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Algernon is the most complex character in this play. In a
way he shared a similarity to his friend Jack Worthing (in creating an
imaginary character to hide himself in), however for the rest, he was
completely different to Jack. Algernon was a dandy young man—who I think was
similar to Oscar Wilde himself (and I can’t think but to see Wilde’s presence
in Algy!). Jack described him as ‘over-dressed’ and ‘always feels hungry’.
Algernon’s passion in food was ridiculous in this play, that he could eat all
cucumber sandwiches that were supposed to be served for his aunt, and had to
tell lie to his aunt that there have been no cucumbers available in the market!
And the scene of him had a fight for muffins with Jack…oh..that was so….funny!!
Algernon was a selfish, indifferent, immoral and cynical
man. Like Jack, he too had an imaginary character called Bunbury, which he used
every time he needed to avoid some events he disliked. However, unlike Jack,
Algernon was so irresponsible and indifferent, that he stole Ernest’s (second
identity of Jack) identity for his own interest, without slightest care to what
that would have affected Jack. Algernon was also snob, his vanity of fashion
and education was perhaps the perfect picture of Victorian society at that time
(Wilde’s critics?).
What made him more similar to Wilde (which I also found in
The Picture of Dorian Gray’s Lord Henry) was the nonsense and paradoxes he
often said along the play.
“You never talk
anything but nonsense.” ~Jack.
Other similarity with Wilde’s other work, Algernon was
immoral and has unromantic and cynical (sometimes rather absurd) idea about
love, relationship and (especially) marriage.
“Algy, you always adopt
a strictly immoral attitude towards life.” ~Gwendolen.
“It is very romantic
to be in love, but there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal. The
very essence of romance is uncertainty” ~Algernon
In short, Algernon was a man who was never serious, funny
yes, but irresponsible and very selfish. Algernon lived for the pleasures, not
for life itself; a kind of character I hate the most!
I just finished reading & watching The Importance of Being Earnest. I felt the same way, that flashes of Oscar Wilde peeked through Algernon.
ReplyDeleteYes! The muffins scene is comical! And the part when Bunbury 'dies' always makes me chuckle.
"The doctors found out that Bunbury could not live...-- so Bunbury died."
"He seems to have had great confidence in the opinion of his physicians."
I also think Lady Bracknell had a sneaking suspicion that Bunbury wasn't real.
Agree, Lady Bracknell seemed to suspect something from Bunbury...
DeleteA selfish, indifferent, immoral and cynical man <-- lengkap banget nyebelinnya -___-
ReplyDeleteYup! Tapi tanpa tokoh kayak gini, Importance akan jadi kurang 'berwarna'
DeleteBaru mau baca Mbak bukunya,walau menyebalkan tapi keliatannya konyol ya :p
ReplyDeleteYup, tanpa Algernon, kamu gak bakal tergelak2 bacanya.. :))
DeleteLove the muffin scene! :))
ReplyDeleteDo you think he's serious about Cecily?
He's serious to win Cecily's heart yes, but I think he will get bored of her very soon after their marriage. Like you don't know that Wilde! :P
DeleteOh, but I love Algy - he's one of my favourite Wildean creations. Yes, he does embody all the negative traits you mentioned, but he's also so damn lovable and it's so easy to forgive him. And I think Rupert Everett is perfect in the role.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, Algy is that kind of characters who we supposed to hate but love instead. And without Algy, Importance wouldn't have been quite interesting...
Delete