Double Lives in Victorian Literature Essay -- Literary Analysis

The presence of a â€Å"dark double† has large amounts of numerous scholarly works of the Victorian Era. These â€Å"dark doubles† can investigate the illegal and curbed wants of the hero, and frequently speak to the creators own resistance to restraints in an ethically strict cultural atmosphere. The â€Å"dark doubles† in these accounts can investigate the socially unsuitable side of human instinct, and it is through these â€Å"dark doubles† that a significant number of the principle characters (and through them, the peruser), are ready to vicariously investigate and encounter the unlawful, prohibited, and frequently energizing underbelly of what was viewed as freak conduct. The acknowledged â€Å"normal† conduct that exacting Victorian social convention requested could be thrown away by these â€Å"dark doubles† and the â€Å"immoral† wants of the human heart could be investigated in the security of ones living room. In Oscar Wilde's play, â€Å"The Importance of Being Ernest,† we see a sarcastic nudging of the deception related inside the severe good code of English â€Å"genteel† society. The play's hero, Jack, makes his own â€Å"dark double†, his alleged lighthearted, indecent, and debauched sibling, Ernest. It is through his own making of Ernest that Jack can lead his engaging twofold life. While depicting himself as Ernest, we see Jack seek after everything that he is unequipped for investigating in his own stodgy Victorian world as Jack. While clarifying his quality around to Algy, Ernest states, â€Å"Oh, joy, joy! What else ought to bring one anywhere?† (690). Ernest proceeds to disclose to Algy what involves his time along these lines, â€Å"When one is visiting the area one entertains oneself. At the point when one is in the nation one interests other p... ...clear through the writing of the time, that people were starting to scrutinize the need, both ethically and socially, of either carrying on with a twofold life or quelling their longing to do as such. It is through these â€Å"dark doubles† that numerous creators had the option to investigate and uncover the shrouded certainties inside their character's characters, and perhaps themselves. By giving their character's the â€Å"masks† of these â€Å"dark doubles†, they had the option to story reality. Works Cited  Kipling, Rudyard. The Mark of the Beast. The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview, 2006. Print. Stevenson, Robert Louis. New York: Simon and Brown, 2010. Print. Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Ernest. The Broadview Anthology of British Writing. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview, 2006. Print.