In The Importance of Being Earnest, how and why does Oscar Wilde pair and contrast characters?
Yay!! An Oscar's question!
First he pairs up the character in what you would call by weakness and they contrast and mirror each other at the same time.
Males:
Earnest and Algernon (the Earnests)-They are mirrors of each other because Algernon is the typical dandy aristocrat who lives with all style, lives in the city, has no money, no morals, no worries and no consequences.
Earnest is a man with responsibilities, prudent with money lives in the country, has a ward under his responsibility, and ensures her safety. Both, however, are tried by the common bond of living a double life.
Both men have servants who are fully aware of their Master's weaknesess and both are complaisant with them.
Both men have women in their lives who are similar characteristics, one from the country and one from the city.
Females:
Gwendolyn, who is Algernon's cousin is a snobby, catty, city...
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girl and a semi bubblehead of a person whose obsession with the name Earnest is dubious and weird.
Cecily, who is Earnest's ward lives in the country with Earnest and is a bit more earthly, but also floats in the air with the obsession with the name Earnest. When both women meet, however, they both display the same weaknessess and the same need for social status that comes as a result of marriage.
Ms. Prism- The mysteriously enigmatic tutor of Cecily was once entangled to Algernon's family and the mysterious circumstances which lead the plot to the discovery of John's background suggests that both her and Algernon's aunt, Lady Moncrieff were some form of contradictions of each other as one is an independent writer that is yet serving an idle aristocratic lady.
In all, all characters in the story with the exception of Dr. Chausible seem to have an alter ego, one which is the reflection of the inner thoughts of the others, and the desires and demons that they all share.
In Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest," how do characters reflect each other?
Wilde's play "The Importance of Being Earnest" seems to have characters who echo each other's aspirations. The first mostly closely related characters, as far as personalities are concerned, are Cecily and Gwendolyn. Coincidentally, both of these ladies want to marry a many whose name is Earnest. The second comparable set of characters are Algy and Jack at the end of the play. At the beginning of the play, the two are at odds about whether or not marriage is a worthy activity in which to take part; but after falling in love and finding out that the ladies want to marry men with a specific name, they both hold nothing back to be re-christened in order to be renamed Earnest. The final unlikely pair who seem to reflect each other's personalities is Jack and Aunt Augusta. Both are stubborn about what they believe is the best for Gwendolyn, but also, both manipulate the other in order to get what they want from the other one. Jack refuses to let Algy marry his ward Cecily who is rich unless Aunt Augusta allows him to marry Gwendolyn. Both, here, are pretty clever in their maneuvers.