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Satire In The Importance Of Being Ernest

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Rich upperclassmen. Sometimes it is really overwhelming if you have the privilege of having money. There is so much weight on your shoulders to not mess up your image that you might even have to create a fake persona in order to not have the real one viewed badly in others’ eyes. “The Importance of Being Earnest”, written by Oscar Wilde, is based upon what it is like to be a rich upperclassmen during the Victorian era and how you don’t want to take on an unfriendly and unappealing portrayal of what a prosperous human being should not look like. “Do you smoke?” says Lady Bracknell.
Jack confesses, “Well, yes, I must admit I smoke.”
“I am glad to hear it. A man should always have an occupation of some kind” says Lady Bracknell (Wilde 23-24).
This quote shows that it is a good occupation to smoke for rich people. Lady Bracknell likes that Jack has something to do of some kind as his “occupation”. This is a good quality for a man to be compatible for Gwendolyn to marry so they wouldn’t have to worry about having nothing to do. In Victorian times, this makes fun of rich people and states that they smoke as a job. This quote is satire because wealthy men don’t actually smoke for an occupation. In reality, they just seem like they would because they are too “fancy” to do a real job like …show more content…

And in the Funds! Miss Cardew seems to me the most attractive young lady, now that I look at her” (Wilde 78). This quote shows that Cecily has a good quality of being very wealthy. In Victorian times, both women and men are attractive based on their wealth. Being affluent is what makes a person more and more good looking to others and the quote is satire because is basically states that that is all people would care about back then. No looks or personality. All they wanted in life was to end up marrying a man or woman who had a large sum of money to add on to their own stacks of cash and their seemingly endless amounts of servants and

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(Wilde 47). Once Lady Bracknell finds out that Miss Cardew is rich, she instantly drops all previous accusations and discrepancies, once more reinforcing that nothing else mattered if you had something great to offer another person or their family. Consequently it is the money Algernon would obtain from marrying Cecily. This yet again, adds to the meaning by stating that people’s views at this time were completely

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Not only do individuals change to meet the higher class standards, but they also change to meet the needs of the average class. “You are my little cousin Cecily, I’m sure” (60). Algernon wanted to marry Cecily and the only way of doing that, he thought, was by making a second identity. The last example how Wilde used exaggeration to show individuals couldn’t make decisions without the impact of society is when Lady Bracknell constantly lied regarding Jack being apart her family. Jack has never known who his mother or father was.

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