How Does Wilde Use Satire In The Importance Of Being Earnest

An Era of Earnestness The Victorian Era was a time that consisted of mostly finger foods and zealous matches of badminton, however, in the midst of it all lied a strict code of manners that anyone who was anyone was expected to follow. Victorian Era mannerisms were beyond extraordinary and Oscar Wilde, the author of The Importance of Being Earnest, realised this and despised them. Throughout the story, Oscar likes to “poke fun” at the outrageous customs of the Victorian Era. To accomplish this feat, Oscar uses satire to ridicule the appalling customs and opinions of the Victorian Era such as love, wealth, and manners. Throughout the entirety of the play Wilde uses satire as tool to effectively ridicule the Victorian’s idea of reputation over love. One example of this is when Gwendolen states
One of the very first examples of Wilde’s satire against being earnest can be found on the cover of the book, in the title The Importance of Being Earnest. Wilde is expressing, satirically, the importance of being of being Earnest as it was during the Victorian Era. Another example of this is when Gwendolen states “the only really safe name is Ernest” (Wilde 11). This is implying that being earnest was the only safe way one could act during the Victorian Era. However, this is not the only allusion to this idea in the play. Cecily also makes a similar reference in regards to Algernon really being called Algernon when she states “I might respect you, Ernest, I might admire your character, but I fear that I should not be able to give you my undivided attention” (Wilde 34). With that being said, Wilde is trying to point out that in Victorian society one who was not inherently earnest would not receive the same amount of attention or even be respected because they were not