Powerful, Pompous and Pontifical According to the Bible, “The love of money is the root of all evil.” There is fine line between loving the money or character of a person. The root of all evil starts when one doesn’t notice the difference. Lady Bracknell, an antagonist in The Importance of being Earnest, is a powerful, pompous and pontifical person who values money more than love and comprehends marriage like business deals in terms of allusions, connections and irony. Lady Bracknell’s character is revealed by allusions throughout the play. One can tell that she is very powerful and pompous from few examples of allusions in the text. Without a doubt, Algernon says “Ah! That must be Aunt Augusta. Only relatives, or creditors, …show more content…
“That is satisfactory. What between the duties expected of one during one’s lifetime, and the duties exacted from one after one’s death, land has ceased to be either a profit or a pleasure.” (I) She sees marriage as an alliance for property and social security but love or passion is not part of it. Since she had prodigious marriage, her primary goal in life seems to be to see her daughter doing the same. She wants her daughter, Gwendolyn to marry an upper class noble in order live a pleasant life. She tells her daughter quite explicitly, "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." (I) She sees marriage as a business deal because she insisted about Jack’s parent as the most vital thing. Knowing the parents are crucial for Lady Bracknell because they are the ones who are going to share the money and do the business with her. Another example of Lady Bracknell favoring money could be seen from Algernon and Cecily’s marriage. In the beginning, she opposed Cecily and Algernon’s marriage but Jack mentions that she has hundred and thirty thousand pounds in the funds. In a matter of second, she changes her mind and approves their marriage. Lady Bracknell surprisingly and excitingly responds “A moment, Mr. Worthing. A hundred and thirty thousand pounds! And in the Funds! Miss Cardew
It is a well known phenomenon that many authors' lives are reflected through a character in their work. In Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, the double life, or double identity, can be seen as the central metaphor in the play, epitomized in Algernon's creation of "Bunbury" or "Bunburying". As this term is the only fictitious word employed throughout the text, it is crucial to critically analyze not only its use and implications, but more importantly, the character who coins the term; Algernon Moncrieff. In addition, it is also significant to note the marked differences between Algernon and Jack's perceptions of the notion of bunburying, as it further develops Algernon's character within the text. But perhaps the single most
When Jack tells Algernon that he has traveled to town to propose, and classifies his trip as pleasure, Algernon retorts that he “thought you had come up for pleasure…I call that business.” This displays his lack of interest in the romance of marriage and that he instead cares about acquiring money through marriage. Algernon represents the broader views of the upper class. In a following scene, Lady Bracknell interrogates Jake about his prospects for his daughter. She asks “What is you income” and further into
When dealing with Lady Bracknell it is important to realise that her intellectually farcical dialogue makes her character the quintessence of the book’s title; she creates ‘trivial
“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.
In Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet, the mother of the protagonist, Elizabeth, is generally portrayed as a buffoon who is an adversary for he daughter that is trying to force her into a marriage she does not want. One may wonder how she can be justified in any way, considering that she is known to embarrass her family members and behave idiotically. However, in the time period they live in, a marriage is necessary for all of the family to avoid a terrible fate. Mrs. Bennet, while often behaving improperly, does try to do the best for her daughters based on the world she lives in.
Later, when Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen enter, two more ideas of marriage are brought to the forefront. Lady Bracknell portrays the aristocratic Victorian view of marriage but to a more extreme extent. According to Ziegenfuss, marriage in the Victorian era was not romanticized or fairytale-like. Love actually played a very minor role in the majority of matrimonies that took place. Engagement was entered into as one would approach a business deal, with rules and guidelines (Ziegenfuss). This is blatantly obvious when Lady Bracknell interviews Jack to see if he’s fit to marry Gwendolen. She attacks Jack with questions about family, fortune, and even place of residency and his answers need be appropriate for a union between the two families. (Kupske, Souza, 122). Even when Algernon wants to marry Cecily, Lady Bracknell voices, “I think some preliminary inquiry on my part would not be out place.” (Wilde, 46). Gwendolen, however, has the same view of marriage as Jack but, still has strong ideals about social protocol. This is seen when Jack tries to propose, she replies, “Of course I will darling…I am afraid you have had very little experience in how to propose!” (Wilde, 11)
If she married a man with enough money and respectability, then she could look forward to a comfortable life. If she did not marry, then she was doomed to be homeless and indigent, as there were little to no job options for women at the time. In this time when women were fully dependent on men for survival, Elizabeth still manages to stay true to her beliefs by not being eager to marry. If she is to be married, Elizabeth would want it to be out of “true affection”, which could then grant her much “felicity” (Austen, 75). She would never want to marry a man solely for financial security, as society expects many women to. Elizabeth doesn’t let societal pressures hinder her beliefs on what constitutes a successful, worthwhile marriage. When Mr. Collins proposed to Elizabeth, she confidently turned him down by saying it was “impossible for [her] to do otherwise than to decline” his offer (Austen, 81). She had long decided that Collins was a ridiculous man who she had little respect for. She would not give up her independence to spend the rest of her life with him, even if it would have kept the Bennet property within the family. Declining this opportunity of marriage is rather courageous of Elizabeth because she is risking never being proposed to again, putting her chance for a stable life at risk. The Bennets could only afford a small dowry, which would not attract many suitors. With that in mind, Elizabeth shows her
The most memorable character and one who has a tremendous impact on the audience is Lady Augusta Bracknell. Wilde’s audience would have identified most with her titled position and bearing. Wilde humorously makes her the tool of the conflict, and much of the satire. She serves well the plot and the theme of the play. She is the strong hand who forces the whole play to move forward with a happy ending.
The scene between Lady Bracknell and Jack is setup differently in the film from the play itself. In the clip Lady Bracknell interrogates Jack to determine if he is suitable to marry Gwendolyn with two ladies accompanying her to interrogate as well. In the film, dialogue was cut from the play which involved more questions to determine Jacks suitability, such as determining his political stance. The use of the music in the film help to achieve a more dramatic and intense feeling when the interrogation began, in the play music is absent and does not convey the same sense of the scene as well as the film did. Also, there is a point in the clip when Lady Bracknell reaches for a bell before changing the course of her hand before reaching for some
Worthing she sends her to the carriage and begins to question him on the spot. Towards the end of their discussion she discovers that Earnest has no parents and says, “You can hardly imagine that I and Lord Bracknell would dream of allowing our only daughter–a girl brought up on the utmost care–to marry into a cloak-room, and form an alliance with a parcel” (Wilde, p.25). It is in this scene that it becomes evident just how important wealth was at the time and how the marrying off of daughters was quite an event for the parents of a young women. Lastly, the people of the Victorian Era lived in a time where social class was highly important. Algernon has a servant and was born into a family of wealth, Lady Bracknell’s home is extravagant, and Earnest’s country home has servants, as well as a teacher for Cecily.
Today, deceitfulness is portrayed as a negative trait for anyone to have; society looks down on deceptive people. As a result, many fail to realize that deception does have a valuable purpose, and they are forced to choose between being accepted in society or being themselves. In the Importance of Being Earnest, Jack, Algernon, and Cecily reveal that the true purpose of deception is to help one escape societal roles while still being acceptable in society.
Lady Bracknell’s character represents the “New Woman” and clearly Algernon has to overcome any obstacle to please her. Lane, as the servant, a lower class citizen, acknowledges the hierarchy and aids Algernon in response. Wilde also wrote the scene where Algernon eats the entire plate of cucumber sandwiches as a sign of rebellion against the supreme woman figure. Algernon feared the consequences, and as a result concealed the truth. The cucumber sandwiches symbolize the need to be accepted within society and its commodities. Wilde devises the cucumber sandwich discussion to provide insight regarding the power shift from men to women at this time.
In yet another example, Mrs. De Bourgh, in her discussions with Elizabeth, reveals that wealth, and the societal station it provides, should be the primary basis for marriage. In her meeting with Elizabeth, Mrs. De Bourgh discusses the importance of planned marriages and how her daughter should be marrying Mr. Darcy instead of Elizabeth, noting that, “While in their cradles, we planned the union; and now, at the moment when the wishes of both sisters would be accompanied, in their marriage, to be prevented by a young woman of inferior birth, of no importance in the world, and wholly unallied to the
One of the most obvious attitudes that is shown throughout the book is Mrs Bennet's expectations. Her main aim is to get her daughters married to men with fortune. I think her reason for this is because as Mr and Mrs Bennet do not have any sons, their estate will not be entailed onto the daughters, and so Mrs Bennet wants to secure them a good future. She is arranging their marriages to pick someone suitable for them and also she may want them married to rich men for the society aspect. It would make them look higher class and would gain respect, as at that time people with more money were treated better.
Women had to change their lifestyles to be able to marry into wealth. To help the family, the daughters had to change their lifestyles (Sheehan). “A truth universally acknowledged, that a single main possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife,” said Mrs. Bennett (Hall). When the daughter gets married, her father wants to make sure that the husband can take care of her and protect her financially (Ray 140). Some women started marrying for money instead of love. A woman searching for love that cannot find a husband will then begin searching for men with wealth instead. A marriageable woman should not have to choose between marrying for wealth or for true love (Hall). Charlotte Lucas marries Mr. Collins, so when Mr. Bennett passes away, they will get his land. Charlotte Lucas also married Mr. Collins for the money and not for love. Mrs.Bennet wants one of her daughters to marry a wealthy man, so when Mr.Bennet passes away, they will still have a place to live (Pride and Prejudice). Marrying for