The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde

Sometimes a book is perfectly written with meaningful themes and you end up acknowledging its greatness while having no personal attachment to it. At other times, you read a book that is just plain awful but you actually end up secretly enjoying it. Some of the reasons that come to mind that makes us like a book are - reading a book at the right time, connecting to the characters in the book or a theme that resonates with us personally. To oversimplify it further - we end up loving books that evoke an emotion out of us. It could be an intense sadness or side-splitting laughter. As long as we feel something and we are engaged to the plot, we end up liking it. I personally end up disliking books that make me feel indifferent to the overall plot or outcome of the characters. On that note, let's get into why I liked 'The Importance of Being Earnest.' It is, by no means, a ground-breaking work of art but it is genuinely one of the funniest and wittiest plays that I have ever read and as a result, I absolutely loved it.

This play is set in the Victorian era. And it is an obvious satire on the conventions and conduct of people living in this era. And as advertised, it is "a trivial comedy for serious people". Now, usually the problem with reading a comedy play is that it is meant to be performed on stage. As a result, some of the humour does not translate well on text. For example, as a part of our school curriculum, we were introduced to two plays - 'As You Like It' and 'Arms and the Man'. Both were comedies and both of them had elements of visual humour because of which, certain dialogues did not have the full comic effect that it was intended to have. However, 'The Importance of Being Earnest' is a comedy that translates well even on text. It relies on situational comedy and on witty one-liners as its main comic element along with subtle digs at the mannerisms of the society.

The plot of the play is a little difficult to explain. The protagonists of the play, Jack and Moncrieff assume a fake identity named, ironically enough, Ernest. However, when both of them arrive at Jack's country house at the same time, they create a whole lot of confusion especially for the ladies whom they have wooed under the false name of 'Ernest'. What follows is complete mayhem as the situation gets more out of hand.

Essentially, it is a satire on society. Oscar Wilde points out the vanity and vapidness of the wealthy aristocrats. But because it is done in the form of comedy, it gets the message across without being overbearing.

"If I am occasionally a little over-dressed, I make up for it by being immensely over-educated."

“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.”  

It is also interesting to note that Oscar Wilde identified as a homosexual. He was compelled to hide his sexual orientation as it would cause public backlash and imprisonment. (Note : He was imprisoned later following a court case involving his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, where his homosexuality was revealed.) Now, his play deals with deceptive double lives and it is apparent that he himself used to lead a double life, hiding his true self from the public. He also observed that, by and large the entire society used to lead a double life. I don't know whether the theme of double lives had anything to do with his own personal struggles. Nevertheless, I find the connection between his art and personal life interesting.

In conclusion, I'd like to say that this was one of the better books that I have read this year and I would definitely recommend it to everyone. Read this when you're in the mood for something that is light-hearted and fun.