Jack’s extravagant mourning attire for a brother who is nonexistent and not even dead represents the extravagance of the dandy as well as duplicity.
Get the entire The Importance of Being Earnest LitChart as a printable PDF.
Jack’s Mourning Clothes Symbol Timeline in The Importance of Being Earnest
The timeline below shows where the symbol Jack’s Mourning Clothes appears in The Importance of Being Earnest. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 2, Part 1
Jack enters slowly dressed in mourning clothes , surprising Miss Prism and Dr. Chasuble. Jack tells them that his brother “Ernest” has...
(full context)
Act 2, Part 2
...back to the train station. Algernon refuses to leave until Jack changes out of his mourning clothes , saying that he is absurdly over-dressed.
(full context)
