Oscar Wilde Satire

Be it his extravagant lifestyle, bold mockery of the upper class, open homosexuality, or middle- finger to established social norms, Oscar Wilde is, at heart, a 21st century celebrity born 150 years too early√. In his 1895 play The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde satirizes the trivial and hypocritical values of his time. He uses satire not only to ridicule the pretentious aristocracy, but also to criticize the moral hypocrisy of the Victorian era, a culture that irrationally valued one’s immutable characteristics over the content of their character. Though the aristocracy may be a thing of the past, the reasoning behind Wilde’s jokes keep the message relevant to society in the digital age.

The play’s title is satirical in and of itself,

Though she notes that Jack’s income is “satisfactory”, he is still unworthy of marrying Gwendolen because he lacks familial connections: “[t]o lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.” (18). Wilde uses the scene to exemplify the upper class unreasonably judging people based on things far out of their control. In doing so, he satirizes the notion that someone’s family name determines their value. By contrast, the modern day social hierarchy gives credit to those who came from nothing and worked their way up to wealth and fame. This is especially prevalent in the dominating rap industry, where one of the most common themes is “rags to riches”. Another example of class hypocrisy comes form Algernon himself when he says that the lower class is of little “use” if they don’t exemplify “moral responsibility” (6). Algernon is more concerned with other people’s morality than his own, symbolizing the upper class’ externalizing morality instead of examining themselves. Wilde satirizes the notion that class and moral responsibility are tightly linked, with God at the top, then the church, the Royal Court, and then the aristocracy. And even if this traditional hierarchy is no longer widely accepted, Wilde’s point stands, that with wealth and power doesn’t make you exempt from morality.

Though it is true that the characters aren’t punished by the end of the play, Wilde pokes fun of their misfortune along the way while maintaining the structure of a comedy (order, chaos, order restored). Regardless of the happy ending, Wilde’s writing style embeds his messages in the individual funny moments; for instance, even when Jack tries to do away with his “Bunbury” Ernest, saying that he is “quite dead...he died abroad… he seems to have expressed a desire to be buried in Paris”, he gets closer and closer to being exposed when Algernon shows up as his own version of “Ernest” (30). By letting the audience in on the tension while the other characters remain oblivious, Wilde clarifies his message: don’t make up lies, especially with conflicting stories. Wilde’s message parallels the construction of identity on social media, as people are given a 2D platform within which they can act however they want, promoting themselves however they choose. The online social elite are indirectly encouraged to assume a false personality, similar to a full-time Bunbury. Consequently, the line between fiction and reality is blurred when people play to the public’s interest by putting on a false online persona. The main difference is that while Wilde’s characters try to get away from the eyes of the public,