![]() ![]() During an early conversation about marriage proposals, Algernon says: “I really don’t see anything romantic in proposing. Jack and Algernon diminish the institution of marriage in another way. The frivolity with which these women fall in love suggests that relationships, too, are frivolous. The women base their love entirely on the belief that the men are named Ernest, which reveals their naivety regarding marriage. She confesses her love for him and tells him all about how they’ve been engaged she bought a ring for herself in his name, and wrote herself love letters pretending they were from him (32). ![]() In another part of the play, Cecily meets Algernon for the first time and believes he is Jack’s brother Ernest. The moment Algernon first mentioned to me that he had a friend called Ernest, I knew I was destined to love you” (10). There is something in that name that inspires absolute confidence. ![]() As Gwendolyn says to Jack early in the play, “…My ideal has always been to love some one of the name of Ernest. Cecily and Gwendolyn only want to marry Algernon and Jack because they believe that their names are Ernest. What they do treat as important are esoteric social norms, connotations of names, and trivial details. In Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest” the characters treat marriage as something frivolous. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |