The theme of lies and deception which so perpetuates itself in Wilde’s greater works is present also in the way that the two young lovers at the start of our story undermine Lady Bracknell with the purity and innocence of young lovers as they blow kisses behind her back, she pretends not to notice this most embarrassing display of affectation ordering Gwendolen ‘To The Carriage!’ instead. Her concerns about the eligible bachelor are far from those of a modern mother: she is more concerned that the town house is on the ‘unfashionable’ side of Grosvenor square (at the time a UK gambling Mecca) than that he might have the chance to make her beloved heiress a happy human being. The question that must be asked of her is whether or not this is her true concerns or if she is more worried about her own appearance as a mother than actually being a good one.
It is true that her narcissism is exploited by many of the play’s main characters; Algernon for example simply quells her contempt for his beloved Bunbury by offering her his services meanwhile scratching the back of his good friend Ernest (Jack) and allowing him to further deceive Lady Bracknell. As he does this, Gwendolen remains seated after agreeing to follow her mother — all of this so Jack can ‘not talk about the weather’ with his beloved.
In London society (at the time) E(a)rnest had more meanings than one, pointing to what is often considered an ambiguous relationship between Algernon and Jack. E(a)rnest had not only today’s meanings (i.e. truth and a name) but it also was a Victorian slang term referring to homosexuality. Many believe that this is a large reason for Wilde’s Choice of title which may be wholly true, however it is my strong belief that the ‘ambiguous’ relationship between Algernon and Jack that is so often referred to is not at all homosexual but is only that of two long-time friends.
I think that it is truer that Wilde’s neologism ‘bunbury’ must mean more than ‘liar’. I think bunbury is more than likely meant to refer to being homosexual in Victorian times. This relates back to Wilde’s life in more ways than one, not only was he having to spend every day of his life lying about his sexuality he was also having to think about a court case. The cigarette case relates to this court case where he would likely have been shown the many inscribed cases he left with London’s rent boys. This is also shown with Jack’s refusal to admit even to a close friend that he is ‘guilty’ of bunburyism where it seems he is facing the same problem that Wilde was facing about whether or not to go to his court case.
The statement seems even more correct when you consider the plethora of people in ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ who predict a lie before it is fed to them. For example, as we get into the first part of the book Lady Bracknell thinks to have a ‘High Tea’ of sorts with her friend before coming to her relative’s to enjoy cucumber sandwiches she knows won’t have been bought for ‘ready money’ which she already expects her money troubled associate to try to pay for everything with. Not only has this but at the mere mention of a chat about the weather Gwendolen showed how far from innocent she really is by immediately asking him how his is going to swindle her with this one. Of course his conversation turns out to be all the more pleasant than one concerning the weather. In this situation he seems far more earnest than any other person of the play does at any point (of course Jack will turn out to have been Earnest all along). Perhaps he seems trustworthy because of his stammer or his ‘Typical’ male problem with saying the right thing to the girl of his dreams but it is probably the fact that he says ‘since I met you I have admired you more than any girl… I have ever met since… I met you.’ which avoids most of the clichés that arise in a traditional proposal and is another example of Wilde parodying the concept of modern marriage and its virtues which he mocks through paradox.
The parody of marriage is a common sub-plot for Wilde plays and other works which reveals a hidden theme of his married life as he tried to break away from his wife he was always considering what would happen where the reverse of his situation to happen. This is where the irony of the ‘Gold with grief’ is most relevant. The parody of life that is portrayed in this sentence is very truthful for Wilde who wants to leave his marital life as soon as possible and feels his face would lose its age if he lost his family. This must of have been terrible for Constance Lloyd who was sat in the audience to hear as it would have been glaringly obvious to her how unhappy Oscar was with their life together.
Consequently, while truth is a theme in ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ and while Oscar Wilde does describe a society in which there is not much room for it without some sort of feud developing, he also has a view to other factors than lying to protect one’s self. The play seems steeped in a thick irony which is oft unrelenting in his works and seems to be irony for the sake of comedy rather than trying to draw any kind of moral conclusion on the subject of being Earnest being anything but a bad thing — nothing has so far gone wrong with either of the two ‘brothers’’ lies…
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