Victorian Era Marriage
The The Importance of Being Earnest, written by Oscar Wilde, is a play set during the Victorian Era. It is about the lives of characters named Jack Worthing, Algernon Moncrieff, Lady Bracknell, Gwendolen Fairfax, Cecily Cardew, Miss Prism, and Rev. Chasuble that lived during that time period. One of the main topics discussed in The Importance of Being Earnest is marriage. Overall, Wilde portrays marriage differently throughout the play for the upper and lower classes of society.
The upper classes of society had strict guidelines for their marriages. In the play, Lady Bracknell had some specific requirements for a potential husband of her daughter. When Gwendolen told her mother, Lady Bracknell, she was engaged to Jack,
…show more content…
The main reason for that was because women didn’t marry outside of their class. For instance, a poor, lower class woman wouldn’t marry a rich, upper class man. The second reason being that lower class families didn’t usually have much money. Therefore, if the family didn’t have much money, then the women wouldn’t being marrying for money. As a result, lower class women had more of an opportunity to marry for love.
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.
Well, ever since dear Uncle Jack first confessed to us that
…show more content…
In Oscar Wilde’s play, he showed the upper class had many requirements for potential wedding partners, wealth being a key requirement. He also showed that women weren’t allowed to marry outside of their class, even if they loved the person. Overall, the text above shows that marriage was different for the lower and upper classes of society.
Works Cited
Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest. Project Gutenberg, 29 Aug. 2006, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/844/844-h/844-h.htm. Accessed 25 Apr. 2017.
Austen, Jane. “Pride & Prejudice, Chapter VI of Volume I (Chap. 6).” Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice, Chapter VI of Volume I (Chap. 6), Pemberley, www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/ppv1n06.html. Accessed 2 May 2017.
Williams, Holly. “Bad Girls: A History of Unladylike Behaviour.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 15 Mar. 2013, www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/bad-girls-a-history-of-unladylike-behaviour-8533215.html. Accessed 3 May
Every line, every character, and every stage direction in The Importance of Being Earnest is set on supporting Oscar Wilde’s want for social change. The Importance of Being Earnest was written during the late period of the Victorian era. During this period social classification was taken very seriously. It could affect working and living conditions, education, religion, and marriage. Wilde explores the issues of social class and turns it into a comedic play. He humorously criticizes Victorian manners and attacking the society of the luxurious life. The audience becomes self-aware as the characters reflect on themselves. Plays such as this become successful because of the backgrounds the writers come from and the experiences they have had.
The idea of marriage that is presented in the play differs from what we see marriage as
Centuries ago in Elizabethan England there were many traditions about marriage and the treatment of women. One strong tradition of these times was the practice of marriage between races. Interracial marriages were considered extremely taboo. (High Beam). In this era marriages were arranged by the parents with strong help from the local church. The individuals had little choice as to who they would marry. (Elizabethan England Life). Yet another example of these traditions was the respectable treatment of women. While the husband was in charge of his wife, as was the father, the husband were expected to treat the women right (Elizbethi). In spurning all of these traditions, Shakespeare demonstrates a view of marriage far different from that
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
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.
In the play, The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, there is a lot of humor that can be found. Specifically, developed behind the characters in this play that display many instances of irony and how important it was to fit into the “status quo” of this time period. There are specific behaviors from the characters of Lady Bracknell, Gwendolen, and Algernon that portray Wilde’s opinion of society during the Victorian Age. The attitude of these characters is snobbish and their manners display double standards and superiority. The play’s use of mockery and irony of these satirical situations is meant to publicly ridicule the self- loving attitude of the upper class while exposing their true absence of intelligence which causes their absurd social behaviors
Men, in the 19th century did not have respect for women. After the marriage, the women was consider as a "toy" and as an "animal" to men. "Essentially, the wife "belonged" to her husband. He had a right to the person and prosperity of his wife; he could use gentle restraint upon her liberty to prevent improper conduct, he could beat her without fear of persecution. Thus, it was very clear that the wife is dead in law"-Barbara Welter, The American Woman. Women had to suffer all this treatment because it was their choice. They would get marry and be financially secured or they would be single and support themselves. Most of them choose the first choice because; working was worse then some
AThe Importance of Being Earnest a play written by Oscar Wilde is set in England in the late Victorian era. Wilde uses obvious situational and dramatic irony within the play to satirize his time period. According to Roger Sale in Being Ernest the title has a double meaning to it and is certainly another example of satire used by Wilde. With a comedic approach, Wilde ridicules the absurdities of the character’s courtship rituals, their false faces, and their secrets. (Sale, 478)
Their limited education consisted of needlework, fine handwriting, singing, dancing, playing piano, and reading (3). Marriage at this time was the only thing that could give a woman any sense of security. If their fathers were to die, it was custom that only the eldest son could inherit the money and property. Unfortunately, if the family did not have a male son the land would be given to the closet male relative, which left the women in a very delicate position. Austen show’s readers this aspect of her society by having the Bennet sisters in the same situation. Without a male sibling their land and home will be entailed to a Mr. Collins. If Mr. Bennet were to die, his five daughters and his wife would be left homeless or at the charity of others because Mr. Collins would not have it in his heart to let them reside in the house with him. Their only way to escape this fate would be to get married. However, there was many obstacles that middle class young women had to deal with that kept young suitors uninterested. One was their social station. The society of this time was so stratified that even one class could be broken down into more distinctions of rank (2). The people did not often marry outside of their social rank, which left middle class women with middle class men. Unfortunately, money also played a big part in the determination of whether
Satire, in which Wilde places throughout the dialogue, is used to deride Victorian age concept of marriage and exhibit the theme to the audience. This is evident when Wilde addresses how Gwendolen and Cecily refuse to marry a man if their names were not
Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest (.1993.) is an enlightening epitome of social class in the Victorian era. The satire is driven by the frivolous behaviour, superficial lives and artificial norms within the Victorian aristocracy. Incorporating his own opinion into the play, Wilde continually attacked and mocked their hypocrisy, views on marriage, and their mannerisms. Throughout the play, Wilde used an abundant range of literary techniques to reinforce his opinion. Irony, paradox and hyperboles, as well as witty epigrams and aphorisms were used astutely and were ubiquitous throughout the play. This contributed to the satirical style and tone of the text, and enabled Wilde to effectively communicate his critical perspective on social class in Victorian England.
Many people believe that marriage is important in this day and age, but it holds little significance compared to the importance of marriage in the Victorian era. In the Victorian era women were to get married to a man of the same or a better social status, be good wives, and be a mother to her husband's children. Very few marriages started with love, but a woman's life is not complete without being married. Over time, the role of married women has evolved a great deal and they now have rights and privileges. John Stuart Mill was one of the great thinkers of the Victorian era, and his essay The Subjection of Women tells how few privileges women had and that they were slaves to their husbands. He also says that women are their own people and
Today marriage is seen as an expression of deep love and respect for another person. In Austen’s time, a ‘good’ marriage was seen to be one where wealth and social status of the man and woman were socially suitable. There was very
The Importance of Being Earnest appears to be a conventional 19th century farce. False identities, prohibited engagements, domineering mothers, lost children are typical of almost every farce. However, this is only on the surface in Wilde's play. His parody works at two levels- on the one hand he ridicules the manners of the high society and on the other he satirises the human condition in general. The characters in The Importance of Being Earnest assume false identities in order to achieve their goals but do not interfere with the others' lives. The double life led by Algernon, Jack, and Cecily (through her diary) is simply another means by which they liberate
* Victorians were encouraged to marry within the same class (remember the views on social mobility!). They could marry up, but to marry down meant