Algernon Moncrieff's The Importance Of Being

Often times, authors and playwrights write characters and plots based on life experiences. These ordeals can very much alter one’s life and the perception of it. Author and playwright Oscar Wilde is no exception to this; with the many experiences that his own life holds, such as his double identity and homosexuality in the Victorian Era, Wilde is able to write his autobiography as a novel or play using characters similar to ones in his own life, as he has. In The Importance of Being Earnest, Algernon Moncrieff defies the Victorian upper class society by using his alter egos, Bunbury and Ernest, to appropriate his bad behavior and ultimately obtain what his desires. Algernon is a reflection of the play’s author Oscar Wilde as he learns about the importance of truth while working through his society-shaped id, ego, and superego. Faced with making decisions that align with Sigmund Freud’s psyche model, Wilde successfully breathes himself into Algernon while satirizing the society in which he grew up. The character Algernon develops his alter egos, Bunbury and Earnest, in the similar way Wilde lives his other life as Sebastian Melmoth (“Oscar
Wilde.”). The two gentlemen are reflective of each other since they both designed alternate lives for themselves. Wilde fabricated himself as Sebastian Melmoth after being released from prison for homosexuality (Biblio). Wilde uses Sebastian as an escape from conformed society so that he may be himself. Similarly, Algernon constructs Bunbury and Earnest as a way to experience a carefree lifestyle. For example, Algernon states, “I have invented an invaluable permanent invalid called Bunbury, in order that I may be able to go down into the country whenever I choose” (Wilde 6). While Bunbury is created for fun, Earnest is created for love just like Wilde. Algernon pretends to be Earnest in hopes that Cecily will fall in love with him. He is even willing to rechristen himself in the name of Earnest to win her heart. Algernon’s love for Cecily mimics the love Sebastian shared with his partner demonstrating how closely Wilde created Algernon in the image of his own life. In addition, the alternate personalities created by Oscar Wilde and Algernon Moncrieff can be interpreted as their own psychological fulfillment of the id. With these fictitious men, Wilde and Algernon are given freedom to act, do and be who they are. In the instance of Oscar Wilde, Sebastian is created to start life over again without the influence of the upper class society (Biblio). Sebastian is a safe haven for Wilde in how he lives his life the way he truly wants to. In Algernon’s fulfillment of his id, Bunbury and Ernest are created so he may experience life outside of his societal limitations. For both men, the social upper class they are apart of holds certain expectations and restrictions to live by. Some of these include to marry someone of the same social status or greater and to always behave proper and respectful. The alternate realities produced were so Algernon and Wilde did not have to succumb to the social pressures around them. By choosing to ignore the expectations set for them, Wilde and Algernon are forcing society to accept their lies as their alter egos or false realities. After creating the alter egos, the two men are faced with fact and righteousness of reality and their own ego. Being confronted by their ego forces Wilde and Algernon to make the decision if what they are doing is right. They must choose between fulfilling their id, by doing what they want to do, or from fulfilling their superego, in doing what society views as right and acceptable. Algernon’s societal issues lie with his aunt, Lady Bracknell, who is the epitome of high social class standard. For example, she refuses Algernon’s engagement proposal to Cecily only until hearing of Cecily’s great wealth and worth. Lady Bracknell saw meaning in Algernon’s engagement only after being informed of Cecily’s monetary value and not because of pure love. This resembles how Wilde was unable to love freely because of his homosexuality. As a result, Wilde had to hide his love from society and disguise his life in accordance to how society defined it to be; Oscar Wilde married, had two children and chose to live a simplistic lifestyle so he may hide his true desires (Beckson). The two gentlemen, Wilde and Algernon, choose to listen to their superego in doing the right thing, when presented with the moral decision of right and wrong. Both Wilde and Algernon grew up in the upper class society of the Victorian Era, which allows for their social consciences to be influenced by their upbringings as well. In the upper class, people valued appearance and trivialities rather than actuality and seriousness, which allowed for the people to believe that lying about themselves and creating those alter egos would be accepted in society. This is exactly what Wilde ridicules in The Importance of Being Earnest; Algernon’s influence of the upper class society enabled for him to create Bunbury and pose as Ernest as Wilde becomes Sebastian Melmoth after spending time in prison (“Oscar Wilde.”). Algernon’s frivolous proposal to Cecily also reflected Wilde’s homosexual relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas. Wilde’s superego justified his love for another man because he was not facing societal consequences in the time he wrote Earnest. In doing so, he satirizes love in the upper class society through Algernon and Cecily to show how ridiculous and superficial it was in comparison to his love for Lord Alfred Douglas from what society deemed acceptable at that time (“Oscar Wilde.”). He highlights the absurdity of romantic relationships with Algernon’s superficial desire to marry Cecily within the hour they met, putting his own views and opinions into the characters that he uses to mock the upper class. Through both Algernon’s and Wilde’s development into adulthood within the walls of the upper class society, their social consciences, or superegos, became skewed, which conveys the pettiness of the privileged. Authors and playwrights share their personal stories through the lives of their characters.
Whether these characters contain parts or the whole of a writer’s life, the similarities are definitely there. The experiences that Wilde has in his life bring more validation to the satirical components in his play The Importance of Being Earnest. Algernon directly reflects the play’s composer in a way that satirizes the Victorian upper class society through his decisions that fulfill his animalistic and socialized instincts. In this mix of impulses, both Algernon and Wilde understand the value of sincerity within a community of trivialities that the upper class provide. By doing this, Wilde brings the audience to think about their own values and whether those qualities are essential in the life of Algernon
Moncrieff.