Because this play is meant to embody victorian society, Wilde is able to interpret and criticize the high importance of social identity to Victorians. The encompassing critic that Wilde addresses in his script involves the corrupt nature of society and the hypocrisy of presenting oneself as a wholesome, earnest person when reality indicates otherwise. This play symbolically allows us to view the characters as an example of all elite Victorian society. Bromige declares that, “reading or watching the play is to observe the unconscious of the society of Wilde’s day” (1). The bulk of the play revolves around the character’s fixation on their reputation and their desire to be seen prestigious members of society; Wilde makes a mockery of these priorities to satirize aristocracy. When Jack first asks for Gwendolen’s hand in marriage, Lady Bracknell pointedly announces: “I feel bound to tell you that you are not down on my list of eligible young men… I have the have the same list as the dear Duchess of Bolton has. We work together, in fact” (Wilde Act 982). The way that Lady Bracknell casually but intentionally mentions her relationship with the Duchess shows her instinctual effort to make herself appear more prestigious through her elite acquaintance. She even implies her supposed intimacy with the Duchess by first referring to her as “the dear Duchess,” then declares that she works together with her. Further along in their conversation, Jack informs Lady Bracknell that he was found in a cloak closet and is without relations, to which she replies: “I would strongly advise you, Mr. Worthing, to try and acquire some relations as soon as possible, and to make a definite effort to produce at any rate one parent, of either sex, before the s…
…cnel, Kim. “Literary Contexts In Plays: Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance Of Being Earnest.” Literary Contexts In Plays: Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance Of Being Earnest’ (2006): 1. Literary Reference Center. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.Bromige, David. The Importance of Being Earnest.” Masterplots, Fourth Edition (2010): 1-3. Literary Reference Center. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.Desmet, Christy, D. Alexis. Hart, and Deborah Church. Miller. Prentice Hall Literature Portfolio. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.
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Garland, Tony W. “The Contest of Naming Between Ladies in THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST.” Explicator 70.4 (2012): 272-274. Literary Reference Center. Web. 15 APr. 2014.Lalonde, Jeremy. “A “Revolutionary Outrage”: “The Importance Of Being Earnest” As Social Criticism.” Modern Drama 48.4 (2005): 659-676. Literary Reference Center. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
