The Importance of Being Earnest

You have invented a very useful younger brother called Ernest, in order that you may be able to come up to town as often as you like. I have invented an invaluable permanent invalid called Bunbury, in order that I may be able to go down into the country whenever I choose. Bunbury is perfectly invaluable. If it wasn’t for Bunbury’s extraordinary bad health, for instance, I wouldn’t be able to dine with you at Willis’s to-night, for I have been really engaged to Aunt Augusta for more than a week.

Algernon 自我披露 Bunburying 机制,与 Jack 的虚构弟弟 Ernest 形成完美的双线对称,奠定全剧双重身份的反转引擎。

Now, go on. Why are you Ernest in town and Jack in the country? JACK. My dear Algy, I don't know whether you will be able to understand my real motives. You are hardly serious enough. When one is placed in the position of guardian, one has to adopt a very high moral tone on all subjects. It's one's duty to do so. And as a high moral tone can hardly be said to conduce very much to either one's health or one's happiness, in order to get up to town I have always pretended to have a younger brother of the name of Ernest, who lives in the Albany, and gets into the most dreadful scrapes. That, my dear Algy, is the whole truth pure and simple.

Jack 一段长透镜把"监护人 + 道德姿态 + 虚构弟弟 Ernest + 公寓 Albany"四要素同时抛出,Algernon 接住"真相不纯不简"金句回镖;role 上"双主角 + 双少女 + Lady Bracknell + Miss Prism"七人棋盘式结构因此成立。

I have no doubt about that, dear Algy. The Divorce Court was specially invented for people whose memories are so curiously constituted. ALGERNON. Oh! there is no use speculating on that subject. Divorces are made in Heaven—[Jack puts out his hand to take a sandwich. Algernon at once interferes.] Please don't touch the cucumber sandwiches. They are ordered specially for Aunt Augusta. [Takes one and eats it.] JACK. Well, you have been eating them all the time. ALGERNON. That is quite a different matter. She is my aunt. [Takes plate from below.] Have some bread and butter. The bread and butter is for Gwendolen. Gwendolen is devoted to bread and butter.

三回合对白一小段(每回合一句一刺)即把"离婚法庭 → 黄瓜三明治 → 面包黄油"三层 Bunburying 伦理推到极致,典型 Wilde 式短句连珠 + 旁白舞台指示;三幕戏每场切换都靠这种"一句一刺 + 舞台旁白"推动节奏。

The truth is rarely pure and never simple. Modern life would be very tedious if it were either, and modern literature a complete impossibility! (Lane goes off with the card-tray.) JACK. That may be true, or it may be false. But I think the proper thing to do, as you are going to lunch, is to hold out some suitable repast. ALGERNON. You have invented a very useful younger brother called Ernest, in order that you may be able to come up to town as often as you like. I have invented an invaluable permanent invalid called Bunbury, in order that I may be able to go down into the country whenever I choose. Bunbury is perfectly invaluable. If it wasn't for Bunbury's extraordinary bad health, for instance, I wouldn't be able to dine with you at Willis's to-night, for I have been really engaged to Aunt Augusta for more than a week.

"The truth is rarely pure and never simple"金句 + Jack 顺势转入午餐实务 + Algernon 大段"Ernest / Bunbury / 双重身份"自述,金句密度堪比 Pope《An Essay on Criticism》;唯美主义悖论格言体典范,人物自述承载哲理同时推进情节,prose 维最高分。

To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness. Who was your father? He was evidently a man of some wealth. Was he born in what the Radical papers call the purple of commerce, or did he rise from the ranks of the aristocracy?

Lady Bracknell 的"parent 与阶级"二问,是维多利亚晚期伦敦 Mayfair 阶级焦虑的活化石;Lower Sloane Street / Belgrave Square 地址等级判别亦同时登场。

my ideal has always been to love some one of the name of Ernest. There is something in that name that inspires absolute confidence. The moment Algernon first mentioned to me that he had a friend called Ernest, I knew I was destined to love you.

Gwendolen 此处已抛下"Ernest 名字 = 命运"的钩子,直指剧名;读者立刻被锁定入"名字/身份"的全剧谜面。

You don’t think there is any chance of Gwendolen becoming like her mother in about a hundred and fifty years, do you, Algy? ALGERNON. All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his.

一句"女人的悲剧是变成母亲,男人的悲剧是不像母亲"即翻 Wilde 唯美主义的性别反讽;开创 20 世纪客厅喜剧"格言即人物"的写法。

JACK. Gwendolen! [Embraces her.] At last! LADY BRACKNELL. My nephew, you seem to be displaying signs of triviality. JACK. On the contrary, Aunt Augusta, I’ve now realised for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest. TABLEAU

终幕双男主角各自拥吻"已真实存在过的 Ernest" + Lady Bracknell 调侃"signs of triviality" + Jack 收尾对白"vital Importance of Being Earnest"——舞台指示 TABLEAU 定格;剧名三重语义(严肃 / 名字 Ernest / 严肃生活之顿悟)在最后一句同时闭合,既滑稽又悲哀,是喜剧反讽的最高级用法。