When Lady Bracknell who is Gwendolen’s mother hears that Jack wants to marry her daughter who she is very controlling of, she interviews his and asks him all different kind of questions. Jack answers all her questions honestly and doesn’t lie at all even about that he never knew who his parents were and that he was found in a suitcase. Lady Bracknell doesn’t like this at all. [Lady Bracknell: Me, sir! What has it to do with me? You can hardly imagine that I and Lord Bracknell would dream of allowing our only daughter—a girl brought up with the utmost care—to marry into a cloak-room, and form an alliance with a parcel? Good morning, Mr. Worthing!] (Act 1, Page 23, Line 1) Jack really wants to marry Gwendolen and he loves her a lot. When Lady Bracknell interviewed him he could have lied and married Gwendolen, but he didn’t, he told the truth. This shows that he does have a bit of honesty and honorability in him.
Algernon Lies a lot, more than Jack. Also he doesn’t really care about women’s feelings and emotions. [Algernon: The only way to behave to a woman is to make love to her, if she is pretty, and to some one else, if she is plain. Jack: Oh, that is nonsense.] (Act 1, Page 24, Line 11) Jack is more honorable than him because even though he lies a lot, he still has some dignity left in him and still cares about other people.
When Algernon gets to know that Jack has a ward named Cecily he becomes interested in her and when he hears Jack giving his address in the country to Gwendolen he writes it on the cuff of his sleeve and goes there by train to meet Cecily. When he meets her he says that he is the brother of Jack and that he is Ernest which is a lie. Cecily like Gwendolen also wants to marry someone of the name Ernest and quickly becomes fascinated with Algernon.
Algernon lies to a young women about almost everything just to get with her and he probably doesn’t really love her because he hasn’t ever met her before so he couldn’t have loved her. Jack on the other hand really did love Gwendolen and truly wanted to marry her.
I think to answer the question as to who is more honest and reliable it is going to be Jack, because he looks more serious than Algernon who seems to take everything as a joke and only cares about pleasure and entertaining himself. Also Jack lies much less than Algernon who lies a lot during the play sometimes even about things that you don’t have to lie about. Because Jack lies less than Algernon, is more serious and told the truth when Lady Bracknell interviewed him concerning his marriage proposal to her daughter Gwendolen I must say that even though they both are very dishonest and dishonorable the most honest and honorable of them is Jack Worthing.
