Group Essay: Me, Nikki S., and Katelyn

Okay, so this is not that great, but it's a start. At least it's finished. Much revising will take place!

Even when the lies of the characters are partially for their entertainment, societal pressure can still be found as an underlying reason for their actions. Take for instance Mr.Bunbury, Algernon’s imaginary friend whom he uses frequently to get out of certain events. Bunbury is used by Algernon to slip out of situations that he is requested to attend, when if society would not expect him to make an appearance at every social event, he would not have to create such lies just to not go to a tea party. The pressure from the public is so great that he must create an entirely fake person to get out of it. Another example is how Algernon pretends to be Jack’s non-existent younger brother, Ernest. Algernon is curious about Jack’s young ward, Cecily, and is also looking for a bit of fun, and he quickly learns that Cecily is quite attracted to Ernest, who has a reputation for being a rebellious person. Cecily is attracted to such a man because with the constant pressure to be perfect, a lot of men in higher society had very similar qualities, but if Ernest is a ‘bad’ man it makes him different, and therefore more interesting. On the other hand, Ernest would not have even been a problem had Jack not introduced him in the first place. Much like Algernon’s Mr. Bunbury, Jack’s younger brother was a persona that Jack could use to escape his country life and have fun with Algernon. His fun times could only be had by lying so he would not detonate his reputation as an upstanding noble man of the house. The lying presented in Oscar Wilde’s play can still be found relevant today, such as Algernon’s theory of ‘Bunburying’, though probably under different circumstances.