Dishonesty in The Importance of Being Earnest.

Dishonesty is a big thing in The Importance of Being Earnest. It relates to to humor by people saying lies in a joking way. One example was when Jack said Lady Bracknell was being a monster without being a myth. Dishonesty relates to satire of social institutions in this book by people making fun of or exaggerating something that isn't true. An example of this was when Cecily said that men are cowardly, because usually men aren't cowardly. It relates to references to Ernest/Earnest when Gwendolen tells Jack he is the most ernest person she knows, when really he's lying to her about being Earnest. Lastly it relates to the pursuit of pleasure because in the book people are being dishonest about things in order to get the pleasure they want.

Wilde seems to be using the characters to display that people are often more dishonest than you think, and it isn't always the bad way to go. Sure it would have been a lot better for Jack and Algernon never to pretend to be Earnest, but if he hadn't they may have never met the loves of their lives. When people are dishonest about little things, such as making fun of marriage, they usually know they're doing it they're just trying to get a point across. So yes, it is bad to lie. It is bad to keep things from people who deserve to know. But that doesn't keep people from doing it, or lead to the best path for that person.