The Importance of Being Earnest: Homosexuality

In 1895, Oscar Wilde was on trial for gross indecency or homosexuality ("posing as sodomite") with other men and on May 25th, was imprisoned for two years while being held to hard labour. During this time, The Importance of Being Earnest along with An Ideal Husband, another one of Wilde's popular plays, were shut down in spite of their significant financial success.

The Importance of Being Earnest was written in a time when homosexuality was a guarded topic and seen as "wicked" or "immoral" behaviour. In the play, the main character, Jack Worthing, is known as Jack in the country and Ernest in the town and goes between the two. Meanwhile he is in love with young lady, Gwendolen, who will only marry a man named Ernest because she desires the quality of being earnest the most in her future husband. Being 'earnest' however, can also be a reference to homosexuality which adds another dimension to the play. Jack's alternative identity and secrets could be parallel to someone who is homosexual; wearing a disguise to appear 'normal' and hiding.

The Importance of Being Earnest: Hypocrisy

Throughout The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde plays on the hypocrisy created by society. On multiple occasions, characters behaved differently than expected under those circumstances.

For example, at the beginning of the play, Lane, Algernon's manservant, has stolen champagne from his master and Algernon called him out on it but after a short amount of time, lets it go. Instead of a punishment which the audience expected, Algernon changed the subject and said, "Good heavens! Is marriage so demoralizing as that?" (pg. 6). Another example is when Lady Bracknell suddenly warms up to Cecily when she is told Cecily is rich. She states, "A hundred and thirty thousand pounds! And in the Funds! [Cecily] seems to me a most attractive young lady, now that I look at her. Few girls of the present day have any really solid qualities" (pg. 89). The lack of authenticity lies in the fact that being rich is not necessarily a "solid quality" that makes a person suitable for marriage. Later, Jack, who must approve of the marriage between Cecily and Algernon, points out that, "[He] does not approve at all of his moral character. [He] suspects him of being untruthful" (pg. 91) which is a more significant quality one should look for in a mate than wealth.

The moral values of the characters in The Importance of Being Earnest are cloudy and inconsistent thus causing a great amount of hypocrisy.

The Importance of Being Earnest: The Dandy

The Importance of Being Earnest was produced in 1895 by Oscar Wilde, a famous Irish writer, poet and one of London's most popular playwrights in the 1890's. Wilde's plays are quite similar in format and type of characters. The most popular and consistent character in Wilde's plays is the dandy. This is a stand in for Wilde himself. The witty, overdressed, self styled philosopher appears trivial and shallow at first, but as the play progresses, he turns out to be a deeply moral character that is crucial to the play's resolution.

In The Importance of Being Earnest, the dandy is Mr. Algernon Moncrieff. Algernon is a young bachelor brought up to be rich though he is always lacking money. He is the only deceptive character in The Importance of Being Earnest that has a honest relationship with their fiancee when the play concludes. The is the perfect dandy in the play making seemingly useless comments that are actually quite intelligent and worthy of reflection. For example, Jack, the protagonist states that "I'll bet you anything you like that half an hour after they have met, they will be calling each other sister" (pg. 30) when referring to his ward, Cecily and his fiancee, Gwendolen, neither of which know of his alternative identity. In response, Algernon says, "Women only do that when they have called each other a lot of other things first." (pg. 30)When reading this, it appears to have no relevance to the plot however in typical dandy fashion, the comment has significance towards the end of the play. When Cecily and Gwendolen become aware that they supposedly engaged to be married to the same man. Both women call each other liars because it is the other one to be married. When the truth is finally revealed, Gwendolen turns to Cecily and says, "You will call me sister, will you not?" (pg. 77) The play reeks with this irony and deception which makes the Victorian melodrama or "sentimental" comedy a great read.

Heart of Darkness: Historical and Biographical Content

Heart of Darkness, published in 1902, is Joseph Conrad’s best known work. History develops the action behind the drama in this novella; it is an actual account of Conrad’s experiences in the Congo in 1890. The recordings of his events are entries in a diary that date back to June 13, 1890. The early part of the diary corresponds to the language and events described in Heart of Darkness. The setting of the novella is in Africa, deep in the jungle of the Congo, where Conrad exposes the horror of imperialism and close-minded European views that perpetuate racism. As a child, Conrad’s hatred for imperialism is evident. His parents believed in liberating Poland and his father’s main concern centers around fortifying resistance against Russian oppression. Conrad suffers from his family’s political involvement. At the age of four, his father is arrested; at the age of seven, his mother dies and four years later his father passes. These traumatic losses fuel his wish to flee Poland and at the age of sixteen, he pursues a life as a sailor. His experiences at sea are his inspiration to write Heart of Darkness. His novella draws heavily upon what he has witnessed as a captain of a steamboat on the Congo River.

The “darkest” aim of imperialism, ruthless colonial exploitation, is achieved in the Congo jungle. European expansion began in 1870 along with the reckless push for ivory elephant tusks. Six million Africans died during the brutal trade, overseen by the Belgians. The effects of this trade on Africa were traumatic. More than seventy percent of the African continent was exploited. These events led to the Boer War that was fought in South Africa by the British immigrants and Boers, who were the descendants of the early Dutch colonists. Conrad published his novella during this conflict. After Conrad’s publication of Heart of Darkness, the world became aware of the overwhelming problems of imperialism. It was the first time that Europeans seriously began to question their presence in Africa.