The Importance of Being Earnest is a short play written by Oscar
Wilde, who lived during the Victorian Era. The play itself has a very
deep meaning, criticizing the people of the Victorian Era, yet it seems quite
trivial. However, people from the Victorian Era did not realize that they
were the ones being criticized, since it was Wilde’s most successful
work. This shows that Oscar Wilde was a very clever man, who
managed to trick people, as he was well aware that people do not
like to be lampooned. The Importance of Being Earnest is therefore
a cleverly subversive criticism of the audience it was meant to entertain.
The people of the Victorian Era were true hypocrites. To this day,
people know the Victorian people were hypocrites; perhaps the rigid
expectations of the Era gave them no choice. The people of the Victorian
age are known for being “moralizers”. They felt like they had to lie all
the time, but then when someone found out, they would try to find a
way to escape. This kind of things happened especially among the
middle class and the upper class and Wilde demonstrates this
through the characters in the play, especially Algernon Montcrieff
and Jack Worthing. Their reason for lying was they had no other way
to keep their reputations.
Daily life during the Victorian Era was very restricted. In some
ways, appearance also became a major concern for the people of
the Victorian Era. Men had to restrain themselves from openly gambling,
being unfaithful to their wives, or marrying below themselves. Algernon
well knew that the Victorians were living a lie when he declared the
English morals were no better than the French who were unfaithful to
their wives all the time.
To state his opinions in a satirical manner, Oscar Wilde used
his skills in literary style. For example, he used puns. One of the
examples of his puns would be the title of the book itself. “Earnest”
in the title of the book, meaning very genuine and open, is a pun
because Jack who pretends be Earnest, is not earnest at all. He
pretends to be Jack in the city and Ernest in the country. This proves
that Wilde wanted to show his audience that they were hypocrites
because the way they acted in the public was different from the way
they acted in their private lives.
Another example of his skills in literary style would be
epigrams and contradictions. He used epigrams throughout the book.
One of the examples is the character Miss Prism. She said, “No married
man is ever attractive except to his wife.” First of all, she states the
obvious. However, married men can also be attractive to other women.
Here, Wilde tries to attack marriage during that time. An example of his contradictions is the line of Algernon, “What a fearful liar you are, Jack.
I have not been called back to town.” This is another form of hypocrisy,
where Algernon seems to contradict himself. He lies to everyone about
being his brother, Ernest. Now he says that Jack is lying that he has
been called back to town. This proves that Oscar Wilde was a clever
and witty man with critical thinking and hard opinions about the people
of the Era he lived in.
Oscar Wilde also used his characters as cleverly subversive
symbols. One of the examples would be Jack. Jack himself is a
hypocrite in many ways. He pretended to have a brother called
Ernest, so that he is able to do whatever he wanted and still keeps
his reputation. He considers many things a taboo subject to talk
about, such as modern culture. This is the example of people who
demanded respect, but wanted to do unrespectable things.
Another significant character that shows hypocrisy is Lady
Bracknell. She is a symbol of the upper class of the Victorian Era.
At first she disagrees that Algernon should marry Cecily. However,
when she finds out that she has “a hundred and thirty thousand
pounds in the Funds”, she totally changes her mind when she says
that Cecily is “a most attractive young lady”, now that she looks at
her. This shows that Lady Bracknell only cares about money. She
even thinks that her daughter’s and nephew’s partners should have
wealth.
The Importance of Being Earnest is truly an impressive work
of Oscar Wilde. It is a clever book, a very subversive one too. It criticized
the audience it was meant to entertain. The historical evidence of the
Victorian Era supported this because they were hypocrites who needed
to be criticized in the hope of bringing about change. Wilde criticized
his audience by using clever literary style and hidden symbols in his
characters. Therefore, the purpose of Wilde’s work, which was to criticize
his hypocritical audience, was successfully achieved.
http://felixessays.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/the-importance-of-being-earnest-as.html
Works Cited
“Victorian Age.” Amicicg Altervista. 05 October 2012
Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest. Ed. Moliken, Paul, and Lisa Miller. Prestwick,
House ed. Clayton, Delaware, Prestwick House, Inc., 2006.
