Hw Oscar Wilde Pokes Fun at the Attitudes and Etiquette of the British Aristocracy

Hw Oscar Wilde Pokes Fun at the Attitudes and Etiquette of the British Aristocracy

Oscar Wilde presents a very candid impression of Victorian society and

its values in The Importance of Being Earnest. The title itself

represents the irony of the play. The word earnest works on two levels

- first the name Ernest, which is the main focus of the play, and also

it sounds like honest which is exactly what Jack and Algernon - the

two main characters of the play - are not.

There are four main themes which can be recognised in the play: social

snobbery, money matters, appearance matters and false values and

lastly, not being sincere. In this essay I intend to focus on each

category to highlight the society Wilde describes and the values he

portrays. These will be backed up by quotations from the play.

The first theme I shall look at is social snobbery. Social snobbery is

where one class looks down on a lower class; for example upper class

people regarding the lower class as one to provide services for them.

In the play Wilde often describes the social snobbery of the

characters, Lady Bracknell being a prime example. She considers the

lower class inferior to her as can be demonstrated by her

interrogation with Jack in Act One. She asks him 'Do you know

everything or nothing?' She goes on to say, 'I do not approve of

anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a

delicate fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone.'

Lady Bracknell then goes onto say, 'The whole theory of modern

education is radically unsound. Fortunately in Englandat any rate,

education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a

serious d...

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... Jack to acquire some relations 'as soon as possible'

and to make an effort to produce a parent of either sex before the

season is over. This is an impossible thing to do, but there is irony

as in the end, he does find out who his parents are, and though he

cannot produce them in front of Lady Bracknell, she knows who they are

- her sister and brother-in-law in fact. This is another time when the

characters show signs of not being sincere..

In The Importance Of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde manages to put forward

the social snobbery, superficial values, money and appearance matters

that the upper class of society had and as he seems to be against all

this, he is biased. He pokes fun at most rules and regulations because

they were mostly very superficial and generally of no great importance

to the well being of the world.