The Importance of
Being Earnest was a play that made me both laugh and cringe. Wilde came up with so many situations that
are perfect that culminate in such a dramatic ending. Algernon, or Algy as Jack calls him, is a
well-developed character, who though does not intend it, ends up being in my
opinion the funniest character in the whole play. In the first scene he gets his butler Lane to
bring out cucumber sandwiches that he is going to give to his Aunt Augusta, but
he starts eating them. Then when Jack
comes over he tries to eat one and Algernon says “Please don’t touch the cucumber
sandwiches. They are ordered specially
for Aunt Augusta” (1735) and then right after that the stage directions say for
Algernon to eat one. Then to top it all
off because he keeps eating them when his aunt arrives Lane lies to cover up
Algernon and Algernon goes along and lies to his aunts face when in fact their
were cucumbers. One other scene that I found hilarious was after Gwendolen and
Cecily find out that Algernon and Jack both have pretended to named Earnest and
both ladies exit into the house. Jack
being to “freak out” and Algernon is sitting down eating muffins. He claims that when he upset eating helps him
and Jack gets so angry and takes the muffins away from him, but Algernon seems
to not even be affected that he might not be able to marry Cecily and keep truing
to eat the muffins.
Daniel Pietaro
I also want to add how this play made me cringe. The scene where Cecily and Gwendolen first meet each other goes remarkably well at first, the two women both seem to be almost instant friends. However as soon as they both find out that they think they are engaged to the same man, Wilde is able to make the interactions between the two so uncomfortable. They both take little “shots” at each other trying to seem better than the other, as they are trying one at a time to supersede that they will marry this Earnest fellow. Gwendolen says that she never goes to the country, which is where Cecily lives, because “The country bores me to death” (1763). The way that Wilde is able to make this scene so perfect is that he does not let either of them lash out at the other, because they both are part of a society of some wealth, so they need to act civilized. However they both find their own ways to get in the head of the other. Cecily puts four lumps of sugar in Gwendolen’s tea and gives her cake when she asks for no sugar and bread instead of cake.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that Algernon seems to be the most entertaining character of the play. I especially found it both entertaining and funny with his “Bunburying” tales and technique as he calls it. His excitement towards Jack when he finds out he too has an alias is somewhat like a little kid on his or her birthday. Algernon even states that, “you are one of the most advanced Bunburyists I know,” which I found remarkably entertaining because here he is, this eccentric fellow making up his own term! His easy lies of his friend Bunbury and his ailing health lend to make the play more comical especially when he just kills him off in a second at the end of the play. His love of food as you mentioned and how he is also almost always eating is entertaining as well. His appetite seems like a main characteristic of his personally, and his funny ways!
ReplyDeleteI personally thought that the food jokes were hilarious. Algernon says, "I hate people who are not serious about meals. It is so shallow of them." I love how Wilde uses this simple form of greed to show how people take what they want without realizing that they could be depriving someone else of what they want. Also, Algernon's personal form of stress eating via muffins was highly amusing. I appreciate the use of food as a witty component used to aid character personality traits and to show the deeper meanings of how people work.
ReplyDeleteI found Algernon to be more of a witty clown, than an ignorant slapstick clown. He uses his intelligence to poke fun at both the other characters and the fabric of society. He makes comments that come across as nonsensical; however, they make more sense than much of what the other characters have to say. What I most enjoyed about Algernon's remarks was how they called into question where the actual meaning of what people have to say lies. An example is whether you learn more about a person from the truths they tell, or how/what they lie about.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Zach, I felt Algernon needed others in order to be so funny. I feel that he was actually a bully in some instances because there were obviously some things that were going wrong- he has bills he cannot pay, he isn't married, women don't seem to like him, etc, but he is still picking up little things about people to make fun of. He thinks the whole Earnest situation is fun and ends up being the catalyst for majority of the mix up at the country house. Although I laughed at a lot of these parts, I couldn't help but think of how he would react if people started talking to him like he would to others.
ReplyDeleteMary Beth, I actually think that Algernon might find people talking to him the way he talks to other delightful. Maybe not exactly how he talks to others, but the way he speaks, it's almost like he wants someone to challenge him, He reminds me of Mr. Rochester in this sense, because Rochester doesn't exactly want to be answered in kind, but he doesn't want to be ignored either. It seems to me that characters like this like a little bit of interaction.
DeleteI loved the use of food within the play. It was interesting to me, because every time that food was the topic of conversation there was a deeper meaning. Usually it was about social class or etiquette. The first example that I saw of this was when Algernon states "I haven't the smallest intention of doing anything of the kind. To begin with, I dined there on Monday, and once a week is quite enough to dine with one's own relations." Here, Algernon uses the dinner to comment on the idea that family is simply an obligation to him. It is a way for him to maintain his social class and nothing more. Another example about family and Algernon is when he eats all of the cucumber sandwiches before Lady Bracknell arrives. First, he says that the sandwiches are for Lady Bracknell and then he has Lane lie for him to cover up the fact that he ate them all. There are a few possibilities for this, I tend to see it as Algernon trying to maintain some power over Lady Bracknell at the same time he probably gets pleasure from lying to her. I can imagine him smiling deceitfully as he lies about the cucumbers.
ReplyDeleteI loved that you talked about the scene with Gwendolen and Cecily because I think it was one of my favorite scenes in the play. I feel like it poked fun at the way quintessential femininity is often portrayed because of the way the two women fought so passive aggressively, and especially the fact that they were fighting over a man. However, I also liked the scene because it brought in the class issue that we talked about in class. Not only were the two women restrained in how they could argue with each other because of their gender, but also because of the expectations that society has for their higher station in society. The class issue also comes into play when Gwendolen insults Cecily for serving things at tea that are normally reserved for people of lower class. The fact that Gwendolen sees the traditions of the lower class as uncouth, shows the separation of class during the Victorian Era and the superiority that the upper class felt they had over the lower class. It also brings into the importance of tradition and rituals during the Victorian Era and how each of the classes had their own set of “rules” they had to abide by. I thinks its a great scene because it encompasses so many of the themes, while still being a very funny, entertaining part of the play.
ReplyDelete