The Upper Class In The Importance Of Earnest

In an age of social registers, Lady Bracknell laments that even the Court Guides have errors. In the next breath, she discusses bribing Gwendolen's maid to find out what is happening in her daughter's life. In Act III she also reveals that her aristocratic brother's family entrusted their most precious possession — Jack — to a woman who is more interested in her handbag and manuscript than in what happens to the baby in her charge. Wilde seems to be

In order to fully comprehend the significance of dishonesty throughout The Importance of Being Earnest, it is important to understand just how strict the Victorian

Elizabeth was a 12 year old girl that had a normal family life. Until it was turned upside down when Parliament passed the Stamp Act in 1765. She lived on a small lot of land just on the outskirts of town with her father, mother, and her older brother. Her father’s name was Emmett Buford. He was a hard working man and Elizabeth loved her father. Her mother was Abigail Buford and she was to stay at home and care for the children, which is what most women did in these days. Elizabeth’s brother was almost 4 and a half years older than her. His name was Abiel Buford.

“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.

A person’s name and position in society are significantly important for the upper class, due to the fact that if one were to marry into the family, a key member of the family would judge the person by their social class and the family name they carry to see if they are worthy to being a part of their lineage. In the play, “The Importance of Being Earnest,” a person's social class is highly admired. The main characters are high in society and are falsely appearing to live up to great expectations. In Oscar Wilde’s play, the theme of the social class is extensively explored through the characters, although they are living double-lives.

In the play by Oscar Wilde “The Importance of Being Earnest”, Wilde takes a comedic stance on a melodrama, portraying the duplicity of Victorian traditions and social values as the modernism of the twentieth century begins to emerge. The idea of the play revolves around its title of the characters discovering the importance of being earnest to their individual preferences. The author uses the traditional efforts of finding a marriage partner to illustrate the conflicting pressure of Victorian values and the changing presence of modern thought.

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

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

Jack illustrates the purpose of deception by using Earnest to escape his role of Cecily’s warden. When Algernon finds Jack’s cigarette case, he is shocked to find the name Jack graven inside. Jack attempts to explain by saying, “[M]y name is Ernest in town and Jack in the country” (Wilde Act I). As Jack, he has to be a responsible adult and take care of his niece Cecily but as Ernest he is able to live the wild life of a young bachelor. By pretending to be Ernest in town, Jack is freed from the restrictions of being a caretaker, yet he still fulfills the duties of one as he resides in the country. While explaining why he has two identities to Algernon, Jack states that being a guardian does not “conduce very much to either one’s health or one’s happiness” (Wilde Act I). Jack has to take care of Cecily, be responsible for her, and set rules and guidelines for her to follow. In his role of guardian, he finds himself unable to have fun, so he creates an irresponsible, carefree

Elizabeth’s father is more sensible than her mother and is described as ‘so odd a mixture of quick arts, sarcastic humour, reserve and caprice’ . Her mother however is not so difficult to work out, she is ‘a woman of mean understanding, little information and uncertain temper’ , and the business of her life is to get her daughters married3. Charlotte’s mother, Lady Lucas, is not much different from Mrs. Bennet. She described as being ‘a very good kind of woman4’, and like Mrs. Bennet she was also set on getting her daughters married . Charlotte’s father is Sir William Lucas, and he is a very pleasant man known for his civil manners .

- first the name Ernest, which is the main focus of the play, and also

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.

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)

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

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,