Lady Bracknell: […] How old are you?
Jack: Twenty-nine.
Lady Bracknell: A very good age to be married at. I have always been of opinion that a man who desires to get married should know either everything or nothing. Which do you know?
Jack: (after some hesitation): I know nothing, Lady Bracknell.
Lady Bracknell: I am pleased to hear it. I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Sqare. What is your income? (IBE: 25-26)
As this initial example points out, the function of the dialogue in Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest” (“The Importance”) is radically different than in a classical drama. Lady Bracknell’s statements do not really serve to promote the plot. They are discursive, absurd and irrelevant to the context, but at the same time almost philosophical and extremely hilarious and entertaining. What makes “The Importance” a great play is not its sophisticated plot but the multitude of epigrams, paradoxes, non sequiturs and witty repartees which can be found throughout the text. Dialogue has a value in itself and is more important than plot.
Therefore it is not surprising that the antagonisms between the characters are less central then in dramas which rely mainly on the plot.
At first sight, the similarities between the main characters are quite obvious. Algernon and Jack are of the same sex and approximately the same age. They are both handsome bachelors who are in love with a young girl. Similarly, Gwendolen and Cecily also have a lot of things in common. They are young girls who desire to get married, both of them are very beautiful and have an obsession with the name of Ernest. The parallel structure is emphasized by the actions the characters take. At several times, one character simply repeats or puts into other words what someone else has just said. Even the sentence structure is mainly the same.
Content:
1. Introduction
2. The male pair: Algernon and Jack
2.1 Similarities
2.2 Differences
3. The female pair: Gwendolen and Cecily
3.1 Similarities
3.2 Differences
4. Summary
5. Bibliography
a) Primary Sources
b) Secondary Sources
1. Introduction
Lady Bracknell: […] How old are you?
Jack: Twenty-nine.
Lady Bracknell: A very good age to be married at. I have always been of opinion
that a man who desires to get married should know either everything or nothing.
Which do you know?
Jack: (after some hesitation): I know nothing, Lady Bracknell.
Lady Bracknell: I am pleased to hear it. I do not approve of anything that tampers
with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom
is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately
in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would
prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence
in Grosvenor Sqare. What is your income? (IBE: 25-26)
As this initial example points out, the function of the dialogue in Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest” (“The Importance”) is radically different than in a classical drama. Lady Bracknell’s statements do not really serve to promote the plot. They are discursive, absurd and irrelevant to the context, but at the same time almost philosophical and extremely hilarious and entertaining. What makes “The Importance” a great play is not its sophisticated plot but the multitude of epigrams, paradoxes, non sequiturs and witty repartees which can be found throughout the text. Dialogue has a value in itself and is more important than plot[1]. Therefore it is not surprising that the antagonisms between the characters are less central then in dramas which rely mainly on the plot.
At first sight, the similarities between the main characters are quite obvious. Algernon and Jack are of the same sex and approximately the same age. They are both handsome bachelors who are in love with a young girl. Similarly, Gwendolen and Cecily also have a lot of things in common. They are young girls who desire to get married, both of them are very beautiful and have an obsession with the name of Ernest. The parallel structure is emphasized by the actions the characters take. At several times, one character simply repeats or puts into other words what someone else has just said. Even the sentence structure is mainly the same. Here is one striking example of a dialogue between Jack and Algernon:
Jack: Well, the only small satisfaction I have in the whole of this wretched business
is that your friend Bunbury is quite exploded. You won’t be able to run down to
the country quite so often as you used to, dear Algy. And a very good thing, too.
Algernon: Your brother is a little off colour, isn’t he, dear Jack? You won’t be able
to disappear to London quite so frequently as your wicked custom was. And not a bad
thing, either.
Jack: As for your conduct towards Miss Cardew, I must say that your taking in a
sweet, simple, innocent girl like that is quite inexcusable. To say nothing of the fact
that she is my ward.
Algernon: I can see no possible defence at all for your deceiving a brilliant, clever,
thoroughly experienced, young lady like Miss Fairfax. To say nothing of the fact that
she is my cousin.
Jack: I wanted to be engaged to Gwendolen, that is all. I love her.
Algernon: Well, I simply wanted to be engaged to Cecily. I adore her. (IBE: 71)
The parallel between the similar ways in which the protagonists behave and talk and the likeness of their character is made even more clear when the girls and the young men “address each other in choral unison, Gwendolen beating time ‘with uplifted finger’.” (Worth: 134)
Gwendolen and Cecily (speaking together): Your Christian names are still an
insuperable barrier. That is all!
Jack and Algernon (speaking together): Our Christian names! Is that all? But we are
going to be christened this afternoon.
Gwendolen (to Jack): For my sake you are prepared to do this terrible thing?
Jack: I am.
Cecily (to Algernon): To please me you are ready to face this fearful ordeal?
Algernon: I am! (IBE: 77)
Worth notes that in an earlier draft of the play this scene went on even longer with split lines between the characters. “Jack and Algernon were ‘to move together like Siamese twins in every movement’ when they make their announcement that they are to be christened” (Worth: 134).
While there are much more correspondences than the ones highlighted above between Jack and Algernon as well as between Gwendolen and Cecily, we can also find some clear distinctions on second thoughts. One of them is the opposition being from the city vs. being from the country, which affects the characters behaviour in many ways.
The relationship between Jack and Algernon and between Gwendolen and Cecily is best depicted with an analogy from phonetics: the characters are, in a way, like minimal pairs[2]. The aim of this work is to show the “features” shared by Jack / Algernon on the one hand and Gwendolen / Cecily on the other hand, as well as to point out their “distinctive features”. Firstly, the male duo will be examined. We will then move on to discuss the female couple.
2. The male pair: Algernon and Jack
2.1 Similarities
First of all, there are several correspondences concerning Jack’s and Algernon’s social status. As stated in the introduction, both of them are handsome young men of approximately the same age. They belong to the upper class and, in addition, are both members of the same Gentlemen’s Club. None of them is obliged to work. Jack and Algernon have very “important” things in mind all the time. While Algernon is constantly concerned with eating Jack finds listening, talking and looking at things unbearable:
Algernon: Now, my dear boy, if we want to get a good table at Willis’s,
we really must go and dress. Do you know it is nearly seven?
Jack (irritably): Oh! It always is nearly seven.
Algernon: Well, I’m hungry.
Jack: I never knew you weren’t. …
Algernon: What shall we do after dinner? Go to a theatre?
Jack: Oh, no! I loathe listening.
Algernon: Well, let us go to the Club?
Jack: Oh, no! I hate talking.
Algernon: Well, we might trot round to the Empire?
Jack: Oh, no! I can’t bear looking at things. It is so silly.
Algernon: Well, what shall we do?
Jack: Nothing!
Algernon: It is awfully hard work doing nothing. However, I don’t mind
hard work where there is no definite object of any kind. (IBE: 33-34)
As bachelors both of them are devoted to the pursuit of pleasure:
Algernon: How are you, my dear Earnest? What brings you up to town?
Jack: Oh, pleasure, pleasure! What else should one bring anywhere? (IBE: 7)
Jack: Your duty as a gentleman calls you back.
Algernon: My duty as a gentleman has never interfered with my pleasures
in the smallest degree. (IBE: 53)
In order to be able to pursue their pleasures Algernon and Jack both possess a second identity. Jack Worthing has invented a younger brother Earnest. Jack’s “constant anxiety about that unfortunate young man his brother” (IBE: 38) give him an excuse to escape to London as often as he wishes. Algernon, on the contrary, has invented an “invaluable permanent invalid” (IBE: 14) called Mr Bunbury. His “visits” to Mr Bunbury provide Algernon with an opportunity to travel to the country whenever he wants. As Mr Bunbury and Earnest are always somewhere else and Algernon and Jack are the only ones who know them they are able to use the two entirely for their purposes. Both young men avoid their responsibilities with the help of the second identity. Jack escapes from his position as guardian of Cecily, where he exhibits a high sense of duty and responsibility. Algernon “rescues” himself from dinners with his Aunt Augusta and other family members.
Another crucial similarity between the two is their being in love with a young girl. Despite their status as bachelors and the pleasures involved in this Jack and Algernon aspire to marry their loved ones. To achieve their goal, both of them show a rather pragmatic attitude towards christening when they find out that Cecily and Gwendolen want to marry them only because of “their” name Earnest:
[...]
[1] “Leitmotivisch tauchen im Dialog immer wieder die Stichworte „absurd” oder „nonsense“ auf[.] [...] Ihre ironischen Gegenstücke sind „really“ und „naturally“ (S. 350, 360, 383 u.ö.) die bei näherem Hinsehen die Bodenlosigkeit des Texts, der allen Wirklichkeitsbezug zugunsten von Parodie und literarischem Zitat aufgegeben hat, noch erweitern. Der Dialog in Earnest hat somit alle „dramatischen“ Konfliktqualitäten verloren. Die spielerisch-tatenlose Tonlage saugt alle Antagonismen auf. Die Konflikte werden wie Zitate im Dialog und Verwicklungsablauf angerissen, um das Stück in Gang zu halten, aber aus der gelenkigen Konversation resultieren keine Taten. [...] Der Dialog hat bei Wilde den Konflikt, die Handlungsbezogenheit und die Rollenidentität aufgegeben – die zentralen Elemente der klassizistischer Dramenpoetik. Er ist statt dessen selbstreferentiell geworden.“ (Breuer: 447-448)
[2] A minimal pair is a set of two sounds that differ in one distinctive feature while sharing two features. The sounds [b] and [p], for example, are both bilabial (place of articulation) plosives (manner of articulation). Only the feature voiced / voiceless (vibration of vocal cords) varies. [b] is voiced, [p] is voiceless.
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