How Does Wilde Present Marriage In Victorian Society

Gwendolyn and Cecily act as friends until they learn that they are supposedly engaged to the same person. Then they learn neither of them are engaged to anybody named Ernest, and are friends again. In act three, we discover Jacks history, including that he is Algernon's elder brother. In the end, despite several lies, arguments, and much turmoil, everybody gets married.

she demanded to be told if robert had done some shameful thing, in which case they would separate. This irony shows the hypocrisy of being too earnest. Morality is an important factor of earnestness which is mocked in An Ideal Husband by the dialogue of the play, especially the characterised dialogue of Mrs. Chevely. Through her dialogue"Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people whom we personally dislike.", wilde, through Mrs.

Act III offers happy resolution to the problems of identity and marriage that drive much of the humor in the previous acts. Wilde continues to mock the social customs and attitudes of the aristocratic class. He relentlessly attacks their values, views on marriage and respectability, sexual attitudes, and concern for stability in the social structure.

Marriage is meant to be a cherished union between two lovers; however, Algernon’s behavior towards marriage is inherently selfish. Many times throughout The Importance of Being Earnest, Algernon acts as though marriage is an outdated and boorish concept. Directly after Jack confesses his proposal plan to Algernon, Algy says “I thought you had come up for pleasure? … I call that business” (Wilde 3). Algernon takes the romance out of the proposal. Algernon’s shallow nature lends

“The Importance of Being Earnest,” a satirical play written by Oscar Wilde, discusses a vast variety of criticisms regarding the late Victorian societal period. In this comedic drama, focusing on and analyzing certain minor characters leads to a more effective interpretation of the messages attempting to be portrayed to the audience. For example, through the persona of Lady Bracknell, Wilde effectively mocks the concept of marriage for social status rather than love. Additionally, interpreting the roles of the lower class servants allows the readers to internalize the desperate need for social reform that the author felt at the time period. Finally, the entire concept of Bunburyism, or masquerading as an alternate persona, satirizes the hypocrisy of the Victorian Era.

Cecily pursues a relationship with Algernon the instance they meet. Cecily has constructed her fantasy around the traditional expectations of romance; he ‘proposed’ on Valentine’s Day, she keeps his letters that he ‘wrote’ and has ‘broken off’ the engagement once before as it wouldn’t have been considered a ‘serious engagement’ if it hadn’t ended ‘at least once’. The introduction of this fantasy by Wilde and Algernon’s willingness to go along with this fantasy heightens the idea of role reversal and strengthens Cecily as a character. In Act III when the opening scene closes, Jack and Algernon’s reconciliation with Cecily and Gwendolen mocks the typical codes of Victorian romance by staging the men’s willingness to be re-christened as the heroic

Cecily and Gwendolen were perfectly happy to become attached to something that appears to be true and real rather than taking a closer look to expose the genuine nature of Jack and Algernon proves that the two young women were more attached to the name of both men, and did not consider their actions and words to verify them not being earnest – exposing both women as superficial. Algernon’s occupation with his outer appearance and Lady Bracknell’s need to look good in the eyes of others proves them both to be superficially committed to their external manifestations. It is possible that Wilde was revealing what the upper class life resulted in, and that as one rises higher in status one loses themselves, becoming preoccupied with what others want and what others think, forgetting one’s true

It was highly moral for a man to have a family and to be current in marriage; it boosts up his image and role in society. A man, who has been out of marriage for too long, is seen as idle. Wilde presents two characters, Algernon and Jack, who have a dispute whether marriage is silly or not. It suggests that not every Victorian man were keen on the idea of marriage. In the Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde displays a

Oscar Wilde’s play, The Importance of Being Earnest; A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is best described as such, a trivial comedy for serious people. Wilde’s play is structured through the influences of social drama and farce. This play was written in 1895 during the Victorian era where an expected behavior governed all areas of life including sexuality and frivolity. Oscar Wilde’s own sexuality is historically well-known as he was married to a woman, but partook in sexual relations with men (“Oscar Wilde”). This play was birthed during the midst of pressures that Wilde experienced in balancing his marital life and precariously trying to maintain his homosexual proclivities. Wilde’s response to the English aristocracy, in all its arrogance,

Wilde uses a deceptively flippant tone and irony to criticize the hypocrisy of the upper class in Victorian society in relation to living an earnest life. Earnestness as a virtue was of paramount importance during Victorian Society, with people constantly striving to live an earnest life, that is, a life of honesty and seriousness in intention and purpose. The Victorian society was passionately obsessed with the ideals of earnestness, that individuals in the upper middle class were pressured to go to any lengths to lead such a life, even if it meant a difference between what they said, how they acted in public and what they honestly thought. "My dear fellow, the truth isn't quite the sort of thing

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, premiered in London in 1895 when Wilde was in the peak of his career. During this time of the Victorian Era, society was very moral and chaste, at least on the surface. There was a very specific code of behavior that governed almost everything, but focused mainly on the topic of marriage. This affected Wilde first-hand as he was married to a woman but also involved with men which was forbidden at the time. Using the themes of dualism and marriage, Wilde is trying to show the audience the ridiculous nature of Victorian society. Through the reoccurring theme of dualism, Oscar Wilde uses sizable amounts of satire to not only mock the trivial Victorian society, but more specifically to ridicule

“Pardon me, you are not engaged to anyone. When you do become engaged to someone, I, or your father, should his health permit him, will inform you of the fact. An engagement should come on a young girl as a surprise, pleasant or unpleasant, as the case may be. It is hardly a matter that she could be allowed to arrange for herself” (Wilde, 622). Lady Bracknell’s harsh criticism and stubborn ways are customary of upper-class mothers in the era. Ironically enough, Algernon later develops a kind of forbidden love. The object of his affection is young and being taught to be unimaginative and serious.

Cecily spends most of her time writing in her diary, especially instead of reading her boring school books. When Algernon, under the guise of Ernest, asks to take a peek inside Cecily’s diary, she responds that her diary is “a very young girl’s record of her own thoughts and impressions, and consequently meant for publication. When it appears in volume form I hope you will order a copy” (35). She speaks so highly of her diary that she deems it important enough for publication. Soon, Cecily reveals to Algernon (Ernest) that they have been engaged for the past three months, and that she even broke off their engagement once already to confirm that it was a serious engagement.

Even though Cecily wasn’t poor she wanted to marry for love. In The Importance of Being Earnest, Cecily told Algernon, who was pretending to be Jack’s fake brother Earnest, that she had been engaged to him for months when he asked to marry her. She had fantasized loving him and engaged herself to him.

The genre of comedy, throughout the history of dramatic art has always served to not only entertain audiences, but to make them aware of their own individual flaws, or flaws that exist in society. (Weitz, E.) Comedy has no precise definition, and its boundaries are broad. One function of comedy however has remained the same - to hold up a mirror to the society of the time but through pleasure, inviting audiences to reflect and also providing amusement. Set in the late nineteenth century, the play An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde (1895) epitomises comedy, as both a literary and dramatic genre. Wilde was masterful in his ability to combine aspects of evolved comedic traditions and dramatic conventions to critique Victorian society. Drawing on characteristics of Greek and Roman tragicomedy, the choices in the play’s plot involves elements of tragedy as well as scenes that serve as comic relief and give the audience a sense of finality through a happy resolution. (Bureman, L) Focussing on the upper class stratum, Wilde employs a comedy of manners Molière style, of the Restoration Period in the seventeenth century in the play by combining forms of comedy with aspects of realist drama. The portrayal of archetypal figures such as Lady Chiltern and Lord Goring satirize rigid moral value of the time and expose their hypocrisies, through dialogue involving irony, wit and humour. Elements of farce and disguises characterized by ‘commedia dell’arte’, a form of comedy first developed in