The Importance of being Earnest: Dishonesty

In The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde, the theme of dishonesty is expressed in relation to several other kinds of literary elements. An example could be the play's multitude of humorous expressions. A great number of these, particularly epigrams, concern the concept of dishonesty. In one passage, the character John (Jack) Worthing says to another character that, "[i]t is a terrible thing for a man to find out suddenly that all his life he has been speaking nothing but the truth." (89). Mr. Worthing is discussing, in an epigram, how the things he had said and done were not untruthful, as he had thought, but in fact the truth. The theme of dishonesty is also involved in much of Wilde's satire of social institutions. A prominent instance of this is when the two characters Algernon and Jack seek to be christened by the church, only for unscrupulous reason of being renamed as "Ernest", so that they can continue in their deception of others. This mocks religion in that the characters' motive in for doing this religious practice is not for their belief in the religion, but for untruthfulness. This example of dishonesty relates to another major topic in the play, namely the many instances of the words Ernest and earnest. As stated above, both Algernon and Jack seek the name Ernest. Throughout the story, they deceive other characters into believing that it is their true name. This also gives incorporation to the literary element of irony, as Ernest is a homophone for earnest, and yet the characters that use this name are far from that. Additionally, Algernon and Jack use the nom de plume of Ernest for their own benefit. The former character, in the latter portion of the book, uses the name to be able to go to the country and visit the character Cecily, whereas the latter character, in the former portion of the book, does the same to visit the city and his love Gwendolen. In these circumstances, the men are using dishonesty to pursue pleasure.

Oscar Wilde incorporates the theme of dishonesty into a great portion of his play, in accordance to several literary elements, and through the dialogue of practically all of his characters. However, this dishonesty comes on many different levels as well. Some are minor, such as when Lane pretends that there were no cucumbers at the market, and others are much more major, such as how Algernon and Jack pretend to be called Ernest. The untruthfulness also varies in terms of intent and length of deception: when Cecily and Gwendolen say that they will not be the first to speak, they then do so a moment later; their intent is not to really try to trick or mislead any others, but to be slightly humorous. However, such as in the grandest lie, concerning the name of Ernest, the two initiators are being dishonest, with the intent of deceiving many other characters in order that they can have pleasurable experiences, and without the intent of ever admitting to the truth. It could be said that Wilde is trying to convey to the reader the multiple levels of dishonesty, and encourage them to think about each of these forms' existence in real life. The implication that I gathered from the novel is that of the many kinds of lies, some are certainly more, or less, harmful than others.