentious is in Jack’s nature that to not be so, he is conscientiously appalled. However, it’s also arguable that Jack is a fictional representation of Wilde’s own lifestyle where he was forced to hide his homosexuality as it had been deemed unacceptable by Victorian standards. The dramatic comedy is divided into three short acts which helps the audience to trace Wilde’s development of each character. One of the more interesting character growths is perhaps Dr Chasuble. A man first introduced in the second act as a figure of respectability and ethical rightness who quickly demoralises by the end of the play. As a clergyman, it’s shocking to find he has no qualms with christening two men with the name â€Å"Ernest† without question. As critics have pointed out, Wilde has already â€Å"lampooned† Victorian Virtues such as social ascendance and education so it is not surprising that he targets religious piety too. Dr Chasuble only has one sermon which he himself reveals that he adapts it to â€Å"almost any occasion, joyful, or in the present case, distressing†. Wilde was once quoted saying â€Å"religion is the fashionable substitute of belief† and his principles can be seen here; this supposedly educated man whose use of meaningless multi-purpose sermons draws the audience’s attention to his unintentional impertinence which will surely invoke laughter and make us distrust his word throughout the play as the playwright seems to have intended. Chasuble also proves to be just as hypocritical as his fellow characters when he â€Å"severely† informs Lady Bracknell that he is a celibate before embracing his â€Å"Laetitia† a matter of minutes later. In conclusion, it is perhaps fair to say that the country characters hold just as many pretentions as the town characters. Some people will continue to argue whether the behaviour of the town characters can even be successfully labelled as pretentious as they do not try very hard to hide their superficial conduct.  Through the false mannerisms of these characters, Wilde reflects the hypocrisy of Victorian society of which he was most likely a recipient due to his controversial homosexual affair; those who had once seen him as a man of respectability now ostracised him.