The Importance of Being Earnest

In Oscar Wilde's play, The Importance of Being Earnest, the character of Jack Worthing endures the physical journey to and from Hertfordshire to London. This journey and experiences at each end add to the meaning of the work as a whole: the ironic importance of other people's opinions of oneself. Jack Worthing creates the fictional character of Earnest, allowing him to have an excuse to leave one location to go to the other. The creation of Earnest allows Jack to live vicariously through the excitement of a new person, a clear slate, open for all the changes and experiences he is willing to make and make up. The actual name of Earnest also symbolizes this ironic theme because the girls that both Jack and Algernon try to win over as this character of Earnest, are swooned simply by the name of Earnest. This also reveals the theme of having to be more than what they are. Jack and Algernon each need to be somebody else to be approachable to women, so they aspire to be someone they are not with this false character of Earnest.

The journey from the country to the city ultimately reveals the shallow characteristics of the people of this Victorian era. As they all arrange to meet, Gwendolyn, Cecily, Jack, and Algernon, the giant mess unfolds. Here, the false character of Ernest is shattered, due to the situation Jack and Algernon have created. This meeting reveals as well the true colors of Gwendolyn and Cecily of only wanting the men to fulfill the certain criteria they seeked, and of course holding the title of Earnest. Gwendolyn fell in love with simply the name of Earnest, and Cecily fell in love with the idea of an engagement and sharing a life with someone else. Gwendolyn, Cecily, Jack, and Algernon all aspired to find better and interesting things, and their fake and misleading actions only helped to reach their dreams. Gwendolyn and Cecily's decisions to forgive the men because they decide to both become Earnest by changing their names reveals additionally some characteristics of a typical woman of the Victorian era: swift to forgive and foolish to accept.

If it weren't for the meeting, resulting from the journey from Hertfordshire to London, this main theme would not have risen to the surface. Despite the fact that the idea of Earnest was entirely made up, it brought the characters together with their wants and revealed more of their individual characteristics. Additionally, this excitement-seeking journey from country to city with hopes of finding better things, and escaping dull life alluded to the meaning of the work as a whole: the importance of other's opinions of oneself. Jack and Algernon were so caught up in pleasing these women, that they adopted the fake role of an entirely different person. This journey essentially provided insight to the meaning of the work as a whole, by revealing the false and made up character of Earnest.