Victorian Satire
"The Importance of Being Earnest," a play by Oscar Wilde, gives an interesting look into each of the social classes existent in late Victorian England. As the play follows Ernest Worthing, the main character, through his dilemmas concerning his love for the wealthy Gwendolen, his lack of knowledge concerning his parentage and his overall lack of knowledge concerning his own identity, we see the many classes that he encounters throughout and are given a good interpretation of each. Each character is clearly included in Wilde's masterpiece to represent a different class: both butlers, Lane and Merriman, although small characters, are seen to represent the realities of the lower class; characters Ernest and Algernon are those that represent the middle class; and characters Lady Bracknell, Cecily and Gwendolen act as the highest class or the nobles. As we can see, Wilde recognizes and separates each class. Wilde satirizes each social class' attitudes and realities by using his own satire and wit. Their dialogue or their actions help convey their stereotypical views on death, on marriage and on the other social classes as well. The play opens with a conversation between character Algernon and his butler, Lane. Algernon and Lane are
Algernon: I don't know that I am much interested in your family life, Lane. Therefore, the dialogue and interaction of the characters throughout Oscar Wilde's play, "The Importance of Being Earnest, " truly provides a satirical comedic look into the lives of the individual social classes and further provides a good amusing storyline. Although this satire is well accepted as comedy today, however, after those who lived in the time of this play realized that they were being poked fun at, their reaction was not one of rolling in their seats laughing. After Wilde's play had been well read into and the true deeper meaning of his criticism or satirization of the upper class was recognized, it managed to blow up in his face and was said to possibly have been what led him into deeper waters. The people of that time were definitely not ready to realize that they really were that funny. Lane: I believe it is a very pleasant state, sir. I have had very little experience of it myself up to the present I have only been married once. That was in consequence of a misunderstanding between myself and a young person.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1608
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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