Importance of Being Ernest

The Importance of being Earnest
By: Angelica Pope

The Importance of Being Earnest is a play written by Oscar Wilde that was first preformed in 1895 at St. James Theatre in London. The play was about society and the impact it has on people and the mask everyone hides behind in the “perfect” world of society. Through a comedy that has survived over a hundred years, you see that women, men, and society deep down stay the same; even though our traditions and manner of speaking differ from 1895.
Society is to seem perfect. Several rules and etiquette go into a well-bred class society. However, as men always do, men find a way around these rules. A rule that is broken a lot is the fact the fact that gentleman keep appointments with a lady unless he is called away on urgent business. This very rule being broken is what sets this play up. Jake Worthing pretends to have a terribly wicked brother, named Ernest, in the city that always needs him for one reason or another. Because of this family issue Jake is able to travel from the country to the city without a single word being spoken against him. Algernon Moncrieff has a friend called Bunbury that conveniently gets “ill” when he does not want to do something like go to a dinner party. Both of these men live a double life, which was simple not done. “Neither of these two Bunburyist is either earnest or Earnest….”.
The Woman are portrayed as these little naive things and in a way they are. As woman they where expected to follow rules in society as well. They where also expected to marry and have children. However, as any normal woman during this time they both want to marry for love. That then leaves the question did Gwendolen really love Jack? She may have had feelings for him but she wasn’t in love with him, but more for what he did to try to marry her. After the proposal stopped my Lady Bracknell, Gwendolen comes back to jack and tell him “the story of your romantic origin, as related to me by mamma, with...