Algernon Moncreiff is a symbol of satire in many ways. He shows disrespect for Victorian society by always wanting to miss important business meetings and poking fun at the extreme properness. He lives a very open bachelor life style and talks bad of marriage. He is also very confident in his looks and his physical possessions. Oscar Wilde’s Importance of Being Earnest, is a satire poking fun at Victorian society and Algernon Moncrieff plays a big role in showing this. Algernon Moncreiff is one of the main characters and Jack’s best friend. He is a very good example of satire against Victorian society. Algernon is constantly disrespecting the Victorian society’s values. He disrespects the business aspect of the upper class. When he first meets
…show more content…
He has a very negative view of marriage. On page four, when Jack speaks of asking Gwen to marry him Algernon never ran out of words to say on the subject. When Jack tells Algernon that he has come up to town just to ask Gwen to marry him Algernon says, “I thought you had come up for pleasure?... I call that business” (page 4). When Jack calls Algernon unromantic Algernon says that he thinks it is fine to be in love with someone, but to make it a definite thing to stay with that person for the rest of your life is bad (page 4). He claims that, “The very essence of romance is uncertainty.” He says this meaning that if you are tied down to that one person then it will get boring and there will be no more excitement in the relationship. On page 22, Algernon also says, “Relations are simply a tedious pack of people, who haven’t got the remotest knowledge of how to live, nor the smallest instinct about when to die.” What he means when he says this is that when people get in to a relationship then they are no longer independent, but rather they will depend on the other person for everything. He exaggerates this a little bit by saying that they will be so dependent on the other person that they will not know when they should die or when they should
He has a very negative view of marriage. On page four, when Jack speaks of asking Gwen to marry him Algernon never ran out of words to say on the subject. When Jack tells Algernon that he has come up to town just to ask Gwen to marry him Algernon says, “I thought you had come up for pleasure?... I call that business” (page 4). When Jack calls Algernon unromantic Algernon says that he thinks it is fine to be in love with someone, but to make it a definite thing to stay with that person for the rest of your life is bad (page 4). He claims that, “The very essence of romance is uncertainty.” He says this meaning that if you are tied down to that one person then it will get boring and there will be no more excitement in the relationship. On page 22, Algernon also says, “Relations are simply a tedious pack of people, who haven’t got the remotest knowledge of how to live, nor the smallest instinct about when to die.” What he means when he says this is that when people get in to a relationship then they are no longer independent, but rather they will depend on the other person for everything. He exaggerates this a little bit by saying that they will be so dependent on the other person that they will not know when they should die or when they should