The Importance of Being Earnest

1) This play is awesome!! I think it is so funny..and so far, it's been our easiest read. There is such quick conversation that it makes it extremely easy to read. In the beginning of the drama I thought that Gwendolyn was going to be my favorite character, but as I'm reading, I don't think I can get into how shallow she is. Honestly, her reasoning for not marrying Jack is the most RIDICULOUS thing I have ever heard of in my entire life. Clearly she's thought about him, and he's in love with her and clearly he wants to take care of her for the rest of his life....that's why I just don't understand why she wouldn't let that be the determining factor in loving him, instead of the fact that his name isn't Ernest.

2) The fact that Wilde speaks vicariously through his characters shows the characteristics of a great writer. The fact that he can alter his voice to individualize his characters is something that takes true talent. He does a lot of contrasting the characters when they are in dialouge with one another. Especially Jack and Algernon. Algernon is the robust, outspoken character that says what everyone else is thinking. Whereas, Jack is reserved, conservative, and a true gentleman. They are both funny in their own way and they both want the same thing, a beautiful woman by their side, but they both have very different ways of going about acheiving that goal. These aspects of their personality and the ways that they acheive their goal goes to show different aspects of their self awareness and identity. Also, because Wilde is speaking through his characters, it lets the reader into the minds eye of Wilde. His humor doesn't necessarily conceal critical ideas of identity, it just has different ways of approaching it. Instead of seriously talking indirectly about identity issues, he uses comedy to directly address that someones sense of identity directly impacts their view of themself in an immediate sense. The perfect example of that is Jack and how when he is explaining to Lady Bracknell about his history, it clearly has an impact immediately on her impression of him. Because he has no history and no sense of a firm foundation, she immediately assumes that he is not good enough for her daughter. That goes to show Wilde's demonstration of how a firm sense of identity is a critical ideal.