Jack/Ernest Worthing Quotes Flashcards
“I’ve now realized for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest.”
These lines form the ending of the play. Earnestness has taken on a different form, best grasped by looking at opposites. Here, it is presented as the opposite of ‘triviality’, where elsewhere it means the opposite of seriousness.
'’Well, my name is Ernest in town and Jack in the country…’’
Admitting to leading a double life, showing the start to his deception and hypocrisy.
“I am in love with Gwendolen. I have come up to town expressly to propose to her.”
Shows that Jack takes a much more idealistic approach to marriage and love than Algernon. It is more traditional and more genuine than most of the other characters in the play. He believes that devotion and honesty are an expression of love and marriage is a serious union.
“When one is placed in the position of guardian, one has to adopt a very high moral tone […] in order to get up to town I have always pretended to have a younger brother of the name of Ernest…who gets into the most dreadful scrapes. The, my dear Algy, is the whole truth pure and simple.”
Jack is revealing the depth of his deception and hypocrisy- inventing a fake brother to escape responsibilities that he is morally obligated to do, but uses devoted loyalty to justify it.
“The truth isn’t the sort of thing one tells to a sweet refined girl.”
This links to gender roles and the idea that women are too fragile and idealistic to have the ‘truth’. So, this is why Jack doesn’t feel too guilty about lying to Gwendolen- because he believes that he is protecting her from a harsh society.
“…ever since I met you I have admired you more than any girl… I have ever met since… I met you.”
Challenges gender roles (usually it is the women who are seen as the more emotional ones).
“When one is in town one amuses oneself. When one is in the country one amuses other people. It is excessively boring.”
Jack providing somewhat of a reason for his dual life, explaining that his life in town is his escape. Perhaps, this reflects the idea that societal expectations are almost impossible to reach, and at some point there must be a form of escape.
