The Importance of Being Earnest

The word earnest has a moral connotation. It means a serious and intent mental state. The irony of the play is that each character was not being earnest. They were all being deceptive with themselves and others. The two main characters who seem to have the most difficulty with being earnest were Algy and Jack. I have not found a truly good reason for being deceptive. Ultimately, it ends up hurting all people involved. Algy and Jack each had reasons for their deception.

Algy was a bachelor and used deception to go only to events that suited him. He made up a person by the name of Bunbury to blame his absence on. When a social engagement came up that Algy had no intention of attending, his friend Mr. Bunbury would get very ill. He reveals this to us when speaking to Jack.
“You have invented a very useful younger brother called Ernest, in order that you may be able to come up to town as often as you like. I have invented an invaluable permanent invalid called Bunbury, in order that I may be able to go down in to the country whenever I choose. Burnbury is perfectly invaluable. If it wasn’t for Bunbury’s extraordinary bad health, for instance, I wouldn’t be able to dine with you at Willis’s tonight, for I have been really engaged to Aunt Augusta for more than a week.” (page 852).
Jack on the other had created a brother named Ernest. He tells his friend Algy that when raising a young girl it is necessary to be a good example. His brother Ernest gets into trouble and is not a good example. “My dear Algy, I don’t know whether you will be able to understand my real motives. You are hardly serious enough. When one is placed in the position of guardian, one has to adopt a very high moral tone on all subjects. It’s one’s duty to do so. And as a high moral tone can hardly be said to conduce very much to either one’s health or one’s happiness, in order to get up to town I have always pretended to have a younger brother of the name of Ernest, who lives in the Albany, and gets into the most dreadful scrapes. That, my dear Algy is the whole truth pure and simple.” (page 852).
In the country he is required to be a good moral example for his ward, Cecily. In the city however he can be Ernest and act in a manner he prefers.

As a teacher I will be held to a higher moral code then most other occupations. I am in charge of educating our future leaders. I will have to be careful to conduct myself respectfully in public. I am not much of a drinker but my husband enjoys an occasional beer now and then. I worry about having beer in my shopping cart. What if I see a student or their parents? They may not have an issue with it, but it tarnishes me a little in their eyes. I understand why Algy and Jack made up other characters. It allowed them to escape their lives for a short period of time. This is certainly not something any of us could get away with today. We are too plugged in to the grid to make up a character for an escape from reality.