Explore Oscar Wildes presentation of his character Jack from his play The Importance of Being Earnest; showing how this character develops over the course of the action and the message he gives to the audience.

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Explore Oscar Wilde's presentation of his character Jack from his play 'The Importance of Being Earnest'; showing how this character develops over the course of the action and the message he gives to the audience.

Stubborn, irresponsible and shallow: three words to describe the character Jack, from 'The Importance of Being Earnest'. In Oscar Wilde's light-hearted play, Jack is a wealthy young man, who is a main character involved in the complex plot(s). Throughout the play, Wilde slowly reveals different things about Jack so the audience feel like they are getting to know him better. The playwright obviously has strong views about people from the Edwardian era (setting of 'The Importance of Being Earnest'), and his characters are his way of communicating these opinions.

Jack is a noticeable character and has very individual traits, which adds to the atmosphere of the play and makes it more humorous. By giving each character a distinctive personality, it helps the audience distinguish between the many plots because the more extreme a character is, the more likely it is that you remember them.

He appears to have no understanding of responsibility as at the beginning of the play he says 'Oh, pleasure, pleasure! What else should bring one anywhere?', when Algernon asks why he has come to the town. This shows he is irresponsible because it shows he just wants to have fun and enjoy himself. This quote also shows he is wealthy and extravagant because he can obviously travel whenever he wants to and has the cash to do so. This links back to the point that he is irresponsible because if he had the sole responsibility of anything then he wouldn't just be able to travel - for example if he worked then he would not just be able to leave his job. The word 'pleasure' emphasises the point that the character Jack is wealthy, as he clearly has a luxurious lifestyle and the money to afford' pleasure'. The phrase 'what else should bring one anywhere?' also suggests he is young and care free because he has no understanding that people might not travel for pleasure. He appears to be living in his own little world and has no idea that others struggle to find the money to survive and have to work very hard to do so. This is an important part of Oscar Wilde's message - that the rich were quite naïve - but I will discuss this further later. On the other hand this quote could show he was just spontaneous and always looking for an adventure. Instead of being frivolous he is just enjoying the money he has and making the most of his life. It would probably depend on the audience's views on money as to whether they saw Jack as overly extravagant or just spontaneous.

The idea that he is irresponsible is actually not a true character trait, because actually Jack is quite devious, and does have responsibilities because he is a guardian in the country, where he is known as Jack, to Cecily his ward. The previous quote applies to this as well because doesn't want Algernon to find out he has responsibilities as he may come across as boring. While he is actually travelling to the town for 'pleasure', he tries to cover the fact he has a secret life in the country with 'what else should bring one anywhere?' This acts as a cover because Jack knows that travelling isn't always about pleasure but he tries to fit in with Algernon's profligate lifestyle. At many points in the play Jack says things that make the characters he is talking to believe he is someone he is not. This is usually due to the fact he is trying to cover up his lies.

There are points when Jack is shown to be demanding. When he travels to the town, in act one, he says to Algernon 'I simply want my cigarette case back'. This shows Jack to be demanding and perhaps impatient. The phrase 'simple want' implies he is impatient as this is the way the line would be performed when on stage. I imagine that the line would be delivered in a snappy way, and Jack would probably look quite angry or uncomfortable. The line is short which would make the audience believe that Jack is short-tempered and the word 'want' adds to this. His demand is polite yet the tone in the actor's voice would give away that Jack was actually frustrated. In the conversation that is taking place, Algernon has read the inscription on the cigarette case, which makes it obvious that is belongs to 'Jack' and is from Cecily. Algernon knows Jack as Ernest as this is what Jack calls himself in the town. Algy also knows the cigarette case belongs to Ernest so is confused by the inscription which goes against what he knows.
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The conversation arouses suspicion with Algy and so he starts questioning Jack (or Ernest as he is known to Algernon at this point). The quote links to this because instead of having a short-temper, he could have appeared impatient because he was anxious about being found out. The actor could show this by being fidgety and looking uncomfortable with the situation. This makes sense because Jack is happy with the way he has two lives, one in the town and one in the country and as no-body likes to be lied to, Algernon and Jack would probably wend ...

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