The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest is mainly addressing dishonesty.  This dishonesty shows in the epigrams of the novel such as, "A man who marries without knowing Bunbury has a very tedious time of it."  This statement is saying that a man who marries without partying and the ability to be deceitful will not have a good marriage.  The epigram is about deception!  Dishonesty in satire of marriage is also a widespread theme in the play.  At one point, a character says that three is better than two in a marriage, suggesting that to have a good marriage, one spouse should have a mistress/other lover!  Because "Ernest" is spelled a lot like "Earnest," the irony of dishonesty associated with the character named Ernest is always present.  Jack decides that he wants to be rechristened "Ernest," which is ridiculous because changing one's name is not a very Earnest thing to do! Another recurring theme in The Importance of Being Earnest is the pursuit of pleasure, and how it higher on the list of priorities for people of higher society.  In order to put pleasure before responsibility, the play shows that dishonesty is the only was to get there.

The characters all show some form of dishonesty in the play.  Jack and Algernon tell a full on, big lie about going to visit their brother/friend in order to party without guilt or a needed explanation.  On the other hand, most of the other characters just omit facts or twist words to manipulate or passive aggressively anger someone.  Every time someone lies, it results in a huge issue and gets people into scrapes.  I think that Oscar Wilde is saying that although dishonesty sometimes seems harmless, it is the basis for many problems in life.