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The Importance of Being Earnest: Honesty vs. Lies
“The Importance of Being Ernest” by Oscar Wilde was first played in 1895 at the St James’s Theatre in London. The major theme that the play revolves around is trivial notions that critical institutions like marriages are being shown. In other words, it was a satire of the Victorian ways. The play is a farcical comedy, and the protagonists of the play employ made-up personalities to escape their lives. The lies they made and their fictitious personalities cause them to live double lives, especially Jack who was also known as “Ernest” in London. The play culminates humor where there is a twist in the ending, but it is evident that the play’s plot was built upon …show more content…
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. They are unjustified because the primary cause of the lie is to evade social responsibilities just like Jack does in the play (Benderly …show more content…
The clash between the deception and honesty in the essay accentuates the significance of being earnest using irony. Earnest is the made up brother that Jack uses to lie to his folks to enable him to escape his responsibilities for a while, but the author is using Earnest as a means to bring out the deceptions of Jack. The essentiality of this play is to put out the idea of why people have to lie. By creating a real-life scenario in which a web of deceptions carries the day, one can actually see the need of being earnest every once in a