Social Norms In The Importance Of Being Earnest Essay
How serious can we take The Importance of Being Earnest as being a play that criticizes social norms and values?
There is nothing earnest about this play, at least on the surface. It’s a giant critism of the Victorian era, when middle class behavior governed everything from communication to sexuality. The most important rules applied to marriage and were always a popular topic in Victorian plays, and one that interested Wilde, who was married to a woman but sexually involved with men.
During the Victorian period, marriage was about protecting your resources, and keeping socially unacceptable impulses under control. This is shown within The Importance of Being Earnest, when Lady Bracknell and Jack have a conversation about his eligibility …show more content…
to marry Gwendolyn. Her two main concerns are class and money and she doesn’t allow him to marry Gwendolyn as he doesn 't know who his parents are, meaning his class is unknown. Lady Bracknell is concerned that he might only be after her daughter’s wealth.
One character in particular, Cecily, becomes a lot more interesting to Lady Bracknell when her fortune is mentioned; “Lady Bracknell: A hundred and thirty thousand pounds! And in the Funds! Miss Cardew seems to me a most attractive young lady, now that I look at her.” Before the subject of money was known to Lady Bracknell she had shunned everything Jack had to say about Cecily and was adamant that she wasn’t good enough to marry her nephew, yet this changes as soon as she knows Cecily is wealthy and within three seconds she changes from calling Cecily “Miss Cardew” to “my dear child!” This clearly shows Wilde’s distaste towards the process of Victorian Marriage.
“The aristocratic Victorians valued duty and respectability above all else. Earnestness, a determined and serious desire to do the correct thing, was at the top of the code of conduct. Appearance was everything, and style was much more important than substance. Within the Victorian era it seemed that while a person could lead a secret life, carry on affairs within marriage or have children outside of wedlock, society would look the other way as long as the illusion of a respectable married couple was kept intact. Wilde questions whether more serious issues of daily Victorian life are overlooked and replaced with trivial concerns about appearance.
“Gwendolyn is the paragon of the value of appearance. Her marriage proposal must be performed correctly, and her brother even practices correct proposals.” This shows that Victorian society did not appreciate the significance of the proposal itself, rather the way the proposal was carried out. This is a great example of Wilde critising their social values. In Act II, when the girls are drinking tea it is a great example of Wilde 's critism that manners and appearance are everything. Both Gwendolyn and Cecily think they are engaged to the same person due to the confusion that was caused by Jack’s and Algernon’s alter-egos. When they first meet one another they immediately state that they both think one another to be wonderful people and both insist that they are like sisters. “Gwendolyn: I like you already more than I can say. My first impressions of people are never wrong.” But as soon as they think they are engaged to the same man their mannerisms change, as they bitterly exchange accusing questions about their social activities, such as when Gwendolyn asks if Cecily has a chaperone when staying in Jack’s home.
When Gwendolyn requests no sugar, Cecily adds four lumps to her cup. Although she asks for bread and butter, Gwendolen is given a large slice of cake. Her true feelings come out only in an aside that Cecily supposedly cannot hear: "Detestable girl!"
This is another great example of Wilde criticising Victorian social norms as Gwendolyn snaps at the most trivial of actions, such as when Cecily hands her cake when she specifically says “Bread and butter please. Cake is rarely seen in the best houses nowadays.” Wilde’s distaste shows through quite clearly within this scene as they change their opinions of one another extremely quickly as when Gwendolyn says “From the moment I saw you I distrusted you. My first impressions of people are invariably right.” Thus, contradicting her earlier statement. Their opinions soon change again when they stand together against Jack and Algernon when they find out they have been lied to.
“Two areas in which the Victorians showed little sympathy or compassion were illness and death. When Lady Bracknell hears that Bunbury died after his doctors told him he could not live, she feels he has, in dying, acted appropriately because he had the correct medical advice.”
It is also apparent that they have a lack of compassion when it comes to death within Act II when Jack explains to Miss Prism and Chasuble that his brother Earnest is dead. Miss Prism replies with “What a lesson for him! I trust he will profit by it.” Later, when Algernon pretends to be Earnest and claims to be, in fact, not dead they quite easily shrug off the earlier statement off his death, claiming it to be a “sudden return” This scene is a clear critism of how Victorian society sees death as something so trivial.
“Religion is also a topic of criticism within The Importance of Being Earnest. While concerns of the next world would be an appropriate topic for people of this world, it seems to be shoved aside in the Victorian era.” Canon Chasuble is the symbol of religion within this play and Wilde seems to use him as a criticism of the Victorian religious faith as he is just as unconcerned with serious situations as the rest of the characters within the play.
He inverts the morals of religion due to his promiscuous nature, especially with Miss Prism, “Chasuble: Were I fortunate enough to be Miss Prism’s pupil I would hang upon her lips [Miss Prism glares] I spoke metaphorically” if this type of behaviour from a religious figure was shown in the real world, the Victorian audience would find these acts extremely offensive and sinful, but as this behaviour is performed within a play these atrocities are overlooked. Wilde would obviously be very critical of the Victorian religious faith as it disparaged homosexuality and encouraged it to be a criminal offence.
“Oscar Wilde felt that most Victorian values were perpetuated through courtship and marriage, both of which had their own rules and rituals.”
In the Victorian era, marriage was an affair of extreme importance, one which seems to be taken lightly within The Importance of Being Earnest in which the name of the person and the ways in which they propose appears to take priority over the marriage itself.
Wilde criticizes marriage harshly, especially how it is viewed by Victorian society, examples of this is mostly shown through Lady Bracknell, who seems to be the person in which the marriages will be blessed by.
Wilde seems to use her as the
character in which most of the social norms and values are criticized, this can be seen in Act I where Lady Bracknell has a conversation with Jack to determine whether he is eligible enough to marry Gwendolyn.
“Jack: I know nothing, Lady Bracknell.”
“Lady Bracknell: I am pleased to hear it. I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance.”
Lady Bracknell swarms Jack with questions from politics and fortune to addresses and parents in which he must answer correctly to gain any marriage approval. Within the conversation it is clear that appearance is everything, and society would prefer it if individuals were ‘attractively’ ignorant rather than be educated.
“Wilde creates episodes in which his characters live secret lives or create false impressions to express who they really are.”
The reason for these characters to hold secret lives and false impressions isn’t just for the comedic value of the play, but seems to be Wilde’s way of escaping the repressive and suffocating norms and values of Victorian
society.
At the end of the play, Jack and Algernon finally get married and shed their fake identities. This appears to be Wilde viewing marriage as an end to freedom and the start of conforming to Victorian society, a notion in which Wilde could not seem to bear.
Every page, every line of dialogue and every character in The Importance of Being Earnest is focused on supporting Wilde 's views that social norms and values within Victorian society focuses not on the serious things in life but rather on the trivial. Such as it is within one of Wilde’s quotes; “We should treat all trivial things of life seriously and all the serious things in life with sincere and studied triviality.”
Bibliography
Wilde, O (1895). The Importance of Being Earnest. Great Britain: Clays Ltd, St Ives plc. p7 - 67. none given. (none given). The Importance of Being Earnest. Available: http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/importance-of-being-earnest/critical-essays/themes.html. Last accessed 24/04/13.
There is nothing earnest about this play, at least on the surface. It’s a giant critism of the Victorian era, when middle class behavior governed everything from communication to sexuality. The most important rules applied to marriage and were always a popular topic in Victorian plays, and one that interested Wilde, who was married to a woman but sexually involved with men.
During the Victorian period, marriage was about protecting your resources, and keeping socially unacceptable impulses under control. This is shown within The Importance of Being Earnest, when Lady Bracknell and Jack have a conversation about his eligibility …show more content…
to marry Gwendolyn. Her two main concerns are class and money and she doesn’t allow him to marry Gwendolyn as he doesn 't know who his parents are, meaning his class is unknown. Lady Bracknell is concerned that he might only be after her daughter’s wealth.
One character in particular, Cecily, becomes a lot more interesting to Lady Bracknell when her fortune is mentioned; “Lady Bracknell: A hundred and thirty thousand pounds! And in the Funds! Miss Cardew seems to me a most attractive young lady, now that I look at her.” Before the subject of money was known to Lady Bracknell she had shunned everything Jack had to say about Cecily and was adamant that she wasn’t good enough to marry her nephew, yet this changes as soon as she knows Cecily is wealthy and within three seconds she changes from calling Cecily “Miss Cardew” to “my dear child!” This clearly shows Wilde’s distaste towards the process of Victorian Marriage.
“The aristocratic Victorians valued duty and respectability above all else. Earnestness, a determined and serious desire to do the correct thing, was at the top of the code of conduct. Appearance was everything, and style was much more important than substance. Within the Victorian era it seemed that while a person could lead a secret life, carry on affairs within marriage or have children outside of wedlock, society would look the other way as long as the illusion of a respectable married couple was kept intact. Wilde questions whether more serious issues of daily Victorian life are overlooked and replaced with trivial concerns about appearance.
“Gwendolyn is the paragon of the value of appearance. Her marriage proposal must be performed correctly, and her brother even practices correct proposals.” This shows that Victorian society did not appreciate the significance of the proposal itself, rather the way the proposal was carried out. This is a great example of Wilde critising their social values. In Act II, when the girls are drinking tea it is a great example of Wilde 's critism that manners and appearance are everything. Both Gwendolyn and Cecily think they are engaged to the same person due to the confusion that was caused by Jack’s and Algernon’s alter-egos. When they first meet one another they immediately state that they both think one another to be wonderful people and both insist that they are like sisters. “Gwendolyn: I like you already more than I can say. My first impressions of people are never wrong.” But as soon as they think they are engaged to the same man their mannerisms change, as they bitterly exchange accusing questions about their social activities, such as when Gwendolyn asks if Cecily has a chaperone when staying in Jack’s home.
When Gwendolyn requests no sugar, Cecily adds four lumps to her cup. Although she asks for bread and butter, Gwendolen is given a large slice of cake. Her true feelings come out only in an aside that Cecily supposedly cannot hear: "Detestable girl!"
This is another great example of Wilde criticising Victorian social norms as Gwendolyn snaps at the most trivial of actions, such as when Cecily hands her cake when she specifically says “Bread and butter please. Cake is rarely seen in the best houses nowadays.” Wilde’s distaste shows through quite clearly within this scene as they change their opinions of one another extremely quickly as when Gwendolyn says “From the moment I saw you I distrusted you. My first impressions of people are invariably right.” Thus, contradicting her earlier statement. Their opinions soon change again when they stand together against Jack and Algernon when they find out they have been lied to.
“Two areas in which the Victorians showed little sympathy or compassion were illness and death. When Lady Bracknell hears that Bunbury died after his doctors told him he could not live, she feels he has, in dying, acted appropriately because he had the correct medical advice.”
It is also apparent that they have a lack of compassion when it comes to death within Act II when Jack explains to Miss Prism and Chasuble that his brother Earnest is dead. Miss Prism replies with “What a lesson for him! I trust he will profit by it.” Later, when Algernon pretends to be Earnest and claims to be, in fact, not dead they quite easily shrug off the earlier statement off his death, claiming it to be a “sudden return” This scene is a clear critism of how Victorian society sees death as something so trivial.
“Religion is also a topic of criticism within The Importance of Being Earnest. While concerns of the next world would be an appropriate topic for people of this world, it seems to be shoved aside in the Victorian era.” Canon Chasuble is the symbol of religion within this play and Wilde seems to use him as a criticism of the Victorian religious faith as he is just as unconcerned with serious situations as the rest of the characters within the play.
He inverts the morals of religion due to his promiscuous nature, especially with Miss Prism, “Chasuble: Were I fortunate enough to be Miss Prism’s pupil I would hang upon her lips [Miss Prism glares] I spoke metaphorically” if this type of behaviour from a religious figure was shown in the real world, the Victorian audience would find these acts extremely offensive and sinful, but as this behaviour is performed within a play these atrocities are overlooked. Wilde would obviously be very critical of the Victorian religious faith as it disparaged homosexuality and encouraged it to be a criminal offence.
“Oscar Wilde felt that most Victorian values were perpetuated through courtship and marriage, both of which had their own rules and rituals.”
In the Victorian era, marriage was an affair of extreme importance, one which seems to be taken lightly within The Importance of Being Earnest in which the name of the person and the ways in which they propose appears to take priority over the marriage itself.
Wilde criticizes marriage harshly, especially how it is viewed by Victorian society, examples of this is mostly shown through Lady Bracknell, who seems to be the person in which the marriages will be blessed by.
Wilde seems to use her as the
character in which most of the social norms and values are criticized, this can be seen in Act I where Lady Bracknell has a conversation with Jack to determine whether he is eligible enough to marry Gwendolyn.
“Jack: I know nothing, Lady Bracknell.”
“Lady Bracknell: I am pleased to hear it. I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance.”
Lady Bracknell swarms Jack with questions from politics and fortune to addresses and parents in which he must answer correctly to gain any marriage approval. Within the conversation it is clear that appearance is everything, and society would prefer it if individuals were ‘attractively’ ignorant rather than be educated.
“Wilde creates episodes in which his characters live secret lives or create false impressions to express who they really are.”
The reason for these characters to hold secret lives and false impressions isn’t just for the comedic value of the play, but seems to be Wilde’s way of escaping the repressive and suffocating norms and values of Victorian
society.
At the end of the play, Jack and Algernon finally get married and shed their fake identities. This appears to be Wilde viewing marriage as an end to freedom and the start of conforming to Victorian society, a notion in which Wilde could not seem to bear.
Every page, every line of dialogue and every character in The Importance of Being Earnest is focused on supporting Wilde 's views that social norms and values within Victorian society focuses not on the serious things in life but rather on the trivial. Such as it is within one of Wilde’s quotes; “We should treat all trivial things of life seriously and all the serious things in life with sincere and studied triviality.”
Bibliography
Wilde, O (1895). The Importance of Being Earnest. Great Britain: Clays Ltd, St Ives plc. p7 - 67. none given. (none given). The Importance of Being Earnest. Available: http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/importance-of-being-earnest/critical-essays/themes.html. Last accessed 24/04/13.