The Importance of Being Ernest

Oscar Wilde's play, "The Importance of Being Ernest" was a farce that criticized the importance of trivial things and etiquette. In the beginning of the play, the protagonist, Jack, was introduced. Jack lived in the country for half of his life and the city for the other part. Jack gave himself the name of Ernest when he visited the city in order to maintain two separate lives. It was evident that Jack was in love with the beautiful city girl, Gwendolin. Gwendolin, having had the same feelings for Jack in return, was most attracted to his "name" of Ernest. She even denied to love a man with a name of Jack because it was too common, while Ernest had a vibration to it. 

The scene was repeated when the character, Algernon, was introduced. Algernon went to the country and disguised himself with the name of Ernest to cause and altercation between Jack and Gwendolin. When Algernon arrived, he was greeted by the young beautiful county girl,  Cecily. Algernon and Cecily immediately fell in love. The naive Cecily, who only knew Algernon's false name of Ernest, admitted that she dreamed of marrying a man with the name of Ernest and that no other name would have been suitable. 

The trivial importance of a name to determine love is a symbol in the play. Each woman was in love with the men while their names were known to be Ernest, and fell out of love immediately when it was discovered that their names were different. Both men realized that in order to obtain the love of the women, their names must be Ernest. The issue of a name to be eligible for the marriage of the women is a very trivial matter. Love is of lesser importance in comparison to a name.

"In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity is the vital thing." In this quote, Gwendolin states that appearance and etiquette matters so much more than the truth of the whole matter. This plays a huge part in the play's trivial importance. It ridicules the importance of etiquette and appearance in society. Appearance is most significant in this play rather than the importance of an issue. 

I loved this play. I thought it was absolutely comical. The events that the characters were fighting over were astonishing to me. Everything was so trivial and the important things that were going on were casted aside for a muffin fight. I laughed while reading this and that does not often happen. The only criticism I have toward this farce is that the trivial matters were taken so seriously that it was hardly believable. The constant bickering over nothing, and the nonsense spoken by Lady Bracknell was just inconceivable.