Location in The Importance of Being Earnest

     While the variability of physical movement in Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest is generally exiguous, the emphasis placed on the one major shift in setting is immense. The comedy, set in Victorian era England, invokes facetious drama stemming from the double-identities of each of the two main characters, Algernon and Jack, who switch their respective personas when they travel from the country to the town. While the physical difference in landscape between Algernon’s town flat in Act I to Jack’s estate in Acts II and III characterize the major thematic changes, some of the play’s shorter, more superficial journeys provide context for Wilde’s true satirical intentions. Overall, physical movement in The Importance of Being Earnest ultimately reveals the true natures of Algernon and Jack’s prevaricated identities, and ultimately serves to satirize the superfluously well-mannered etiquette of Victorian England. 

 
     Amid the affable, quizzical banter held between the two English friends, Algernon accuses Jack of being a “confirmed Bunburyist”. This term is coined by Algernon to classify his own manner of sneaking out of the town to frequent the country; purportedly off to be by the side of his severely invalid friend, Bunbury. This pretense is often utilized by Jack to bypass dinner with his cousin, Gwendolen, and his scrupulous aunt. These qualities of Bunbury are manifested in Jack through the incarnation of his false brother, Ernest, who Jack uses to evade the responsibilities of his niece and ward, Cecily. A convoluted plot finds Algernon, attempting to pursue Cecily, and Jack, attempting to court Gwendolyn, both having convinced their respective affections that they each are “Ernest”. This irony is greatly accelerated by location. In Algernon’s town flat, Jack is acquainted to Gwendolen as Ernest; and at Jack’s estate, Algernon introduces himself to Cecily under the identity of Ernest as well. This leads to the confusing situation in Act II where Jack hastily claims that his “brother” has died; while “Ernest” in very much alive in the next room, with Algernon in discourse with Cecily. This perplexing outcome forces Jack and Algernon to affirm their actual identities; and dismiss any comprehensions of Ernest and Bunbury. In using two contrasting locations, Wilde is able to create a dramatic, ironic scenario where multiple identities (both imagined and real) are converged in one ultimate arena.

 
While the physical journeys experienced by Jack and Algernon are crucial to developing irony in the plot, the movement of Cecily and Gwendolen is essential to identifying the underlying theme applied by Wilde. In Act II, Cecily is in her uncle’s manor, being entertained by Algernon, who she still believes to be “Ernest”. Gwendolen arrives in the country a scene later, expecting to be met by Ernest (who is really Jack). The emotions experienced by Cecily and Gwendolen when they discover that they have been the affections of the same “person” are appropriate: those of confusion and indignation. However, Wilde contrives to convey these sentiments not with exclamations or venomous insults, but with jesting reciprocations of mannerly, constrained representations of spite. Even at the height of their confusion, the two women seldom refrain from the composed, urbane decorum of speech expected by their high social standards. Wilde pokes fun at the emphasis placed on reserved, courteous manners; and shows that even the apex of two women’s fury can scarcely result in an erosion of elevated etiquette. Ultimately, this scene is created by the physical placement of Cecily and Gwendolen at Jack’s country estate.

Additionally, upon reconciling over their mutual deception, Cecily and Gwendolen make a very brief venture from the manor gardens into the kitchen. This isolates Jack and Algernon outside on the patio to ruminate on their erroneous pretenses. However, instead of consciously evaluating their sly deceptions of the two girls, Jack and Algernon immediately submit to frivolous bickering - inciting each other over their respective idiosyncrasies. Subsequently, the focal point of the discussion ends up being the etiquette of eating muffins. While this absurd exchange imparts to the comedic aspects of the play, it also serves as a way for Wilde to further satirize the very cosmetic nature of English attitudes. In this case, Cecily and Gwendolen’s physical departure from the scene allows Jack and Algernon to augment their most juvenile enterprises, in a time where they should be grounded by more serious sensibilities.