Jack Worthing on The Importance of Being Earnest

The main protagonist in this Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest is Jack Worthing. I see Jack as a respectable young man with a polite manner. Although he was only found and adopted by a rich Mr. Cardew, he had grown up in an honorable family. Of course, Jack also adhered to Victorian values at that time, which were respectable and responsible. Jack has become a guardian to Mr. Cardew’s granddaughter, and I think, has been an honorable example for his community. These are others thought about Jack:

“Dear Uncle Jack is so very serious! Sometimes he is so serious that I think he cannot be quite well.” ~Cecily.

“I know no one who has a higher sense of duty and responsibility.” ~Miss Prism.

 Although he has tried to fulfill the Victorian society expectations (about honor and respectability), Jack felt the responsible is unbearable that he needed something to balance his life. He hid himself in his fictional young brother Ernest Worthing’s role every time he needs to run away. On the contrary to his own qualities, Jack invented an irresponsible character of Ernest, who was pictured as evil by Cecily. This was the only negative side I found in Jack. I knew it was wrong, it was hypocrite, yet I could understand how distressing it might be for Jack to always be perfectly serious and responsible. Sometimes people need to be careless, to do whatever he wants, and don’t have to think about the consequences.

[source]

Other than that, Jack was a patient man. I can’t imagine how he could befriend with the reckless and immoral Algernon without hating him or loosing his temper—well he might have lost his temper once, but it did not bring him to break his friendship with Algy. I also found Jack to be a tender hearted man, for when he—in front of Algernon—said bad things upon Lady Bracknell who has insulted him, he apologized to Algy because he did not want to hurt his feelings. 

Later when Gwendolen (his girlfriend) and Cecily knew the truth about the never-existed Ernest, Jack gallantly admitted that he had deceived them, that he never had any brother, and brave enough to take the risks (of losing Gwendolen’s love). And despite of his eagerness to take Gwendolen to become his wife, Jack spoke the truth about his rather humiliating history (being found in a handbag in a public place) to Lady Bracknell. He never felt ashamed of his life, and has the courage to take any risks, to be able to marry the girl he loved. That was the quality of a man which I always love!

If I can choose between the original Jack and Ernest, I would pick Jack. The real Jack who did not like the glamorous of Victorian social life like theatre or clubs; Jack who—although sometimes told lies (hey…don’t we all too?)—still had the courage to speak the truth when valuable and important things in life were the concerns.   

The Importance of Being Earnest

[conclusion in English is at the bottom of this post]

Pentingnya menjadi jujur, kira-kira begitulah arti judul buku berbentuk play (drama) ini, The Importance of Being Earnest. Dan nampaknya memang Oscar Wilde—penulis play ber-setting jaman Victoria, abad 19-an ini—memang hendak menyoroti kemunafikan masyarakat yang ada di sekitarnya, dengan segala ketidakjujurannya, lewat play yang kocak namun sinis ini.

Jack dan Algernon adalah dua pria muda yang bersahabat. Meski keduanya memiliki sifat yang berbeda, namun mereka memiliki satu kesamaan, yaitu tidak jujur. Bukan, mereka bukanlah maling atau penipu kelas wahid; mereka adalah manusia-manusia biasa seperti kita. Jack dan Algernon sama-sama menciptakan sosok khayalan yang sering mereka gunakan sebagai alasan saat mereka hendak pergi ke tempat lain, atau untuk menghindar dari kewajiban hadir di suatu tempat yang tak mereka kehendaki. Jack menciptakan sosok ‘kakak laki-laki’ bernama Ernest (kebetulankah bahwa nama itu berbunyi sama dengan ‘kejujuran’ atau ‘earnest’?...), sedang Algernon sering menggunakan sosok ‘kawan pria tua sakit-sakitan’ bernama Bunbury. Bila seorang bibi mengundang Algernon makan malam—dan sungguh, Bibi Augusta Bracknell benar-benar sosok wanita yang tak bakal diinginkan seorang pun menjadi bibinya!—maka Algernon bisa berkelit dengan mengatakan bahwa ia harus mengunjungi Bunbury yang sedang sakit, padahal Bunbury in tak pernah ada. Itulah salah satu bentuk ‘Bunburying’ ala Oscar Wilde—menemukan pelarian dalam wujud sosok buatan mereka sendiri.

Celakanya, Jack dan Algernon sama-sama hendak memikat dua wanita pujaan mereka dengan menggunakan ‘Bunburist’ yang sama, yakni sosok Ernest Worthing. Jack yang mencintai Gwendolen (putri Lady Bracknell; sepupu Algernon), dan Algernon yang terpesona pada Cecily (anak asuh Jack), sama-sama mengaku sebagai Ernest. Lalu bayangkan betapa kocaknya ketika Jack, Algernon, Gwendolen dan Cecily, keempatnya dipertemukan secara tak sengaja dalam satu panggung! Apa yang akan terjadi ketika Gwendolen dan Cecily menemukan bahwa pria pujaan mereka sama-sama bernama Ernest? Dan lebih celaka lagi, kedua gadis ini jatuh cinta pada kedua pria idamannya karena mereka bernama Ernest! Terlepas dari apa yang dikatakan Shakespeare—apalah arti sebuah nama—ternyata nama seseorang mencerminkan kepribadian penyandangnya. Buktinya, Gwen dan Cecily sama-sama menemukan sosok pribadi yang jujur dalam pria yang (mengaku) bernama Ernest. Absurd? Memang itulah yang ingin disampaikan—atau lebih tepatnya—dikritik oleh Wilde.

Sama seperti yang kutemukan di The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde menulis play ini dengan gaya sinis-jenaka-nya. Play ini sungguh menghibur dengan kekocakannya yang sering membuatku kesulitan menahan tawa (karena seringkali aku membacanya ketika sedang berada di tempat umum); kisahnya pendek, tokohnya tak terlalu banyak, dan tak ada banyak konflik. Pendeknya, sebuah karya yang bisa dikunyah dengan santai, dan dicerna dalam waktu singkat. Namun tetap, karya ini tidaklah berlalu tanpa arti begitu saja, karena sindiran Oscar Wilde tentang kemunafikan sangat mengena di hatiku.

Empat muffin untuk Erne(a)st -- (tolong dibagi rata untuk Jack dan Algernon; jangan biarkan mereka rebutan lagi karena sungguh…scene itu bikin aku sakit perut karena menahan tawa!!)

Conclusion:

Help! I think I have just fallen in love with Oscar Wilde… :) After The Picture of Dorian Gray, I found Wilde’s same witty and cynical style in writing, which at the same time contained a sharp criticism for the society. Hypocrisy is something that we can find at all time, and by reading The Importance of Being Earnest, I realized that what Wilde wanted to point out at his time, is also relevant for our today’s life.

Absurdity in human relationship was reflected in this play by Gwendolen and Cecily. They both fell in love with the same ‘Ernest’ just because they had a name that is reflecting ‘earnestness’. Isn’t that absurd? Name is just ‘outer clothes’ that one’s wearing, and I can’t deny that we too often judge others by their ‘clothes’ (appearance, status, wealth, etc). See how Lady Bracknell took her notes and interviewing (or rather interrogating??) the young men who proposed to her daughter; it’s so absurd! (but funny at the same time). And see how she made Cecily to stand before her so that she can ‘evaluate’ her figure. Frankly speaking, it reminds me of how people observe horses’ bodies before they buy them! (suddenly scenes from Black Beauty pop up in my mind..LOL!)

On the other hand, Jack’s and Algernon’s lack of earnest—by creating a fictional figure to whom they can go wherever they need a reason to do (or not to do) something that they don’t want others to know—is something I can accept better than what the ladies did. I mean, it’s indeed absurd to create imaginary person, but aren’t we often create bunch of reasons to protect our own privacy? It’s something that is difficult to avoid entirely. I think what Oscar Wilde meant is the importance of control ourselves, not letting the ‘Bunbury’ inside us be comfortable in his throne, that someday he might steal our identity. This book taught us the importance of being earnest, no matter hypocrite and corrupt our society is.

Four stars for this play—for making me laugh almost entire of the scenes!

[I read ebook version from Project Gutenberg]