Drama

Is the Importance of Being Earnest a serious examination of the idea that people wear masks and have multiple identities, or is it just a farce with no serious content?

The idea that people wear masks is the central metaphor in the play "The Importance of Being Earnest," but ultimately, the play is a farce that author Wilde uses to poke fun at the general tolerance for hypocrisy in conventional society. Two of the play's characters, both Jack Working and Algernon create alter-egos, or "masks" that allow them to live seemingly double lives. In London, Jack is known as "Earnest," and gets into all sorts of trouble, while at home; Jack is respectable and quite conservative. While these dual identities do show that people often wear masks and are not what they seem, the underlying theme of the play is a society that is far too conservative, stodgy, and...
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