How Does Wilde Present The Victorian

Wilde portrays each of the characters in a way that reflects his views of the English aristocracy. Algernon Moncrieff is used by Wilde to portray an upperclass character that can be easily identified by readers. Throughout the play, Wilde gives Algy witty lines and epigrams that displays his humour and disrespect towards the society. “Of course the music is a great difficulty. You see, if one plays good music, people don’t listen, and if one plays bad music, people don’t talk.” here is Algy’s wit and wisdom being displayed as he is trying to say people do not appreciate good music. He would even praise his own humour from time to time: “It’s perfectly phrased”. All through the play, he acts similar to a man who does not have anything better to do but to admire his own wittiness and humour.
Lady Bracknell’s behaviour throughout the play is rather eccentric, this is used by Wilde as an advantage to portray the upperclass. Upon hearing Jack and Gwendolen’s engagement, Lady Bracknell asks him, “[…] Do you smoke?” It is quite peculiar that her first thought was to inquire whether or not Jack smokes. In the Victorian times, true aristocrats had the reputation of not having to work often, meaning they had an extensive amount of free time. Her demeanour and management of the situation revealed that she is serious about intermingling between the social classes. Wilde depicts the quintessential upperclass mother as one that deeply concerns over the marriage between different social classes. Lastly, Gwendolen Fairfax successfully represents the quintessential upperclass woman. Wilde takes advantage of Gwendolen’s obsession with the name Earnest to ridicule the upperclass’ obsession with acceptable and admirable characteristics. Rather than looking at each suitor’s attributes, she looks for a man to fit a