The Importance of Being Earnest Blog Post

Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest includes a physical journey that creates the entire meaning of the work.  The central meaning of the play is revolved around the irony of two friends, Algernon Moncrieff and Jack Worthing, who claim their names are Ernest, yet in no way their characters represent being earnest.  Algernon Moncrieff travels on a journey to Jack's estate as his curiosity grows about Cecily Cardew, whose guardian is Jack.  After learning that Jack has made up a fake brother, Ernest, and that Cecily seems to be fond of him, Algy travels to Jack's estate to meet her as Ernest.  Jack also pretends to be Ernest in front of his love, Gwendolen, who will not marry any man who has a name other than Ernest.  To be earnest is to be serious, and both Algy and Jack do not take any situation with full seriousness.  Both men have experience with telling stories of relatives, who are not real, to get themselves out of situations.  This time, they are claiming the name of the person used as their excuse is their own name just to impress women.  However, the two men fall short when Cecily and Gwendolen meet each other only to discover that both their men claim to be Ernest Worthing.  Cecily and Gwendolen refuse to talk to Jack and Algy because of the confusion they have brought upon them.  Later, after the truth gets out about Jack and Algy's real names, Jack discovers that his real name has actually always been Ernest.  Jack then says that "all his life he has been speaking nothing but the truth," which follows the central irony of him seeming like he is not telling the truth. The physical journey of going to Jack's estate and the four characters meeting with each other reveals the meaning of the work, which is to take every single situation with the utmost seriousness, or else the situation will cause confusion among others.  Algy and Jack appear to be ridiculous characters who make their way through life by getting out of situations in a strategic way, but in the end they realize "the vital importance of being earnest."