Hypocrisy in “Doctor Faustus” and “The Importance of Being Earnest” Morality and hypocrisy have a very interesting relationship. Living by ideals can breed hypocrisy. This is very simple to explain. A person who does not have any ideals cannot exhibit any contradictory behavior to his professed morals. However, people generally live according to certain principles that they nevertheless do not always practice which is a sign of hypocrisy. For example, the ideal of living to “do unto others as you’d have them do unto you” is the famous golden rule that many people recognize to live accordingly. Most people fail however from time to time to honor this rule. Some people would assert that hypocrisy is the persistent act of professing beliefs, opinions and ideals that are inconsistent with one’s actions. Whether hypocrisy ought to be approached from this stern angle is not the subject of interest in this paper that attempts to explore this theme in two famous literary works that at first sight seem to have little in common: “Doctor Faustus” (1604) by Christopher Marlowe and “The Importance of Being Earnest” (1895) by Oscar Wilde. Despite the centuries in time that separate the two plays the theme of hypocrisy serves to link them together and affirm with that its timelessness as a characteristic of human behavior. However, hypocrisy is presented differently in the two works. While both works make use of subtle irony to mock the hypocrisy within the characters and their actions, the reasons of the satire itself are different. Hypocrisy in “The Importance of Being Earnest” serves to examine the workings of Victorian society and the need to do anything to protect one’s name in this particular era. On the other hand, hypocrisy in “Doctor Faustus” illuminates and illustrates the errors of religion and the disastrous aspects of the wrongful pursuit of knowledge. In short, while “Doctor Faustus” and “The Importance of Being Earnest” are two different literary works, they share the common theme of hypocrisy that in its turn serves to highlight themes as knowledge, religion and the need for pretension and fakeness to keep one’s good name in Victorian society. (articlemyriad.com)
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“Doctor Faustus” and “The Importance of Being Earnest” include both the theme of hypocrisy that serves however to shed light on different ideas within the two plays. In “Doctor Faustus” the protagonist is relentless in his pursuit of knowledge. However, his hypocrisy lies in the reasons behind his desire to gain knowledge of unknown realms of life. Faustus approached knowledge as a source of power. He did not use it rightfully as a source of light and advancement rather than darkness, pain and destruction. It is his hypocritical reasons that corrupt the knowledge given to him and transform it into a justification of damage and deterioration. This negative and drastic change in knowledge’s attributes is especially highlighted in Faustus’ words spoken at the end of the first soliloquy: “These metaphysics of magicians, / And necromantic books are heavenly.” (Marlowe, 2004, Line 1.40-50) These words underline the transformation of the definition of knowledge with the acquisition of more selfish power. In “The Importance of Being Earnest” hypocrisy is exposed differently through the main character’s statements regarding his imaginary brother, Ernest Worthing, who is presented as the alter ego of Jack. The constraints placed upon him by Victorian society led to the creation of a fictional character that enacted his fantasies and desires out while he could simultaneously retain his social status. The theme of hypocrisy is highlighted through Jack’s ironic comments in terms of adhering to the behavioral codes of Victorian life. (articlemyriad.com) This is especially underlined in his remark on Algernon’s reading of his cigarette case: “It is a very ungentlemanly thing to thing to read a private cigarette case” (Wilde, 1990, p. 4).
Moral hypocrisy is well presented in the two plays through the dialogue of the characters. The most pertinent example to provide of Jack’s sense of moral hypocrisy is in his severe judgment of Algernon. Jack judges Algernon more severely than he judges himself as is illustrated in the following quote: “Your vanity is ridiculous, your conduct an outrage, and your presence in my garden utterly absurd” (Wilde, 1990, p. 30) The accusation itself is entirely hypocritical considering the fact that he is guilty of doing the same thing: living the lie of a double life. Marlowe’s “Doctor Faustus” approaches the theme similarly through clever and ironic dialogue that highlights the existence of hypocrisy in others. The criticism of religion’s un-development and baseness in comparison with the higher forms of learning, education and knowledge, is illustrated through Faustus’ commentary to the Pope about the double standards of religion and the church. The following quote highlights in an ironic manner the protagonist’s stance regarding the traditions and rituals of Catholic religion: “How! Bell, book, and candle; candle book and bell, / Forward and backward, to curse Faustus to hell” (Marlowe, 2001, p.78). Faustus employs words cleverly and ironically to illustrate his ideas regarding religious hypocrisy. This does indeed confirm that both plays make a clever usage of dialogue and words to draw attention to the theme of hypocrisy in their own character and others.
Both plays approach the idea of hypocrisy as a way of liberation from social or personal constraints. Though Faustus is clear in affirming the hypocrisy of the church through his dialogue he is also guilty of the behavior itself since he spent a lot of time contemplating the ways he would use his new-found power. Despite his initial objections to the idea of performance as it connotes pettiness, he engages in the act later on in front of the Pope and the Emperor. Hypocrisy to Doctor Faustus is a way of running away from his inner desires and is thus a form of liberation. On the other hand, hypocrisy in “The Importance of Being Earnest” is a method through which to escape morality. For example, when Jack points out that it is “ungentlemanly” to read someone’s private cigarette case Algernon responds that “more than half of modern culture depends on what one shouldn’t read.” (Raby, 1997. p.163) This suggests the existence of a strict social and moral code that everybody is expected to abide to. The characters’ creation of an alter ego to escape this system is therefore a form of liberation sought through hypocrisy.
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To sum up, the theme of hypocrisy is apparently prevalent in the two plays but nevertheless presented differently across each one. While in “The Importance of Being Earnest” the importance is placed on the dialogue through the use of irony and sarcasm, hypocrisy in “Doctor Faustus” is highlighted through the protagonist’s contradictory actions such as through the pursuit of deluding forms of knowledge and his performance in front of the Pope and Emperor regardless of his initial rejection of the role of the petty magician. Therefore, even if the two plays are very different in terms of themes, story, writing style and time of composition, they serve to underline that hypocrisy is indeed a timeless theme.
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