Worldview and Wilde At the ripe young age of six years old, I did something that would drastically change the course of my life. It was something I had never done before, in fact, it wasn’t even my idea. I knew nothing about it before I said yes. Nevertheless, I did it anyway. I auditioned for a role in the week-long traveling production of The Frog Prince put on by Missoula Children’s Theatre. Though I still knew virtually nothing about theatre, there was no doubt in my mind that I had to do it more. And that I did. I have chosen to write about Oscar Wilde’s famous play The Importance of Being Earnest. This play is near and dear to my heart because I was in a production of the show in 2014 at my community theatre, the Barrow-Civic
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Given the societal norm of the time and the fact that most of Wilde’s characters cared about adhering to societal standards, it is likely that the characters were members of the Church of England. However, their faith seems to be primarily superficial in nature. One of the major plot points of the show is that both Jack and Algernon make plans with Jack’s rector to be christened with the name Ernest. The reason that they want to be christened had nothing to do with God or their faith, rather it was about actually having the name that both of their fiancés thought that they had: Ernest Worthing. This discrepancy came about because both men professed to have the name, Ernest Worthing, to the woman he loved for the entire length of his relationship with her. So we can clearly see that the characters of the show acknowledge a faith in God, though they do not speak much about it. The true object of their belief, however, is society. Society is everything for these characters; it governs what they do, when they do it, and whom they do it with. We can see elements of selflessness in Jack and Algernon when they are willing to change their own names in order to please the women they love. Marrying a man named Ernest is an ideal that both Cecily and Gwendolen have their hearts set on, and they each enter their respective engagements under the presumption that Ernest is the name of their …show more content…
Algy is a bachelor and does not have too many attachments to consider. In his conversation at the start of the play with Lane, Algernon’s dialogue typically comes back to himself and to talk about what he believes or wants to hear. He loves to have a good time and lives out of the assumption that the freedom to do what he pleases and fulfillment of his desires are his right. This concept is plain to see when Algernon excuses himself from his aunt’s dinner under the guise of visiting Bunbury, when he actually plans to dine somewhere else with
Given the societal norm of the time and the fact that most of Wilde’s characters cared about adhering to societal standards, it is likely that the characters were members of the Church of England. However, their faith seems to be primarily superficial in nature. One of the major plot points of the show is that both Jack and Algernon make plans with Jack’s rector to be christened with the name Ernest. The reason that they want to be christened had nothing to do with God or their faith, rather it was about actually having the name that both of their fiancés thought that they had: Ernest Worthing. This discrepancy came about because both men professed to have the name, Ernest Worthing, to the woman he loved for the entire length of his relationship with her. So we can clearly see that the characters of the show acknowledge a faith in God, though they do not speak much about it. The true object of their belief, however, is society. Society is everything for these characters; it governs what they do, when they do it, and whom they do it with. We can see elements of selflessness in Jack and Algernon when they are willing to change their own names in order to please the women they love. Marrying a man named Ernest is an ideal that both Cecily and Gwendolen have their hearts set on, and they each enter their respective engagements under the presumption that Ernest is the name of their …show more content…
Algy is a bachelor and does not have too many attachments to consider. In his conversation at the start of the play with Lane, Algernon’s dialogue typically comes back to himself and to talk about what he believes or wants to hear. He loves to have a good time and lives out of the assumption that the freedom to do what he pleases and fulfillment of his desires are his right. This concept is plain to see when Algernon excuses himself from his aunt’s dinner under the guise of visiting Bunbury, when he actually plans to dine somewhere else with