Importance of Being Earnest
The use of dandyism in "The Importance of Being Earnest" contributes many new aspects to the piece. It can help enhance the mood of the play, the way each character thinks and acts, and how characters interact with one another. Algernon is one such character that displays dandyism, valuing style, high class, wealth, and formality above responsibility, maturity, and love. Although Algernon expresses these traits at the beginning of the play, he is a dynamic character, and his views and dandyism change at the end of the play as he falls in love with Cecily. In the play "The Importance of Being Earnest", Oscar Wilde uses the character Algernon to portray dandyism by showing his lack of responsibility; his naive, subversive views on marriage, and his interaction with other characters; these traits lead him to lie in order to avoid important matters, demoralize those less fortunate, and denounce views expressed by other characters that he sees as frivolous.One way Oscar Wilde displays dandyism though Algernon is by showing his lack of responsibility over important matters; this trait is expressed by his immaturity and lies during the play. Algernon is displayed as having a high status, living in a mansion, having servant, and v
First of all, there is Lane, who discusses with Algernon, the view of married households, sharing that "in married households the champagne is rarely of a first-rate brand" (568). During the play, Algernon's naive and subversive views concerning individuals in love in society change to accommodate his love for Cecily as the play progresses. The use of this displays a meaning that, because champagne is a drink of those in love, married households would not have a first-rate brand of champagne because romance seems to dicipate after a time, in the belief of Lane, which Algernon retaliates with "Good heavens! Is marriage so demoralising as that?" (568). Wilde conveys a mesage of Algernon that expresses how much he values the upper class, his place in society, and his wealth, status, and formality. in the first place, girls never marry the men they flirt with. Through this act of immaturity, Algernon is then able to visit Jack's country home so he can further acquaint himself with Cecily. Algernon also elaborates these views by expressing marriage as demoralizing, clearly showing that he is someone who believes love is meaningless. He prefers to avoid any real commitment, showing his lack of responsibility by lying and this is expressed by the language he Algernon uses, such as the word "bunbury". He expresses Cecily in the end as "the sweetest, dearest, prettiest girl in the whole world. They seem to think I should be with him" (Oscar Wilde 574). Really, if the lower orders [do not] set us a good example, what on earth is the use of them?" (568), expressing that as Lane is a servant, a lower class, nothing said by Lane can be attributed as true.
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Acceptance Essays
