From Act 3
GWENDOLEN. True. In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity is the vital thing. Mr. Worthing, what explanation can you offer to me for pretending to have a brother? Was it in order that you might have an opportunity of coming up to town to see me as often as possible?
JACK. Can you doubt it, Miss Fairfax?
GWENDOLEN. I have the gravest doubts upon the subject. But I intend to crush them. This is not the moment for German scepticism. (Moving to Cecily.) Their explanations appear to be quite satisfactory, especially Mr. Worthing’s. That seems to me to have the stamp of truth upon it.
CECILY. I am more than content with what Mr. Moncrieff said. His voice alone inspires one with absolute credulity.
GWENDOLEN. Then you think we should forgive them?
CECILY. Yes. I mean no.
GWENDOLEN. True! I had forgotten. There are principles at stake that one cannot surrender. Which of us should tell them? The task is not a pleasant one.
CECILY. Could we not both speak at the same time?
GWENDOLEN. An excellent idea! I nearly always speak at the same time as other people. Will you take the time from me?
CECILY. Certainly. (Gwendolen beats time with uplifted finger.)
GWENDOLEN AND CECILY. (Speaking together.) Your Christian names are still an insuperable barrier. That is all!
(Wilde, 128-129)
Passage Explained
In this scene, Wilde’s a
estheticist philosophies are plainly visible in the emphasis placed on the surface quality of individuals. Where tradition would dictate a character’s ultimate downfall and payment for dishonesty, Wilde’s characters—in this and all other cases throughout the play—get away with their deceit despite it being found out by others. Jack, who has just been caught in his lie of identity is let off even before the miraculous discovery that his false identity just so happens to be his true one. His name really is Ernest, and he does in fact, have a younger brother. Moreover, Jack points out in the previous act that to speak the truth is “painful” for him, a position to which he must be “reduced” (Wilde 123).
The Importance of Being Earnest “blurs the boundary between authenticity and imitation,” such that the line between truth and lies is no longer a moral one, but rather, and issue of style (Cohn 474). Cecily and Gwendoline, rather than judging Jack and Algernon’s explanations by their sincerity, choose to judge based on the style, or surface content of their answers. Even the root of the conflict is morally obscured by the shadow of aetheticism. This issue is not as we would expect, that Jack and Algernon have lied, but rather, that their Christian names are not “Ernest.” That a person’s value should be judged not based on their underlying moral traits, but on something so material as a name is a testament to the aestheticism that influenced Wilde’s play.
The Importance of Being Earnest 