Plot Analysis of The Importance of Being Ernest

Abstract Throughout Oscar Wilde’s farcical comedy， The Importance of Being Ernest， there are two story lines. The lines are both independent to each other， but are connected with each other. With the author’s thoughtful arrangement and distinctive technology， the two lines push the development of plot； intensify the depth of conflict and make the structure complete. It seems the author told us a story， but indeed it gives us a lot of inspiration and education.

Key words plot analysis；double-line structure；conflict arrangement

中圖分類號：I106.4 文獻標識碼：A

The Importance of Being Ernest was written by Oscar Wilde in 1895， which is Wilde’s representative works， and it is also widely recognized？as one of the best works of British comedy. This work represented a love story of four young persons， and satirized the marriage of upper class in Victoria period. Throughout the story， we can see various viewpoints of people with different status， and these viewpoints， thanks to Wilde’s excellent？maneuver in drama writing， have become Wilde’s classic？quotations publically permeated？and dictated.？Particularly worth mentioning is the well-knit plot， which arranges all events of the most improbable and trivial significance. The beauty of structure reflects on the double-line plot development， which is elegantly？integrated？with the conflict of the drama.

First of all， let’s analyze the double story line of the work： one is the issue of young people’s marriage； the other is “who is Ernest”. In the following paragraphs， I will analyze the plot and the conflict of this drama， using each of the story lines respectively.

Let’s look at the first story line with the necessary elements one by one. Referring to the development of the plot， we must get to know four key words： exposition， complications， climax and douement. Exposition is the part of a plot that provides the essential background information so that the events in the plots have a sound basis to begin and so that the reader is able to understand the characters and the action. At the very beginning of the first act， Algernon and his butler—Lane talked about the “champagne”， and both of them stated their own opinion on marriage. It is this paragraph of causal conversation， which plays the part of exposition， laying the groundwork for the first plot line.

Once the dramatists have provided sufficient background to hold their audiences’ attention， they proceed with the complications that provide the conflict with its depth and breath. In this drama， we can see the first conflict took place between Algernon and Jack： Algernon thought that Gwendolen would not marry Jack， but Jack didn’t think so. Complications proceed through the rising action. The first rising action is the moment that Jack began to express his admiration to Gwendolyn. So Gwendolyn stated her reason of love to Jack. But her mother can’t endure her daughter’s innocent behavior； she told her she had no right to engage to anybody. When she talked with Jack， Jack told her it was impossible for him to find his parents， Lady Bracknell left with anger. And with this moment， the plot got into its first conflict. It also shows us marriage indeed a business. When each side of the business can’t get what they want， the business is unsure.

Climax is the point at which everything has aimed. In my opinion， the climax of this drama is the moment at which Cecily and Gwendolen， both of them thought herself was the person Mr. Ernest Worthing is engaged to. The two girls， who had many similarities， both have fallen in love with Ernest. This is the turning point of the story， and how Algernon and Jack do to deal with the messy situation is the dominant issue. With the help of glib or？showy talk， they obtained two girls’ forgiveness. Until this time， you may think everything heads downward， nothing unexpected will happen， right？ But the new problem appeared.

Similarly， the second conflict appeared in the third Scene， when Lady Bracknell followed her daughter to the countryside. Although the two pairs of young people found their true love of lifetime， the obstruction now appeared again. Maybe it is the author’s intentional arrangement that the road to love can’t be so even and smooth， and love must be earnest. Therefore， the conclusion of business （marriage） must be made throughout a hard bargaining. The wedlock of Cecily and Algernon was rejected by Jack， because his marriage with Gwendolen was turned down by Lady Bracknell. Accompanied by the appearance of Miss Prism， the birth secret of Jack eventually revealed. Things fall into place， and the play heads toward the conclusion， or douement. The lovers finally got their love. The drama was over with happy ending. The plot is like a necklace， which makes all the incidents and viewpoints chained together， forming integrated whole. That is all of the analysis of the first plot line. As we mentioned in the former paragraphs， there is another plot line—“who is Ernest”， and we will turn our focus on it and see how it runs through the drama in the following paragraphs.

In the first act， Jack called on Algernon with the name of “Ernest”. But the cigarette case， which Jack had lost at Algernon’s house， lead to the fact of “Ernest”. The conversation about the cigarette case plays the part of exposition， which provides the essential background information so that the story has a reasonable basis to start with and so that the reader is able to understand the following plot.

From their conversation， we know that there is nobody called “Ernest”， and that is a lie. But because of this lie， the story became more and more complicated. Maybe you will ask， “What would the lie cause？” And at that time， Gwendolen and her mother came. The conflict developed to its depth and breath. When Jack proposed to Gwendolen， our attention focused on the name again， and the first conflict appeared at the same point. When Jack found why Gwendolen loves him， is just the name he has. Jack got a hot potato. How he would explain the whole fact to Gwendolen and how he would deal with “Ernest” can inspire the interest in the readers.

Then the climax of the play is arranged in the Act Two. Algernon came to the Manor House， and he met Cecily pretending he was Ernest. Then the major actors Jack and Gwendolen successively appeared. The name of “Ernest” exactly belonged to whom， undoubtedly is the focus of all the troubles. So both the young men were going to be christened immediately. They fell into each other’s arms. But unpredictably Lady Bracknell appeared. She became the biggest obstacle of the young persons’ marriage. This is the moment the second conflict comes out. Then the birth secret of “Ernest” would be the medicine to cure all the disease. With Jack’s last sentence “On the contrary， Aunt Augusta， I’ve now realized for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest.”， the play draws its conclusion. The name of “Ernest”， as the major story line throughout the whole play， takes effect of pushing forward the development of plot； drawing out the characteristics of persons in the play and corresponding with the title of the play.

In conclusion， the author makes a perfect combination of the double story lines， and his play indicates the upper class’s attitude of life and love of that period to us. Plot serves for topic. The double story lines mirror two topics， the proper attitude towards life and love. The answer that Wilde gives to us is： be earnest in treating anything， you can get everything； if not， you will accomplish nothing.

References

[1] Wilde，Oscar.The Importance of Being Earnest[M].UK：Penguin Books Ltd，2007.

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[3] 王爾德.理想丈夫與不可兒戲.余光中，譯.遼寧教育出版社，1998 .

[4] 劉海平.英美戲劇：作品與評論.上海外語教育出版社，2004.