LRJ #4 - The Importance of Being Earnest

Sarita Beekie
Ms. Peifer
10 IB - Hour 5
10 May 2009

LRJ #4 - The Importance of Being Earnest

Absurdity is all too apparent when Jack's true identity is discovered through the revelation that he was the son of Ernest John Moncrieff (before Miss Prism placed him in the black handbag when he was a baby), so therefore he must be Ernest John Moncrieff. This is because Jack was the eldest son of Ernest John Moncrieff, and according to social conventions of the nineteenth century, Jack would've been christened with his father's Christian name. This can be inferred when Lady Bracknell tells Jack, "Being the eldest son you were naturally christened after your father" (Wilde iii). A prime example of wit can be seen when Jack (who is now earnestly Ernest) says, "It is a terrible thing for a man to find out suddenly that all his life he has been speaking the truth" (Wilde iii). Wit, (and oddly enough) absurdity and social conventions are what resolve all of the mishaps that accumulated throughout the play, as well as conclude the play while staying characteristic to the rest of the play.