The Importance of Being Earnest: A Satire Comedy

“On the contrary, Aunt Augusta, I've now realised for the

first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest” – Jack

   The Importance of Being Earnest is one of the examples of bourgeois theatre by Oscar Wilde. The play mainly focus on double life of Jack and Algernon, or Algy, that make their lives get a lot of more difficult, but in the other side, it also leads Jack and Algernon to find out their true identity and their origin. Actually, this play brings honesty as its theme. How “Earnest” names itself is an adjective which means sincere, serious, and honest. This paper will talk about how this play brings honesty, hypocrisy, and double-life of two Victorian men, Jack and Algernon in the same time as satire comedy.

   Once upon a time, Algernon visited by his acquaintance, Earnest. Earnest wanted to marry his cousin, Gwendolen. Make long story short, the real name of Earnest is actually Jack. Jack said that his name is Jack in the village and Earnest when he goes to the city. Knowing about Jack’s double life, Algernon or Algy and Lady Brecknell, the mother of Gwendolen, against Jack and Gwendolen’s marriage, moreover after Lady Brecknell knew about Jack’s origin. He only a child that be found on station. Coming for Algy curiosity about Jack and Cecily, Algy came to the village and said he is Earnest, the brother of Jack. Both Algernon and Jack changed their names into Earnest and in the end of story, finally the characters of this play found out that Algernon and Jack are brothers from the same father.

   The formula of mistaken identity is actually a usual formula for comedy drama. Shakespeare used this formula in some of his comedy dramas, such as The Comedy of Errors, but what makes Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of being Earnest different are how the idea of mistaken identity presented in satire way to criticize common things in daily life, such as hypocrisy and double-life, and how this idea embodied by the complexity of the characters of Jack and Algernoon.

   The story when Gwengolden and Cecily want to marry people with “Earnest” as their names may can represent how every girls’ dreams are to marry people who are earnest, honest, sincere, and serious. This play may also states that this is important to being such an earnest person, honest and sincere, beacause something that artificial, such as Algernoon and Jack’s double life won’t last.

Works Cited

Wilde, O. (n.d.). The Importance of Being Earnest.