Satire In The Importance Of Being Earnest By Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ is a satire of the stifling conventions of Victorian England, a time when a serpentine code of behaviour governed everything from communication to sexuality, and when class was the sole dictator of relationships. With a witty, humorous delivery, the play explores the central themes of materialism, gender roles, marriage and the ignorance of the upper class.
Passage one opens with a series of hyperbolic questions posed with Jack, building in rhythm and accessorised with ornate language like ‘reckless extravagance’. With the expectation of an increase in importance, the dialogue contrarily falls to an exaggeration of absolute triviality, depicting the inverted priorities of the class. This is further accentuated as food becomes a source of conflict. Algernon permits his own uninterrupted devouring of the cucumber sandwiches on account of his relationship with Lady Bracknell, whereas Jack’s unfamiliarity denies him the same audacity. However, when Jack demonstrates excess enthusiasm for Gwendolen’s bread and butter, Algernon reproaches him for behaving as though he were ‘married to [Gwendolen] …show more content…
already’ as though food was a form of social presumption. Jack and Algernon are literary constructs that serve no significance apart from their linguistic elegance and ironic assertions. Their roles are almost interchangeable as they display no consistency of temperament or perspective, speaking with a similar tone of hypocrisy and creating similar deceptions as kindred reflections of their class.
As the pair discusses Jack’s flirtatious behaviour towards Gwendolen, the expectations of gender roles are probed through a subversion of the social norms of the era. Propriety demanded that women be ineffectual, helpless vessels of admiration and passivity, while men initiated everything with regards to relationships. Women are represented throughout the play as a reversal of accepted Victorian assumptions about gender roles. Here, the portrayal is epitomised as Gwendolen takes on the business of flirting, and later, of proposal out of Jack’s hands, taking charge of her own romantic life while the men stand by in relative passivity. Similarly, Lady Bracknell usurps the role of the father in interviewing Jack.
The concept of marriage is of paramount importance in the play, both as a primary diving force of the plot, and as a subject for philosophical speculation.
As Algernon and Jack partake in a brief debate as to whether the purpose of proposal constitutes ‘business’ or ‘pleasure’, the question of the nature of marriage appears in the play for the first time, where the materialistic code of the upperclass dictates that the gaining of resources forms the cardinal purpose of marriage. Consequently, marriages don’t come without infidelity. The matter is swept swiftly under the rug with a succession of euphemisms to superficially justify the behaviour, followed immediately by a discussion about food, as if the topics are of equal importance. Thus, Wilde satirises Victorian society’s preoccupation with surface manifestations of
virtue.
Lady Bracknell’s interview of Jack is used to mock the values of London society; one that puts social status on a higher pedestal than character. More disquieting than the invasive questions themselves, is the flagrant note-taking and the order in which the questions are posed. Before such matters as income, and family even later on, are raised, Lady Bracknell asks Jack whether he smokes. The significance of such trivial questions suggests the vacuity of the society, where serious issues are of secondary importance. With her startling use of hyperbole and rhetorical extravagance, Lady Bracknell’s romanticising of ignorance exemplifies one of the main ways in which Wilde manipulates comedy to transcend a political message. Her role verges on caricature as she practically embodies the ignorance of the entire British aristocracy, at the same time however, voicing a telling observation: that education and knowledge would ‘prove a serious danger to the upper classes’.
As well as generating a comedic, albeit ridiculous, satirical representation of the Victorian notions of propriety, Wilde’s play contains earnest comments on the social and political issues of the era.
Passage one opens with a series of hyperbolic questions posed with Jack, building in rhythm and accessorised with ornate language like ‘reckless extravagance’. With the expectation of an increase in importance, the dialogue contrarily falls to an exaggeration of absolute triviality, depicting the inverted priorities of the class. This is further accentuated as food becomes a source of conflict. Algernon permits his own uninterrupted devouring of the cucumber sandwiches on account of his relationship with Lady Bracknell, whereas Jack’s unfamiliarity denies him the same audacity. However, when Jack demonstrates excess enthusiasm for Gwendolen’s bread and butter, Algernon reproaches him for behaving as though he were ‘married to [Gwendolen] …show more content…
already’ as though food was a form of social presumption. Jack and Algernon are literary constructs that serve no significance apart from their linguistic elegance and ironic assertions. Their roles are almost interchangeable as they display no consistency of temperament or perspective, speaking with a similar tone of hypocrisy and creating similar deceptions as kindred reflections of their class.
As the pair discusses Jack’s flirtatious behaviour towards Gwendolen, the expectations of gender roles are probed through a subversion of the social norms of the era. Propriety demanded that women be ineffectual, helpless vessels of admiration and passivity, while men initiated everything with regards to relationships. Women are represented throughout the play as a reversal of accepted Victorian assumptions about gender roles. Here, the portrayal is epitomised as Gwendolen takes on the business of flirting, and later, of proposal out of Jack’s hands, taking charge of her own romantic life while the men stand by in relative passivity. Similarly, Lady Bracknell usurps the role of the father in interviewing Jack.
The concept of marriage is of paramount importance in the play, both as a primary diving force of the plot, and as a subject for philosophical speculation.
As Algernon and Jack partake in a brief debate as to whether the purpose of proposal constitutes ‘business’ or ‘pleasure’, the question of the nature of marriage appears in the play for the first time, where the materialistic code of the upperclass dictates that the gaining of resources forms the cardinal purpose of marriage. Consequently, marriages don’t come without infidelity. The matter is swept swiftly under the rug with a succession of euphemisms to superficially justify the behaviour, followed immediately by a discussion about food, as if the topics are of equal importance. Thus, Wilde satirises Victorian society’s preoccupation with surface manifestations of
virtue.
Lady Bracknell’s interview of Jack is used to mock the values of London society; one that puts social status on a higher pedestal than character. More disquieting than the invasive questions themselves, is the flagrant note-taking and the order in which the questions are posed. Before such matters as income, and family even later on, are raised, Lady Bracknell asks Jack whether he smokes. The significance of such trivial questions suggests the vacuity of the society, where serious issues are of secondary importance. With her startling use of hyperbole and rhetorical extravagance, Lady Bracknell’s romanticising of ignorance exemplifies one of the main ways in which Wilde manipulates comedy to transcend a political message. Her role verges on caricature as she practically embodies the ignorance of the entire British aristocracy, at the same time however, voicing a telling observation: that education and knowledge would ‘prove a serious danger to the upper classes’.
As well as generating a comedic, albeit ridiculous, satirical representation of the Victorian notions of propriety, Wilde’s play contains earnest comments on the social and political issues of the era.