Earnest And A Woman Of No Importance

According to Oscar Wilde and the titles of his works, being earnest is far more important than being a woman. Like Wilde and the suggested assumption that can be made by his titles, both works struggle to realize what is truly important in life. The Importance of Being Earnest and A Woman of No Importance have common themes of moral versus superficial values, societal expectations, and relationship complications, which can be seen in multiple instances throughout the works. The Importance of Being Earnest focuses on a man who goes by two contrasting identities to achieve acceptance in a society that focuses solely on wealth and social status and to also win over the woman he plans to marry. A Woman of No Importance follows a group of wealthy …show more content…
The work follows protagonist Jack Worthing, who has a dual identity that he creates to elevate his social status. He is known by his real name in his hometown, while he goes by the name Ernest when in London. It is here that he frequently visits Gwendolen Fairfax, the girl he plans to marry. Gwendolen is the daughter of a couple of wealthy socialites with high standards to which Jack must try to uphold in order to court her and ultimately have her hand in marriage. Gwendolen is infatuated with the name Ernest and believes that she should not marry any man if he has a different name. This is why Jack does not tell Gwendolen of his real name. Wilde uses irony to explain how important social status was through use of word play. The definition of earnest is one that is seriously intent or with purpose, and Gwendolen seeks out a person of importance to marry. This importance is stressed upon the name Ernest. “..and my ideal has always been to love some one of the name of Ernest. There is something in that name that inspires absolute confidence. The moment Algernon first mentioned to me that he had a friend called Ernest, I knew I was destined to love you.” (Wilde 10) Rather than focusing on the kind of person that Jack is, she turns her attention to his name and claims it is the deciding …show more content…
Soon after, he finds out that the woman he wants to marry has the same obsession with the name Ernest. Cecily Cardew, like Gwendolen, has always wanted to marry a man with that name and will not settle for anything less. “You must not laugh at me, darling, but it had always been a girlish dream of mine to love someone whose name was Ernest. There is something in that name that seems to inspire absolute confidence. I pity any poor married woman whose husband is not called Ernest.” (Wilde 31) Both Cecily and Gwendolen have a dream of marrying a man named Ernest and will not