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The Importance Of Being Earnest Dramatic Irony Essay

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When Oscar Wilde ended his play, The Importance of Being Earnest, with the main character, Jack, announcing, “I’ve now realised for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest,” did he really mean that Jack finally realized the vital importance of being ironic? (Wilde 54). From the beginning to the end of the play, irony, mainly dramatic irony, plays a fundamental role in the plot. Mr. Jack Worthing and Mr. Algernon Moncrieff both use the name of Ernest Worthing to advance themselves in their own distinct situations. Jack uses Ernest as his brother and as an excuse to go into the town, while Algernon uses Ernest as a way to pursue the love of his life. Since both men pretend to be Mr. Ernest Worthing around other characters in the play and neither one of them really are Ernest, Wilde sets up the perfect plot full of dramatic irony and humor. Dramatic irony scenes, including those with the name of Ernest, Bunburying, and Jack’s background, all …show more content…

The audience is aware of many secrets that some characters withhold from others, which makes it all the more humorous when the secrets are unveiled. Every time that Jack or Algernon go by the name of Ernest, the audience knows that they are lying. When Algernon pretends to go to the country to visit his sick friend, Bunbury, the playgoers realize that he is going to the country purely for his own pleasures. Once everything about Jack’s background is disclosed, the audience is able to make the humorous connection between all of the dramatic irony Wilde used in the play. Dramatic irony plays such an essential function in the plot line of the play that one could ponder as to whether or not Oscar Wilde was really trying to stress the vital importance of being ironic, instead of “the vital Importance of Being Earnest” (Wilde

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