Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Lies and Deceit
Double identities seem to be common throughout Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Ernest. Jack's neighbors and relatives believe that he is a character of good morals. However, despite what may be on the surface, Jack has been living a lie. "... in order to get up to town [he has] always pretended to have a younger brother of the name Ernest, who lives in the Albany, and gets into the most dreadful scrapes." (83) Jack believes that his job as a guardian is incredibly monotonous and boring, so as a result, he created his "younger brother" Ernest. In this passage, Jack reveals the reason behind his life of lies to Algernon. With Ernest, he can escape his dull life and move into a more fascinating and social world.
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I too found the idea of double identities in The Importance of Being Ernest to be an interesting element. It seems like neither Jack nor Algernon can see any other outlook for their frustrations than to make up excuses. I thought that this idea of double identities is because they are both afraid of confronting their problems. It all may stem from some kind of deeper issue of not being comfortable in one's own shoes; therefore, it is worthwhile to be someone else.
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