ponyo
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- Joined
- May 2, 2019
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I have read the “Importance of Being Earnest” recently. I think it is a very clever and interesting book.
The play was written in 1894 by Oscar Wilde and it tells the story of two gentlemen, Jack and Algernon, who lie about their identities in order to escape from their duties and deceive their loved once.
Jack and Algernon desperately desire to marry Gwendolen and Cecily who believe that the gentlemen's name is Ernest.
In this comedy Wilde attacks the social conventions of the Victorian society. Upper classes in fact are only interested in wealth and family status. It's not important who you are but who you look like.
For example, Gwendolen and Cecily accept the young men's proposal only because of their fake names. Ernest has the same pronunciation on earnest that means serious and sincere. Ernest symbolizes the perfect husband even if Jack and Algernon show in different occasions their lack of earnestness.
Furthermore, social conventions demand girls to be shy and polite, while men should make the first move. Ladies can't choose their husbands and marriages are frequently arranged by families.
On the contrary, Gwendolen and Cecily accept the men's proposal before they have been made and in Cecily's case even before she has even met her fiance.
That is one of the reasons why I loved Cecily's character.
Cecily is a complex girl. She is naive and clever at the same time; she is very romantic but also loves wicked men. She is Jack's ward and lives in the country where she spends her days studying in Miss Prism's company.
As said, she invents the engagement with Ernest, she writes letters from Ernest to herself and she even imagines a terrible fight that almost led to the end of the relationship.
Cecily has a sharp sarcasm and sense of humor. Talking about Miss Prism's novel she says “I don't like novels that end happily. They depress me so much”; in an other scene she asserts that serious engagements have to brake off at least once.
After all the mistaken identities and lies, at the end of the play all tensions are solved and the couples can get married. Furthermore, Jack turns out to be Algernon's older brother whose real name is Ernest. Generally, just like Cecily, I don't like happy endings. Although I find the last lines of the book very clever. Jack/Ernest says that he "realized for the first time the vital importance of being earnest”. This sentence has differents meanings. It can means that Jack has finally learned the importance of living honestly or that he is happy about his name so he can marry Gwendolen in a socially acceptable way. I prefer the first solution: Jack at last appreciates the importance of sincerity in his life and marriage.
I really enjoyed reading this book. The play is full of wit and funny scenes. For example, Algernon says “Divorces are made in heaven” instead of “Marriages are made in heaven”; Gwendolen's mother, LadyBracknell, claims that “to lose one parent is unfortunate, to lose both seems like carelesness”. I think that's the reason why Wilde subtitles the play “A trivial comedy for serious people”.
When I was younger, I've read the only novel Wilde has written: “The Picture of Dorian Grey”. It still is one of my favourite books. Considering that I liked both books I'm curious to read “The Ballad of Reading Goal”. It was written by Wilde during his years of exile and talks about the inhuman prison conditions that the writer has experimented himself. I think I might read it during my summer holiday.
The play was written in 1894 by Oscar Wilde and it tells the story of two gentlemen, Jack and Algernon, who lie about their identities in order to escape from their duties and deceive their loved once.
Jack and Algernon desperately desire to marry Gwendolen and Cecily who believe that the gentlemen's name is Ernest.
In this comedy Wilde attacks the social conventions of the Victorian society. Upper classes in fact are only interested in wealth and family status. It's not important who you are but who you look like.
For example, Gwendolen and Cecily accept the young men's proposal only because of their fake names. Ernest has the same pronunciation on earnest that means serious and sincere. Ernest symbolizes the perfect husband even if Jack and Algernon show in different occasions their lack of earnestness.
Furthermore, social conventions demand girls to be shy and polite, while men should make the first move. Ladies can't choose their husbands and marriages are frequently arranged by families.
On the contrary, Gwendolen and Cecily accept the men's proposal before they have been made and in Cecily's case even before she has even met her fiance.
That is one of the reasons why I loved Cecily's character.
Cecily is a complex girl. She is naive and clever at the same time; she is very romantic but also loves wicked men. She is Jack's ward and lives in the country where she spends her days studying in Miss Prism's company.
As said, she invents the engagement with Ernest, she writes letters from Ernest to herself and she even imagines a terrible fight that almost led to the end of the relationship.
Cecily has a sharp sarcasm and sense of humor. Talking about Miss Prism's novel she says “I don't like novels that end happily. They depress me so much”; in an other scene she asserts that serious engagements have to brake off at least once.
After all the mistaken identities and lies, at the end of the play all tensions are solved and the couples can get married. Furthermore, Jack turns out to be Algernon's older brother whose real name is Ernest. Generally, just like Cecily, I don't like happy endings. Although I find the last lines of the book very clever. Jack/Ernest says that he "realized for the first time the vital importance of being earnest”. This sentence has differents meanings. It can means that Jack has finally learned the importance of living honestly or that he is happy about his name so he can marry Gwendolen in a socially acceptable way. I prefer the first solution: Jack at last appreciates the importance of sincerity in his life and marriage.
I really enjoyed reading this book. The play is full of wit and funny scenes. For example, Algernon says “Divorces are made in heaven” instead of “Marriages are made in heaven”; Gwendolen's mother, LadyBracknell, claims that “to lose one parent is unfortunate, to lose both seems like carelesness”. I think that's the reason why Wilde subtitles the play “A trivial comedy for serious people”.
When I was younger, I've read the only novel Wilde has written: “The Picture of Dorian Grey”. It still is one of my favourite books. Considering that I liked both books I'm curious to read “The Ballad of Reading Goal”. It was written by Wilde during his years of exile and talks about the inhuman prison conditions that the writer has experimented himself. I think I might read it during my summer holiday.
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