Algernon is another one of these ‘crazy’ characters and his eccentricity also brings out humour in the play. Algernon leads such an irresponsible life that it brings out humour. Algernon, who we see is the play’s secondary hero, seems to be a completely idle bachelor. Algernon is brilliant, witty, selfish, and is constantly making delightful paradoxical statements that either make no sense at all or touch on something thoughtful. We can see this from his words ‘relations are simply a tedious pack of people who
haven’t got the remotest of knowledge of how to live.’ Not only is this a rather daft comment, but also it is quite ironical, because it is clear to the audience and the reader, that Algernon himself does not know how to lead his own life in a sensible manner.
Paradoxes are also used throughout the play, which adds a certain amount of humour too, making the play more successful. A paradox is a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement that is or may be true. Lady Bracknell shows us an almost hilarious paradox, when interrogating Jack, after he replies that he smokes, she completely unexpectedly says that ‘ a man should always have an occupation!’ Algernon and Jack also have a conversation about women, and Algernon, unexpectedly says that if a women is pretty, the correct behaviour is to ‘make love to her,’ which is quite startling, taking the audience completely by surprise. Algernon admits that the way he judges a woman is by looking at the outside, and that what is on the inside, is insignificant.
A paradox can take many different forms. Another classic example of paradox and absurdity is when Algernon remarks, ‘divorces are made in heaven,’ inverting the common remark of marriages being ‘made in heaven.’ Similarly, at the end of the play, when Jack calls it ‘a terrible thing’ for a man to discover that he’s been telling the truth all his life, he uses the paradoxical language, which again is humorous, making the play so much more successful.
Puns are also quite a contribution to the success of the play. In ‘The Importance Of Being Earnest’, the pun, considered to be the lowest form of wit, is rarely just a play on a word. The pun in this case, is within the title. The earnest/Ernest joke strikes at respectability. Gwendolen wants to marry a man called Ernest, and she doesn’t care whether the man actually possesses the qualities that include earnestness. She is, after all, quick to forgive Jack’s trickery.
In Act III, when Lady Bracknell jokes that until recently she had no idea there were any persons ‘whose origin was a Terminus,’ she is making a pun, that Jack cannot trace his origin, because it is so far back, just like a railway station is, because the last station on a line, is ‘the terminus. There’s also a whole series of hidden puns on the words ‘line’ and ‘connection’ that can refer to either origin or a train. I think that Oscar Wilde is making fun of upper class people of the 19th century, because he is implying that Lady Bracknell is incapable of telling the difference between a railway line and a family line.
The entire concept of having a double life, made me chuckle at first. To an audience, this is definitely an aspect, which improves the success of the play, by adding humour to it. I think that the double life is a metaphor in the play, which we all see, quite amusingly, as ‘Bunbury.’ As defined by
Algernon, Bunburying is the custom of creating a trick that allows someone to misbehave and pretend that they actually do have control over their other responsibilities. Evidently, Algernon does not do a good job, because his character portrays quite a weak one, and he seems like an irresponsible person. Jack’s imaginary brother Ernest is a device not only for escaping duties, but also one that allows Jack to appear far more responsible than he actually is. Similarly, Algernon’s imaginary invalid friend Bunbury allows Algernon to escape to the country, where he presumably inflicts on people who don’t know him that well, so like I said before, the Bunbury friends, in a way, give permission to cause mischief, which is quite funny.
The play also becomes more memorable because the play reveals cultural interest. It depicts a typical situation of late 19th century upper class people and reveals their relaxed and prosperous lifestyle. Jack and Algernon evidently do not work that much, because they have money invested in property, and as a result are very wealthy, and have a lot of time on their hands. Instead of using their time doing constructive deeds, they waste in on forming people who don’t exist, which is so stupid, it is quite amusing. We can see from Lady Bracknell, that life is all about having money, and being respected, and to make it even more memorable, Oscar Wilde clearly uses his play to ridicule the Church of England.
The play is also made more successful by the stagecraft. Food scenes appear frequently in ‘The Importance Of Being Earnest’, and they are almost always causes of disagreement. Act I contains the cucumber sandwich joke, in which Algernon, without realizing it, steadily eats all the sandwiches. In Act II, the climax of Gwendolen and Cecily’s spat over who is really engaged to Ernest Worthing comes when Gwendolen tells Cecily, who has just offered her sugar and cake, that sugar is ‘not fashionable any more’ and ‘Cake is rarely seen at the best houses nowadays.’ Cecily responds by filling Gwendolen’s tea with sugar and her plate with cake. The two women have actually been insulting each other for some time, but Cecily’s cheeky actions cause Gwendolen to become even angrier, and she warns Cecily that she ‘may go too far.’
Another aspect, which makes this play so memorable and successful, is the large amount of hypocrisy that is involved in the play. Algernon and Jack may create similar trickeries, but they are not the same people on the inside. When Jack forms his brother Ernest’s death, he covers up the dishonesty, and he is actually acting hypocritically. In contrast, Algernon and Cecily make up elaborate stories that don’t really change the truth in any serious way. In some ways, Algernon, not Jack, is the play’s real hero, because Algernon is arguably the most likeable character, full of wit, and intelligent remarks.
To sum up this whole play, I can surely conclude by giving a definite ‘thumbs-up’ to this play, because not only has Oscar Wilde made it so memorable, but he has achieved his success by using so many different clever techniques, the main one being humour. Everyone enjoys a good laugh on a night out, so anyone that attends this play, will surely come out feeling better than when they went in. Oscar Wilde was clever in noticing that humour will be the key to writing a captivating play, and I am sure that anyone who goes to see this play, will agree with me, and say that this play possesses a humorous plot, some fantastic ideas and characters, and as a result produces a very successful play.