Latent values of life in The Importance of Being Earnest

朱黎

I. Introduction

The comedy of The Importance of Being Earnest showed the Panoramic of upper classes at the Victorian age. The double identity of Jack and Algernon deeply impressed every reader. The values of love and marriage were also embodied in the play. After reading the play， we had to think about the deep meaning hidden beneath the absurdity. Being earnest was considered as the valuable quality and men with the name of Earnest were the ideal husbands in the eyes of women. However， people were cheated by lie. Jack and Algernon lingered between the town and country with the double identity， which will make people think why they chose the similar way and what impelled them to do it.

Although the comedy looked ridiculous， it disclosed deep social roots， the hypocrisy and degeneracy of upper classes were completely exposed. People intended to seek the truth and tried to be earnest， but actually they took casual attitude towards life. They got pleasure and gratification from the double life， which rightly reflected the nothingness and emptiness of their spiritual world. Besides， the standard about choosing the spouse also refracted the superficiality of people. Love of Gwendolen and Cecily to Jack and Algernon was just due to the name of Earnest， which made people feel that life was so preposterous. The play offers rather biting criticism of the institutions and values that had， by the end of the nineteenth century， made Britain the worlds greatest colonial power. The essay will probe the values of life which pervaded in the play from the moral-philosophical perspective and dig out the causes of the value.

II. Literature Review

2.1 Domestic Study

Domestic studies about the play of The Importance of Being Earnest are not so much. And most of them concentrated on the language and humor produced on it. Few of them touched the moral level. Zhou Wen （2007） interpreted the play from double personality and pointed that it not only embodied the hypocrisy and degeneracy of upper classes but also uncovered the unknown side of human nature. Zhou Jie （2010） discussed the paradoxical ideas displayed in the novel. She thought that these ideas not only increased the function of comedy but also exposed the shallowness of characters. Additionally， she thought that the play critiqued aristocrats ignorance of serious moral concepts from their social life. Wu Jing （2010） analyzed the values of love and marriage which pervaded the play and held that these values will direct us to rethink our life and improve our marriage so that we can seek for more happiness.

2.2 International Study

Characters in Wildes play are not earnest， their actions satirize popular notions of the idle rich but also poke fun at Utilitarianism as well. As Stone （2002） said：

Characters of The Importance are often seriously， even passionately， concerned about food. They are equally serious about property （preferably in its most ‘real form， money or its equivalent the Funds）； and they are all， as we have seen， incessantly engaged in struggles for power.

Additionally， Baselga （2005） pointed out that Oscar Wilde shows his contempt towards Victorian society， especially its most sacred icons. About the interpretation of diary of Gwendolen and Cecily， Paglia （2002） held that the life recorded and contemplated in the diary is therefore reduced in significance， trivialized： it is simply a series of sensational incidents without moral meaning. And Stone （2002） also hold that the play is sufficiently related to the world as it is to touch the great standard themes of art--Love and Marriage， Death and Rebirth， and Appearance and Reality--though they indeed occur very obliquely.

In a word， few essays from domestic and international study touched the moral levels of the play. Therefore， the passage will discuss the latent values of life from the action and speech of characters about love， marriage， and etc.

III. Theoretical Approach

As a traditional critical way， the moral-philosophical approach is to probe morality and philosophical issues in the literature works. “The cognitive value of literature consists in the contribution it makes to moral reasoning.”（Eileen， Dominic， 2004： 350） Moral-philosophical approach attaches great importance to moral or philosophical teaching but not form， figurative language， etc. However， it is not superficially didactic； it interprets the total meaning of a literary work and encourages readers to rethink.

Actually， a desire of revolt and restlessness was hidden in Jack， he pursued freedom， romance and adventure. Just as Jack， Algernon also regarded people and things around him with contempt. At the same time， different ideas about love and marriage made the two men plunge into conflicts， and their attitudes towards life rightly disclosed the Panoramic of upper classes. Although they stressed the importance of being earnest， their action was contrasted with it， which fully embodied the absurdity and hypocrisy of their life.

IV. Discussion

4.1 The Author and His Society

Serious moral concepts dominated the church， school， family and the court at the Victorian age， but some of aristocrats still ignored their existence and led a luxurious and decadent life and Wilde sharply criticized it.

In the end of 19th and the early of 20th century， Britain had been put in the summit with the development of industry and economy， the scientific progress promoted the economic boom， but it also brought various problems. People crazily admired the wealth and power. Confronting with the situation， Wilde had to seek for an exit and make his own declaration with the special ideas. Being the repressed state， he completely broke the constraints and went to another extreme. Additionally， the life of Wilde was covered with contradiction， which will influence his creation to a certain degree. As a Protestant， he was inclined to be a Catholic； although he got married， he was convicted of homosexuality. （Zhou， 2010：79） Therefore， characters of the play were endowed with the duality.Jack lived in the country and he could not escape from the reality and sought for what he wanted. So he chose the name of Earnest and imagined a brother， which made him find excuse so that he could go to the town and fully enjoy what he liked. Similarly， Algernon chose the same name and went to the country in which he expressed his love to Cecily. They lingered between the truth and lie， the repressed desire of them was completely released in this way and it simultaneously expressed their casual attitude towards life.

4.2 The profound meaning of the name Earnest

Both Jack and Algernon chose the name of Earnest and it increased the function of comedy. “The word ‘earnest has three related meanings： to be eager or zealous； to be sincere， serious， and determined； and to be important， not trivial” （Schmidt）， however， their action was contrasted with it. When Algernon knew Jack is the true name rather than Earnest， he said：

You are the most earnest-looking person I ever saw in my life. It is perfectly absurd your saying that your name isnt Earnest. （131）

It will made people laugh， but the hypocrisy was felt by audiences. Algernon also made up a person named Bunburyist and escaped from the crowd with it. They traveled between the two worlds with two different identities， which disclosed their blank spiritual world. Jack chose lie due to his boredom of the country， he thought that “when one is in the country one amuses other people. When one is in town one amuses oneself” （127）. As the guardian of Cecily， Jack knew the responsibility but he wanted to seek for the freedom， so he had to find a reasonable excuse. Algernon also entertained the same purpose， he wanted to escaped from the reality and breathe the fresh air. Obviously， people lived in the upper class suffered from great pain and pressure， they extremely desired to release them.

4.3 Values of Love and Marriage

Gwendolen and Cecily loved Jack and Algernon because of their names of Earnest， which showed their shallowness and carelessness on love. They thought that the name of Earnest would be in accordance with their moral quality. AS Gwendolen believed that it suits Jack perfectly. It is a divine name. It has music of its own. It produces vibrations. The only really safe name is Ernest. （138） Cecily also expressed the same idea. If Algernon was his true name， she might respect him， she might admire him， but she should not be able to give him undivided attention. （164） Therefore， their love actually was established on a good name and honest appearance which was endowed with the name.

When talking about the marriage with Lane， Algernon regarded it as demoralizing. Besides， the conflict was produced between Jack and Algernon， Jack treated Gwendolen as the only girl in his life， but Algernon held that in married life three is company and two is none. It exposed that romance between lovers had not existed in that society but was replaced by immorality and unstable marriage.

Lady Bracknell played a cynical role in the play. After knowing Jack will marry her daughter， she asked a series of questions， including his income， family and other practical things. When she was told that Jack had a county house， she expressed that her daughter who was a simple， unspoiled nature could not be expected to reside in the country. Especially Jack was an abandoned infant， it was impossible for her to allow him to marry her daughter：

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 cloakroom， and form an alliance with a parcel. （143）

Here， snobbish and hypocritical attitude of upper class was completely embodied. The action and speech of characters was sharply contrasted with the title of the play， which disclosed the authors Philosophical thinking on life and society.

V. Conclusion

Wilde exposed attitudes of people lived at Victorian age towards life， they held serious belief in the trifle but casual one in the important things. Characters of the play had their own secrets， Wilde depicted their distorted mentality at that special time with the absurd way， which was his personal struggle against the corrupt society under the longtime repression. Although the play seemed like ridiculous and funny， It will direct people to rethink the truth of life and establish their own moral standards.

References：

[1]Baselga， Mariano. “Oscar Wilde and the Semantic Mechanisms of Humour： The Satire of Social Habits.” Rediscovering Oscar Wilde. Ed. C. George Sandulescu. Gerrards Cross： Colin Smythe， 1994. 13-20. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Joseph Palmisano. Vol. 77. Detroit： Gale， 2005. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 21 Apr. 2011.

[2]ED. Eileen， John. M.L. Lopes. Philosophy of Literature Contemporary and Classic Readings [M]， 2004：350. Blackwell Publishing.

[3]Paglia， Camille. “Wilde and the English Epicene.” Raritan （Winter 1985）： 85-109. Rpt. in Drama Criticism. Ed. Scott T. Darga. Vol. 17. Detroit： Gale， 2002. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 21 Apr. 2011.

[4]Schmidt， Arnold. “An essay for The Importance of Being Earnest.” Drama for Students. Detroit： Gale. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 21 Apr. 2011.

[5]Stone， Geoffrey. “Serious Bunburyism： The Logic of The Importance of Being Earnest.” Essays in Criticism 26.1 （Jan. 1976）： 28-41. Rpt. in Drama Criticism. Ed. Scott T. Darga. Vol. 17. Detroit： Gale， 2002. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 15 Apr. 2011.

[6]周 文，從人格的二重性看王爾德及其喜劇-認真的重要性. 岱宗學刊， 2007（3）：50-52.

[7]周 潔， 關于王爾德悖論：以認真的重要為例. 山東外語教學， 2010 （2）：79-83.

[8]吳 靜， 談王爾德不可兒戲中的愛情婚姻觀. 海外英語， 2010（12）：231-233.

[9]劉海平， 朱雪峰， 英美戲?。鹤髌放c評論. 上海：上海外語教育出版社，2004.