Oscar Wildes the Importance of Escape - 759 Words

The Importance of Escape Oscar Wilde’s play entitled â€Å"The Importance of Being Earnest† illustrates the concept of dual personality, fantasy, love, and lies. Jack, Algernon, Gwendolyn, and Cecily all live in lies. They are manipulated by their fantasies and desire for perfect relationship and love. Jack, the protagonist in the play, is the root of lies because of his imaginary brother named Earnest. Algernon uses the name to win Cecily, while Gwendolyn and Cecily are both fascinated by this name because it expresses strength and perfection of manhood. Due to their search and desire to have Earnest, the male and female characters escape from the reality. Therefore, Wilde in The Importance of Being Earnest portrays a gender doubled†¦show more content†¦In conclusion, Jack, Gwendolyn, and Cecily all escape from reality because they want to be free and be loved. Jack uses his alter-ego to detach his self from his moral obligations and obtain liberty without lim itations and fears. Meanwhile, Cecily and Gwendolyn escape from reality because they want to experience love. They try to find their own Earnest that will complete their being—and through their fantasies, they are able to explore the idyllic and fearless relationship with the man that they desire. Work Cited Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest. The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Alison Booth, et al. 9th ed. New York: Norton, 2005. 1879-21.Show MoreRelatedContextual Essay: the Importance of Being Earnest769 Words   |  4 PagesIt is clear to me that throughout Oscar Wildes life there was a degree of personal uncertainty he bestowed upon himself. This was very much reflected in his social lifestyle, personality and dress sense; but above all through his many dramatic works that reflect his often contrasting attitudes toward himself in his extravagant and highly esteemed approach to his writing of classic English literature. This is true for drama: the playwrights who write plays often incorporate aspects of their ownRead MoreThe Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde: Algernon Montcrieff - A Character Analysis1333 Words   |  6 PagesIt is a well known phenomenon that many authors lives are reflected through a character in their work. In Oscar Wildes The Importance of Being Earnest, the double life, or double identity, can be seen as the central metaphor in the play, epitomized in Algernons creation of Bunbury or Bunburying. As this term is the only fictitious word employed throughout the text, it is crucial to critically analyze not only its use and implications, but more importantly, the character who coins the term;Read More The Double Life in The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde1347 Words   |  6 PagesLife in The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde The Importance of Being Earnest appears to be a conventional 19th century farce. 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Some of his most recent writtings are The Picture of Dorian Gray(1891), A Woman of No Importance(1894) and his most resent essay known as The Decay of Lying is Oscar’s story of his outrage about the current style of writingRead MoreWilde as Parodist: a Second Look at the Importance of Being Earnest : a Review877 Words   |  4 PagesAlthough many of the early critics found Oscar Wilde’s final play strictly humorous, it clearly conveys social hypocrisies of the upper-classes of the period (late-Victorian). Wilde was being satirical and paradoxical in his play to show the hypocrisy and entertain the viewers in a play that is still being repeated till today. 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