For, Algernon initially speaks nothing but the truth. Though Algernon, by the play’s close, does not realize this, it is the inevitable that he will eventually realize that the truth is no longer with him. “It is a terrible thing for a man to find out suddenly that all his life he has been speaking nothing but the truth” (108). His only hope is to abandon the social expectation of him as a husband and return to his life of “Bunburying” (36). Marriage, at one point, “seem to be very problematic to” Algernon. Algernon achieves what he believes he wants, but loses his motivation in the process. This anti-passionate climax epitomizes Wilde’s sardonic wit, humoring a societal institution. As Algernon said in Act 1, “The excitement is all over” (30). By the time Wilde establishes definite engagement for the couple, Algernon and Cicely embrace, and the play ends. For, it is his eventual conformity to societal norms that destroys the moral truth he once held dear. In actuality, however, it is the promise of social possibilities that motivate him to an end. And care twopence about social possibilities” (98). In Algernon’s view, “Cecily is the sweetest, dearest, prettiest girl in the whole world. Prospective marriage, by means of engagement, serves not only as an obstacle but also a resolution. It is this obstacle, and its respective denouement, which outlines the basis of Wilde’s thematic emphasis. “There is certainly no chance of your marrying Miss Cardew” (88). The irony displayed through Algernon’s self-contradiction is the pivotal progression that eventually results in Wilde’s intended resolution of the playĪlgernon reveals he “simply wanted to be engaged to Cecily” (88) to Jack, who quickly dismisses him.
“I don’t care for anybody in the whole world but you. Yet Algernon quickly abandons the truth imbedded in love, his moral objective, and instead opts for convention. He admits to her, “Cicely, ever since I first looked upon your wonderful and incomparable beauty, I have dared to love you wildly, passionately, devotedly, hopelessly” (73). Shortly after his first encounter with her, he reveals to Jack, “I am in love with Cicely, and that is everything” (71). When Jack reveals to Gwendolen his address in the country, Algernon secretly “writes the address on his shirt-cuff” (53) in hopes of going to meet Cicely. She suddenly becomes more of a name to Algernon, and he begins to pursue her as more than a person she becomes his moral objective. Algernon then tells Jack, “I would rather like to see Cicely” (51). After intense probing, Jack discloses Cicely’s identity. She is no more than a name on a cigarette case. Upon initially hearing about Cicely, Algernon is intrigued. Once he meets Cecily, however, the idea of maintaining truth above reality is hard to rationalize he wants only to move forward in the proper manner established by society. Algernon clearly, at one point, sees marriage as a means to an end. The very essence of romance is uncertainty” (30). But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal. Yet eventually Algernon also resolves to propose to Cicely, discrediting his own established belief: “I really don’t see anything romantic in proposing. In the beginning of the play, Algernon considers Jack’s intent to propose to Gwendolen to be “business,” not “pleasure” (30). Wilde uses him for the sole purpose of mocking the sanctimonious institution of marriage. In defining Algernon’s preconceived notion of marriage and then describing the subsequent earnest pursuit of engagement, Wilde achieves a consequential climax that satirizes marriage.Īlgernon is a pompous man of seemingly strong, albeit unconventional, convictions. Algernon becomes disillusioned in the process of seeking truth. Marriage results in the systematic complication of love. “ The truth is rarely pure, and never simple” (35). Algernon is no longer driven by a moral objective instead, he becomes intent upon achieving a societal standard. Wilde demonstrates through him that once one becomes intent upon achieving a goal, the individual’s motivation becomes a matter of action rather than truth. Algernon Moncrieff spends very little time falling in love and the rest of the time striving toward engagement. And though marriage is often thought to be the logical consequence of love, it is Oscar Wilde’s contention in his satire, The Importance of Being Earnest, that love begets bliss and marriage thwarts this course of bliss. Love is perhaps the most actively sought moral objective of one’s life. The Pursuit Of Happiness Essay, Research Paper