The Colors of Love, Lies and Pride-Jack and Algernon are like a Rubik's cube- Comparison essay

Essay by vampirek87High School, 12th gradeA+, December 2005

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Erno Rubik was a Hungarian mathematician who created the 80's fad the Rubik's cube. This cube is made up of six sides, each of which has nine colored squares. The puzzle of the cube is to get all like colors on the same side of the cube. In the "The Importance of Being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde, the characters Jack and Algernon are like a Rubik's cube, they have many colors that are mixed with each other, but they all come together in the end. This comparison is displayed through the characters lies and the deus ex machine at the end.

Act I of the play reveals the main characters of the play, Jack and Algernon, as immoral and very complex beings. Jack is quick to state that, "I am in love with Gwendolyn. I have come up to town expressly to propose to her" (291, 42). Here, Jack seems to be a kind hearted man who is in love, which is associated with the colors red and white, colors of the rubik's cube.

This is Algernon's response to this seemingly earnest remark is, "I really don't see anything romantic in proposing...But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal...the excitement is all over. The very essence of romance is uncertainty. If ever I get married, I'll certainly try to forget the fact" (291, 47). Algernon speaks his mind bluntly, making him sound almost envious yet authoritative. These traits are portrayed by the colors green and blue on the rubik's cube. Further more, Algernon and Jack prove to be very complex characters, a result of their double lives. They confess to their lies when Algernon says, "You have invented a very useful younger brother called Earnest, in order... to come up to town as often as you like.