The Importance Of Being Earnest, By Oscar Wilde

The modern age is often praised as the era of the woman, where the gender roles of Victorian society are completely reversed. In her thesis, Meijers says, “Throughout the Victorian period, there was a strict separation between the public and the private sphere. Men were to handle public affairs and women were to take charge of domestic life” (Meijers 7). In The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde employs a reversal of gender roles, including a shift in power that predates this movement, effectively challenging traditional Victorian views. He does so by giving his female cast, notably Lady Bracknell, Cecily Cardew and Miss Fairfax, power over Lord Bracknell, Algernon Moncrieff and Jack Worthing, respectively. These men lose power over the
This shift results in the decreased power of Lord Bracknell and Algernon. Lady Bracknell lies to her husband, handles him around, places herself before him and criticizes his health. She says:
Her [Gwendolen’s] unhappy father is, I am glad to say, under the impression that she is attending a more than usually lengthy lecture by the University Extension Scheme on the Influence of a permanent income on Thought. I do not propose to undeceive him. Indeed I have never undeceived him on any question. I would consider it wrong. (Wilde 45)
She continues this manipulation by controlling where he sits, and it is implied that he is usually apart from guests. She represents the family. She tells Algernon: “I hope not, Algernon. It would put my table completely out. Your uncle would have to dine upstairs. Fortunately he is accustomed to that” (Wilde 9). Further correlation is found when she tells Gwendolen: “Pardon me, you are not engaged to any one. When you do become engaged to some one, I, or your father, should his health permit him, will inform you of the fact” (Wilde 12). This treatment of his person, and the fact that he has no lines but is spoken for by his female relatives, indicates the complete lack of power Lord Bracknell
This goes against the gentlemen defined by Victorian society. Men were “expected to be honest, dignified, courteous, considerate and socially at ease” (Harrison 42). They are supposed to be the breadwinner and take charge of family matters. However, Algernon and Jack participate in the act of ‘bunburying’, that is to say, using created personages to evade social obligations. Algernon has Bunbury, a constantly sick man, useful for declining invitations without soiling one’s honor. It was responsible for gentlemen to cater to the poor and sick. Jack invents the story of his brother Earnest, and takes on the mantle of the name in the city, to relax from the moral life he lives without repercussion. The sphere of men is effectively transported from public life to the private. Though this is not switching feminine and masculine roles, the male public personality is completely