On
the contrary, Lane, his manservant is the perfect butler. He has assumed
his role, and does not mind about the hints that his master drop at him,
even when he says that lower class have no sense at all of moral
responsibility.
Ernest
(Jack) seems to me more earnest than Algernon, in spite of the pun that
gives the name to the play. There is no doubt he has a dual personality:
Ernest in town and Jack in the country, but he is not aware of being
dishonest. In fact, the only matters which he cares about are to marry
Gwendolen, and looking after his pupil, Cecily. This two things tend to
appear perfectly correct in every society, at every time. The point is in
my opinion, he does not know his backgrounds which causes on him a feeling
of insecurity.
Lady
Bracknell is the character who best pictures the Victorian society, where
social conventions were the most important issue. She fights for
preserving the moral values in which she believes. A values, on the other
hand, that appear to be on the decline.
Gwendolen
, as many feminine roles in other plays of
Wilde, is merely plain, except maybe for her mordacity. On the
contrary, Cecily is all kindness and sweetness. She has such a
childish nature that she writes down in a diary the most important
happenings of her life, even those that have never occurred as her engage
with Jack’s brother Ernest.
Finally,
the rest of the characters: Miss Prism, Reverend
Chasuble, etc., are just extras.