Protagonist

Character Role Analysis

Jack Worthing

First of all, the play is named after him... eventually. We sympathize with his desire to marry Gwendolen and we watch him struggle to make himself acceptable to Lady Bracknell.

However, Jack is not the perfectly virtuous hero we’d like him to be. He has very serious character flaws that include deceit and hypocrisy. But the last line of the play seems to justify his dishonesty and asks the audience to overlook his flaws in favor of his obvious charm and likeability.