The Importance Of Being Earnest By Oscar Wilde

Irish playwright and author Oscar Wilde is well-known for his wit and sarcasm, not only because it is entertaining, but also because of the way he is able to communicate through these tools of language. This technique shines brightly in his most famous play The Importance of Being Earnest. In this play Wilde changes seemingly small details in order to show the absurdity of widely accepted Victorian social beliefs. Early on in the play the idea that generalizations of groups based on one trait is ludicrous appears. It is brought up by Algernon when he flippantly remarks “Lane’s views on marriage seem somewhat lax. Really, if the lower orders don’t set us a good example, what on earth is the use of them” (Wilde 6)? With this Wilde shows that

…” (Wilde20). Had Jack’s parents still been involved in his life after the incident when he was lost, then yes, Lady Bracknell may have had a point in rejecting him because he would have been raised by some remarkably irresponsible people and what kind of protection Jack could have provided for Gwendolyn would be questionable. However, Thomas Cardew raised him, and considering the circumstances that brought Jack into Mr. Cardew’s life, it appears that he is quite a loving, self-less, and responsible man. Lady Bracknell has set up completely arbitrary bench marks that must be met by suitors that, in this case, appear to have nothing to do with actually ensuring Gwendolyn’s happiness and safety, but instead place a family name over a living person. In the second act, as the audience gets an opportunity to see more of the characters’ relationships with one another, the societal norms being attacked begin to have more to do with gender. The first instance is when Miss Prism says “And you do not seem to realize, dear doctor, that by persistently remaining single, a man converts himself into a

And certainly once a man begins to neglect his domestic duties he becomes painfully effeminate, does he not? And I don’t like that. It makes men so very attractive” (Wilde 39). This quote points out that absurdity of one’s environment being believed to have an all-consuming effect on them. That their daily tasks and habits are so intertwined with their gender that to alter them at any stage of life, even at the presumably advanced age of Gwendolyn’s father, could entirely change one’s constitution. In the third act Gwendolyn makes another poignant comment, “How absurd to talk of the equality of the sexes! Where questions of self-sacrifice are concerned, men are infinitely beyond us” (Wilde 48). While each sex has to make sacrifices throughout their lives, the idea of a completely selfless individual is generally associated with women. The equality of the sexes would have been a controversial discussion topic because at the time this play was written the ideals of first-wave feminism would have been cropping up. Changing the association of this trait in the play makes it stand out more and draws the attention of the audience to it, making them question which values they associate with which gender and whether or not they are necessarily true. Oscar Wilde makes the audience take an introspective look at their own society and