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Oscar Wilde's The Importance Of Being Earnest

497 Words2 Pages

The importance of being earnest is a play were Oscar Wilde displays different points of view of the society. The play shows the perspective of a high society member towards the ones from his own social standard. Wilde presents the play in such way that even Victorians laugh at themselves without noticing. However he intents more than make fun towards Victorians but to create conscience about some issues that are going on in the society.
The relationship between Jack and Gwendolyn displays one of this issues by being forbidden by Lady Bracknell due to the fact that Jack doesn’t have parents. The idea of her only daughter marrying a man that doesn’t come from a well-known family is atrocious. Something ridiculous now a days but something extremely important in the Victorian Era were the image was the most important and only thing that really matter. Lady Bracknell stated “… As for the particular locality in which the handbag was found, a clock room at a rail way station might serve to conceal social indiscretion—has probably, indeed, been used for that purpose before now –but it could hardly be regarded as an assured basis for recognized position in good society”(1). …show more content…

There is no doubt that Cecily loved Algernon and that he was determinate to be engaged with her. Once again Lady Bracknell forbids the relationship at first because Cecily didn’t look quite what she was expecting in the terms of high society aspects. However this impression changes rapidly as she is told the amount of heritage she possessed. Lady changed her mind by stating “A moment, Mr. Worthing. A hundred and thirty thousand pounds! And in the Funds! Miss Cardew seems to me a most attractive young lady, now that I look at her. Few girls of the present day have any really solid

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The idea that marriage is treated as a business is expressly shown by multiple characters. The most recognizable example is Lady Bracknell after she learns that Jack proposed to her daughter, Gwendolen. “Lady Bracknell: I feel bound to tell you that you are not down on my list of eligible young men,

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Though Wilde tells us that Cecily is “not a romantic girl”, the flakiness of Jack and Algernon lend us to expect her to be the opposite—and Wilde knows this. Instead of make Cecily out to be the typical damsel in love so common in romance novels, he makes her a damsel who has gone a bit loony with love. So when Wilde ends his play by both invoking its title and giving it a double meaning, he’s able to end on the same key that the play has had all along: maintaining a saccharine tone while presenting an unpredictably predictable revelation. In a way, The Importance of Being Earnest sets its audience up to understand its title. Most people would assume that Earnest is, well, about some person realizing the importance of being earnest.

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