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"IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, THE" (OSCAR WILDE).   Term Paper ID:22926 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Examines role of Cecily Cardew's diary in advancing play's farcical plot & her relationship with Ernest.... More...

6 Pages / 1350 Words 1 sources, 13 Citations, TURABIAN Format $24.00 Return to List of Papers

Paper Abstract: Examines role of Cecily Cardew's diary in advancing play's farcical plot & her relationship with Ernest. Paper Introduction: This study will examine the role of the diary of the character of Cecily Cardew in Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest, and the relationship of that diary to the story and Cecily's relationship with Ernest. The diary is merely another piece of utter nonsense and deception, especially self-deception, in a play composed of little but deception and nonsense. Cecily creates in her diary a make-believe world in which she fantasizes a relationship with Ernest. In fact, the relationship she fantasizes is not with the real "Ernest," who is in fact Jack, but rather with Algernon, who she believes to be Jack's brother, who is not actually his brother. In fact, Jack has no brother, and in any case, Cecily had never even met "Ernest" (Algernon) before she had composed the bulk of her Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. That would be hypocrisy" (6 -61). Miss Prism goes on in the same scene to say that Cecily's diary isunnecessary because "Memory . A Governess leading a restricted life leads an expansive life offantasy in a three-volume novel---which she then misplaces. But pray, Ernest, don't stop [complimenting her]. is the diary that we all carry about withus," and Cecily responds, "Yes, but it usually chronicles the things thathave never happened, and couldn't possibly have happened. Miss Prism says to Cecily, "I really don't see why you shouldkeep a diary at all." Cecily answers, I keep a diary in order to enter the wonderful secrets of my life. Cecily then tells Algernon of the letters she wrote to herself in hisname, adjuncts to the diary fantasies. The diary is merely another piece of utter nonsense and deception,especially self-deception, in a play composed of little but deception andnonsense. . When Cecily goes on to say that she could never love or marry a manwhose name was not Ernest, Algernon immediately plans to have himself re-christened, changing his name from Algernon to Ernest, once againemphasizing the fantasy nature of these people's lives and thesuperficiality of their standards of behavior. . Cecily tells him, "It would hardly havebeen a serious engagement if it hadn't been broken off at least once. Here we see that thefantasy life of Cecily, as written down in her diary, suddenly begins tocreate reality (or at least the appearance of reality) in the form ofAlgernon taking the role the diary has created for him to play. By a series of preposterous incidents, Cecily comes to believe thatAlgernon is Ernest, finally, as she believes, meeting in person the manwith whom she has been carrying on a romantic relationship in the fantasiesof her diary. In that passage, Wilde means to satirize the romanticism of Cecilyand the diary, first showing that she means to publish her diary for money,and then showing how little Algernon's compliments truly touch her heart.After all, if she were truly moved by his praise, she would hardly be in astate to write it down, much less to tell him that she was writing it down. The next day I bought this little ring in your name, and this is the little bangle with the true lover's knot I promised you always to wear (74). When it appears in volume form I hope you will order a copy. In fact, Jack has no brother, and in any case, Cecily hadnever even met "Ernest" (Algernon) before she had composed the bulk of herdreamed-up relationship with him in the diary. . . BibliographyWilde, Oscar. Algernon pleads to be able to read the diary, in order to know thecontents of the mind and heart of the girl he is beginning to love, unawarethat the diary is primarily fantasy. This study will examine the role of the diary of the character ofCecily Cardew in Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest, andthe relationship of that diary to the story and Cecily's relationship withErnest. The Importance of Being Earnest. .Why, we have been engaged for the last three months" (74). This romantic nature, however, has its realistic features. Just as Wilde skewers society'spretensions and deceptions by exaggerating them, so does Cecily's diaryskewer the romanticized notion of love among the upper crust in her diary. In other words, Cecily is saying that memory isdeceptive, inaccurate and fantasy-based---precisely the adjectives whichcan be applied to her own diary. When Algernon leaves, Cecily says, "I must enter his proposal in mydiary" (77), even though the diary is already full of their fantasyengagement. Cecily responds, Oh no. She adds that in her diary is theaccount of her breaking off the fantasy engagement. Continuing to write down his ongoing praise, Cecily critiques hiswords of love, suggesting that "hopelessly" is an adverb choice which doesnot "make much sense" (73). . to tell youthat I am very sorry for all the trouble I have given you, and that Iintend to lead a better life in the future" (68). Cecily is most satisfied with the outcome of her effort to reconcilethe two "brothers" (jack and Algernon), another indication of the power ofthe fictional diary to create a reality of sorts. and after a long struggle with myself I accepted you under this dear old tree here. . Miss Prism's novel reflects the same deceptive nature of Cecily`sdiary, and, as such, also fits into the general theme of the play---theunwillingness and/or inability of any character to live according toreality. I have reached "absolute perfection." You can go on. The stories Cecily has heard from Jack focused on the "wicked" nature(6 ) of Ernest, and this wickedness appeals to the romantic fantasies ofCecily. . She tells himhow she had heard of his wickedness and fell in love with him, althoughwhat she had actually heard from Jack were fantasies about a brother whodoes not even exist. But Iforgave you before the week was out" (75). You see, it is simply a very young girl's record of her own thoughts and impressions, and consequently meant for publication. Adhering to a romanticvision of love, she has broken off the engagement only to reinstate itimmediately in another entry. The first time the diary is introduced is in Act II, after Cecilyshuns her study of boring subjects (she is only eighteen years old) inorder to create the fantasy relationship which occupies her heart andimagination. She has created a romancefor herself, focused on a man who doesn't exist, and, when confronted byreality, merely re-creates that reality to fit her fantasies. He is speaking from his heart, but she isanalyzing his words from the perspective of a girl with a most rational ear(73). Therefore, the diary and itspreposterous fictions fit quite neatly into the farcical nonsense of theplay. Forexample, telling Algernon ("Ernest") that she has heard of his wickedness,and being told by him that she must not think that, Cecily says, "I hopeyou have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and beingreally good all the time. I am quite ready for more (73). When Gwendolyn tells her that she is engaged to "ernest," Cecilyproduces the diary as proof that she is engaged to "Ernest." Gwendolyn thenproduces her own diary as counter-proof of her engagement to "Ernest". She is not so much evenwriting about a relationship which she is creating as she is writing abouta romanticized version of a relationship which has never existed and likelynever will. She is drawn to him in the first place because of the storiesinvented about him by Jack (or at least stories about the person shebelieves to be Jack's brother Ernest, not Algernon). Cecily creates in her diary a make-believe world in which shefantasizes a relationship with Ernest. In fact, the relationship shefantasizes is not with the real "Ernest," who is in fact Jack, but ratherwith Algernon, who she believes to be Jack's brother, who is not actuallyhis brother. Because she is creating the ideal relationship with Ernest in thediary---or at least ideal in her terms---she is completely satisfied withit. Algernon, still pretending to be the fictitious "Ernest," proteststhe breaking of the engagement. The role of the diary as a romantic force is emphasized again whenCecily begins to copy in it the compliments paid her by Algernon (72-73),who is falling in love with her while still pretending to be Jack'sbrother. Wilde aims to satirize thetriviality of the lives of these deceiving and self-deceiving people of theupper class, and to show that reality is hardly a match for the fictionsthey create, typified by Cecily's diary entries. Then, Cecily drops the biggest bomb with respect to her diary, onceagain underscoring the preposterously farcical nature of the entire play.Algernon asks her to marry him, and she responds: "You silly boy! If I didn't write them down, I should probably forget all about them (57). I believe thatmemory is responsible for nearly all the three-volume novels that Mudiesends us" (57-58). New York: Avon, 1965.----------------------- 1 Most of Cecily's diary, however, has nothing to do with her memory ofreality, for it is entirely manufactured out of thin air, and deals with aman who she has never met, but has only heard lies about from Jack---lieswhich concern a man who does not even exist in the first place. When Jack is confronted by Cecily with his "brother" (Algernon), Jackdenied he has a brother, but by this time Algernon is taken with Cecily andgoes along with the charade: "Brother John, I have come . I delight in taking down from dictation. The relationship she creates is a cliche, in fact, a relationship whichshe believes typifies love among the upper class. We see, then, that the diary and its romantic fantasies, entered by amost devious, cunning and manipulative girl, plays an important role in theadvancement of the farcical plot of the play. . In fact, the diary, as we shall learn, does contain some accountsbased in reality, just as the play, with all its farce and nonsense,contains some connection to reality. She tells Algernon: Worn out by your entire ignorance of my existence, I determined to end the matter . If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.