The Importance of Being Earnest ACT 1 STUDY GUIDE

What does Algernon's comment on marriage as a "business" reveal about his attitude toward married life?

Algernon believes that people get married for monetary or social reasons. Very rarely is love of any consideration at all. Algernon further believes that married life puts an end to all pleasure: men have to stop engaging in their former pastimes, at the same time, being forced to spend time with a woman they likely cannot stand.

What does Algernon's statement that "a man who marries without knowing Bunbury has a very tedious time of it" reveal about his attitude toward marriage?

Algernon believes that people who get married are rarely in love. He is convinced that any married man needs a Bunbury-like character in order to have an opportunity to escape the obligations of married life and continue leading a life of pleasure in secrecy.

According to Algernon, why is it unlikely that Jack will ever be married to Gwendolen?

Algernon does not believe that love and marriage have anything to do with one another. Also, Algernon has suspicions about Jack's apparent relationship with a woman in the country named Cecily.

How does Algernon use Bunbury as a tool to maintain a respectable social image?

Algernon has invented an invalid named Bunbury, who enables him to escape undesirable social obligations. Whenever Algernon wants to escape a dinner party or other obligation, he claims that he must visit his sick friend Bunbury. The character of Bunbury allows Algernon to violate social conventions (i.e., cancel dinner plans and undesirable visits) without gaining the reputation of being unreliable.

What is ironic about Algernon's statement, "I hate people who are not serious about meals. It is so shallow of them"?

Algernon urges Jack not to cancel their dinner plans at Willis's restaurant for the evening. His warning that Jack should be serious about their dinner plans is ironic because Algernon himself intends to cancel his dinner plans with Aunt Augusta in order to join Jack at Willis's.

Analyze the several layers of humor in Lady Bracknell's reaction to Algernon's breaking his dinner engagement with her. At what is Wilde most likely poking fun?

Algernon uses his invalid friend Bunbury as his excuse for not being able to go to dinner. In her reaction, Lady Bracknell is both callous and clueless, callous in her apparent indifference to whether the man lives or dies, and clueless in speaking as if the man himself had a choice in the matter. Wilde is most likely poking fun at the wealthy's stereotypical self-centeredness. Someone else's most extreme difficulty is—to the wealthy—an inconvenience and an obstacle to fulfilling their own desires.

What does Algernon's statement that he is "feeling very well" in response to Aunt Augusta's questions whether or not he is "behaving very well" reveal about the superficial nature of Victorian upper-class culture?

Algernon's statement plays with the idea that there is a difference between "being" and "seeming" in Victorian upper-class culture. In other words, members of the upper class know that appearances and outward behaviors are not necessarily a reliable indicator of a person's true feelings.

How realistic a character is Lady Bracknell?

Given the absolute firmness of her opinions and the bluntness with which she voices them, Lady Bracknell is clearly a caricature of the upper class of the older generation.

What is ironic about Gwendolen's wanting to marry a man named Ernest?

Gwendolen considers Ernest to be a name that "inspires absolute confidence." She believes it is a "divine name" that "has a music of its own." The irony is that she is basing her choice of husband on a most ridiculous assumption and thoroughly superficial trait.

How does Gwendolen react when she realizes that her mother will not allow a marriage with Jack? Why is this comic?

Gwendolen realizes that she will likely be unable to act against her mother's wishes. She tells Jack that she may have to marry another man but assures him that she will always love him. It is comic because, again, one would expect love and marriage to accompany one another. One would not expect a young woman like Gwendolen to anticipate entering a loveless marriage while still harboring affection for another man.

How does Lady Bracknell's question whether Jack was born in the "purple of commerce" or "the ranks of the aristocracy" reflect on the social make-up of the upper class in Victorian England?

In Victorian England, the upper class consisted of the landed gentry and the aristocracy. The landed gentry rose from the ranks of the middle class and gained wealth and possessions through business and commerce. After having earned enough money to buy an estate, these former members of the middle class abandoned their professions and moved into the upper class. The aristocracy, on the other hand, enjoyed inherited upper-class status and wealth. Some aristocrats looked unfavorably on the members of the upper class who had come from the middle class.

What comic convention does Lady Bracknell's insistence that Jack produce some relations and at least one parent illustrate?

It will, of course, be utterly impossible for Jack to acquire a parent or any other relations. Lady Bracknell's request is an example of absurdity.

What reasons does Jack give for wanting to "kill" Ernest?

Jack believes that he will not be able to maintain the identity of Ernest once he becomes engaged and then married to Gwendolen. He believes he will no longer want to maintain a double life. Moreover, Jack fears that his ward Cecily has developed an interest in the mysterious brother Ernest.

Why does Jack initially lie about Cecily's identity? What does his decision to lie reveal about his attitude toward Algernon?

Jack does not want Algernon to know about his true identity as Jack Worthing. More importantly, Jack knows that Algernon is a womanizer and a reckless young man. He does not trust Algernon to be around his ward Cecily, because he fears that Algernon would be a corrupting influence on her. Thus, he hopes to keep her identity a secret from Algernon.

How does Cecily Cardew function as a motivating factor for Jack to invent his younger brother Ernest?

Jack is Cecily Cardew's guardian. He feels that he must "adopt a very high moral tone on all subjects" whenever he is around Cecily in order to bring her up as a well-behaved young lady. He wants to teach Cecily the moral values of Victorian society, and he wants to set a good example for her through his own righteous behavior. Jack cannot indulge in luxuries and pleasures when he is around Cecily. Therefore, he has been forced to invent the alternative identity of Ernest.

Why does Jack praise the bread and butter Algernon offers him? What does his praise reveal about Jack?

Jack praises the bread and butter as soon as he hears that the food has been specially ordered for Gwendolen. Jack adores Gwendolen and is determined to like everything she likes. He seems truly infatuated with Gwendolen.

What is ironic about Lady Bracknell's statement that Lady Harbury "looks quite twenty years younger"?

Lady Harbury's husband has recently died, and—as a grieving widow—she could be expected to look and feel ill. Instead, her husband's death has rejuvenated Lady Harbury, and she looks better than ever.

Why do Jack's origins in the "cloak-room at Victoria station" make him an ineligible match for Gwendolen in Lady Bracknell's eyes?

Since Jack does not know his parents, he cannot prove that he has any kind of respectable heritage. Lady Bracknell will not allow her daughter to marry a man whose origins are a mystery and who cannot align himself with any of Britain's respectable families. An alliance with Jack would jeopardize Gwendolen's social status.

How does Algernon's statement that he does not play the piano "accurately" but "with wonderful expression" exemplify the principles of the Aesthetic Movement?

The Aesthetic Movement championed "art for art's sake." Aesthetes were interested in enjoying art for pure pleasure without paying attention to the conventional laws of composition. Algernon plays the piano in order to express and experience the powerful expression of the music.

What does Wilde suggest is going to be one of the primary sources of humor when Algernon asks Lane about the champagne?

The frank but unaccusing attitude with which Algernon insinuates that Lane has been drinking his champagne, and the frank, unrepentant manner in which Lane responds suggest that, in this comedy, although the characters will maintain a façade of genteel civility, they will speak bluntly and honestly to one another.

What do notions of "town" and "country" stand for? What do the two concepts reveal about the hypocrisy of Victorian upper-class culture?

The town symbolizes a life of pleasure marked by drinking, parties, women, and gambling. The country, on the other hand, symbolizes the respectable lifestyle of the quintessential Victorian gentleman. The fact that Jack (and Algernon) feels a need to create separate identities for living in the city on the one hand and living in the country on the other hand exposes the hypocrisy of Victorian culture that pretends to focus on morality at all times.

Where is the humor in Algernon's comments on the lack of "moral responsibility" among the lower classes?

Theoretically, one would expect the well-mannered and educated upper classes to set the moral example for the coarser lower classes. In his comments, however, Algernon completely reverses this concept, essentially justifying upper-class irresponsibility and self-indulgence.

What does Lady Bracknell's reaction to hearing about Gwendolen's engagement reveal?

To some extent, Lady Bracknell represents the tradition of a girl's parents choosing her husband for her. We see further evidence of the self-indulgence of the wealthy in Lady Bracknell's insistence that Gwendolen's happiness need not enter into the equation of whom she is to marry. Further, Wilde continues to poke fun at social trivialities. Many of Lady Bracknell's questions to Jack are ludicrous as are most of her reactions to his answers.