Algernon Moncrieff

Jack and Algernon certainly are a lot alike. When we read a book it is sometimes hard to differentiate where is John and where is Algernon. They are Siamese twins. You may look at the first section of Jack’s "Character Analysis" and come back for more details in Algernon’s part of character analysis. 

Well, in the 21st century we call such kind of men with one word – metrosexual.  By the way, he also leads a double life, being Algernon in the city and Ernest in the country. 

But like all twins, they have something not similar. Unlike Jack, Algernon is not serious. Moreover, he generally is out for his own gratification.  Once he even falls in love with Jack’s fiancée Cecily posing himself as Jack’s wick younger brother to spend more time with Cecily. 

He is a secondary hero in the book. Algernon is described as charming, idle, brilliant, witty, selfish and even e little bit amoral. In this book, he is Lady Bracknell’s nephew and Gwendolen Fairfax’s cousin. Also, we see he and Jack are best friends. For years before becoming best friends, he knew Jack under another name – Ernest.

Also, we want to give you one more interesting fact about Algernon. He created a friend-invalid in the country. His name is Bunbury, and this friend allows Algernon to leave the city whenever he wants to. Why does he need it? He believes this activity called "Bunburying" is necessary, especially if one is going to get married-something he vows never to do. Also, when he had deals in the city that he didn’t want to do, he said about friend invalid and ran away from the city.

Probably we can add to our characteristic one more thing about Algernon – he is a liar.