Jack Worthing The Importance Of Being Earnest

Improved Essays
Jack Worthing, A qualified young man remarked all over town. In the city he goes by the name Ernest while in the country he is known as Jack. His family history is a mystery, but his seriousness and honesty are clear. He proposes to the honorable lady Gwendolyn Fairfax and, through leading a double life, ultimately demonstrates his conformity to the Victorian ethical and social standards. Jack, same as other main characters in Wilde 's play, is a less realistic character and more of an instrument to highlighting a set of ideas and attitudes. As a known upper-class Victorian, Jack became respected by the society only because of his adopted father 's fortune this made him familiar about all the rules of behavior of polite society. Jack has the ability to spout witty lines about trivial subjects and say the opposite of what is known to be true are learned results of his position. When Lady Bracknell doubts his qualifications for marrying her daughter, he realizes she wants to know about his pedigree. He recognizes that the correct parents are needed along with his wealth. Although he stars in a deceptive life in town, Jack lives the ideal, most responsible life in the country. More than any other character in the play, Jack represents conventional Victorian values: he wants others to think he adheres to such notions as duty, honor, and respectability, but he hypocritically flouts those characteristics. Indeed, what Wilde was satirizing through Jack was accepting the hypocrisy in conventional …show more content…
He is stuck between duty and pleasure. Being respectful is extremely boring to Jack, so he created his younger brother, Ernest. With Ernest, he has a means of escaping the drab life of a legal guardian into the more interesting world of a social London: “Algernon: Yes; but this isn 't your cigarette case. This cigarette case is a present from some one of the name of Cecily, and you said you didn 't know any one of that

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    From the era of the kings to the modern era there is one thing that has not changed; ‘to be in Power.’ Jack was not born evil, he was a kind, humble human being, it was the circumstances or the island(society) that made him vile. He would have never done this if he was civilized but being alone on an island and no one to look over the boys, drove them to do the things that they never even dreamed…

    • 1122 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jack clearly represents the boys’ developing a savage attitude as the rules lose their grip on them. At the start of the novel, Jack is actually fond of the rules, and even suggests a few. “Jack was on his feet. We’ll have rules! He cried excitedly.…

    • 1139 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When society breaks down, death and destruction incur. In the book The Lord Of The Flies by William Golding the effects of the breakdown of society is a major theme. Humans identities are formed when society’s rules and laws are non existent, and humans are forced to rely off of their own morals. This can be seen when Ralph’s tribe is demolished by Jack because of Jack 's different ideology . In addition, Piggy’s logic and intelligence when talking about advanced topics on the island also show how identity is formed through a lack of societal laws.…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Jack would not have killed an innocent being had he been part of a civilized society. Jack’s obsession concerning overthrowing Ralph’s leadership over the boys leads him to become a mindless savage. Jack wants all the boys to be on his side, and he does whatever it takes to get the boys on his team. He kills innocent beings, steals property that is not his, and even uses the boys on his side as an example to show what will happen if they do not surrender to him. Because of the lack of rules and society around him, Jack’s worst features are brought out of him.…

    • 1225 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Wilde cleverly uses the deceit that begins with Algernon and Jack’s dislike of the qualities of their respective settings as the basis for the entire storyline of the play. When the story ends all characters are happy not only because of their rekindled and accepted romantic relationships but also (and much less obviously so) because Jack will get his desired life in the town with Gwendolen and Algernon will get to happily remain in the country with…

    • 1196 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jack is used in the country because his life is boring. He is a responsible guardian of a young pretty girl named, Cecily. This caused Jack to make up a story that he has a younger brother named Ernest, who lives in the town. Jack takes the name of Ernest and goes partying around town. The reason why the characters in The Importance of Being Ernest deceive and lie is to get out of social and family duties.…

    • 953 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    It can be easily described that the boy’s lives in the beginning of the Lord of the Flies are civilized, organized and rational. As their time on the deserted island was progressing, those characteristics began to die out. Their lives are consisting of savagery, confusion, and senseless actions. Ralph, the protagonist of the story, questions the sanity of the group of boys on the island as the time went on. He ultimately asks the question, “What makes things break up the way they do?”…

    • 1004 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lord of the Flies Essay “Heroes don't exist. And if they did, [we] wouldn't be one of them.” This quote has quite a few controversial comments underneath it. Though it may or not be true, the fact is that we, as human beings, are wired to take care of our own selfish desires before looking outward. As Lord of the Flies progresses, the audience can see that in Jack as well as many of the other boys.…

    • 823 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Often, literary work are adapted to the big screen, which brings in different interpretations and adjustment of the original written piece. These subtle or distinguishable adjustments made by the director can be seen as either positive or negative to film reviewers and viewers. Director and screenwriter Oliver Parker film adaptation of the play, The Importance of Being Earnest, holds similarities to Wilde’s original play and likewise include changes from the original play. Overall, Oliver Parker film adaptation takes Wilde’s original concept and brings changes in the characters, setting, and theme of the original play.…

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Jack Case Study Essay

    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages

    • How might you explain Jack’s fear that he is “empty inside”? What are some possible causes of his feelings of emptiness? How would you work on this issue with…

    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This scene shows that Jack wants to be a person society wants him to be, and not what he wants. When Jack is introduced to Tyler he has someone to look up to, and Tyler acts as his “father figure” for once in his life. In a scene Jack is talking to Tyler and Jack says “ My mother would just go hysterics. My…

    • 2586 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Both Gwendolen and Cecily yearn to have a husband called "Ernest." They both place emphasis on such a trivial matter as a name. When Jack attempts to tell Gwendolen that his name is really "Jack" and not "Ernest" she replies saying, "Jack?... No, there is very little music in the name Jack, if any at all, indeed. The only really safe name is Ernest.…

    • 1982 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    He has utilized this lie for years so that he can escape the realities of his life and travel to London. Jack uses the claim that his brother is scandalous and is prone to getting into trouble more often than not. Therefore, Earnest, his imaginary brother, requires him to travel to London every once in a while so that he can bail him out of scandals (Wilde 6). In the real sense, Earnest is the name that he uses while in London that enables him to do the very things he claims his “scandalous brother” is doing in London. Thus, the audience is forced to ask if the lies are justified.…

    • 958 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Webster’s dictionary defines earnest as a serious and intent mental state. This definition of earnest brings to mind many respected people who have influenced society in a positive manner. Oscar Wilde takes advantage of these initial reactions to the thought of being earnest to spin a story of Victorian Era upper class practices to challenge the world he lived in. Through his play The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde uses the notion of being earnest to display the absurdity that is deeply rooted in upper class Victorian Era beliefs and the hypocrisy that is easily accepted, and because of how the characters react to being trivial Wilde is able to reveal the shocking morality that comes through being openly immoral.…

    • 1374 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    The story, “Brokeback Mountain” by Annie Proulx presents us with a character named Ennis del Mar who is unwilling and unable to reach for his heart’s desire, a man named Jack Twist. Jack and Ennis meet when they are both young men, having grown up in almost identical situations. Both were high-school country boys with no prospects, brought up to hard work and privation, both rough- mannered, rough-spoken, inured to the stoic life. Both are real cowboys, both are also living the life expected of them including dating and having sex with women; at this point Ennis is even engaged. It is only after they begin working together on Brokeback Mountain that acknowledge that they are homosexual and fall in love with one another.…

    • 1605 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays