Importance Of Being Ernest: Conformity And Resistance In Victorian Society

518 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Social class in the Victorian era

Annotated Bibliography
Bastiat, Brigitte. “The Importance of Being EArnest(1895) by Oscar Wilde: Conformity and
Resistance in Victorian Society. “ NC LIVE.NC LIVE, Oct. 2010. Web.
This creator separates the significance of keeping up the senior high agreeable review over the span of the show and furthermore the time. This source separates the gauge of keeping up amiable financial through the play and how it has an awesome effect. The Importance of Earnest is a sensational play that shows the greater part of that. This play is centered around the origination of the social class and keep up the abnormal state of progress. This significance of this source is that it is making the connection between the idea of social class headway to the play by oscar Wilde " The Importance of Being Earnest". Over the span of the play, there are numerous characters who remain inside their social class yet there are likewise the individuals who are plainly characterized as being beneath a specific class yet plays as their equivalent. For instance, Lane is just Algernon's house keeper however when he …show more content…

The average workers amid the victorian time needed to dependably have any expectations of climbing in the privileged societies. Through the diligent work and assurance they would possibly climb. The source clarifies the writing that was normal amid this day and age. Amid the Victorian Age, everything was tied in with working and progressing to the following level of social class. The idea of working amid this age was extremely essential, it was one of the deciding variables in the social class structure. Upon the activity/vocation a man had, their social class was decided for them. For instance, with path he is a worker and with him having the title of cleaning specialist/hireling he is naturally put in a lower social class than whatever is left of the

Show More
Related

  • Satire in Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest

    857 Words  | 2 Pages

    Satire in Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. "The Importance of Being Earnest" is a play by Oscar Wilde, set in the late 1800's. His actors are playing upper class citizens who are very self-absorbed. The play is set amongst upper class, wealthy people. They appear not to work and are concerned with their own pleasure.

    Read More

  • The Nouveaux Riche of Victorian England

    488 Words  | 1 Pages

    As the middle class began to further divide, those who grew in wealth became known as a banking/industrial class. Along with their sudden economic prosperity there came a desire for social transformation- an aspiration for new aristocracy. They carried their traditional middle class values into prominence with their accumulation of wealth. They sought to achieve a merit oriented Society rather than social climbing, for their children's sake, into the existing one based solely on birth. This hindered the new class from ever attaining Aristocratic Social acceptance for their new wealth and deemed them the nouveaux riche. Despite obvious disapproval from the Aristocracy the nouveaux riche continued their economic ascent through "personal contact [which] was a crucial element in filling posts" (Loftus 5). This dependence upon others for mounting economic standing was contrary to the middle class value of independence. This industrial class was forced to rely upon the connections, potentially aristocratic, in order to succeed. Loftus explains that middle-class values were carved out in these attempts to define a society based on merit rather than aristocratic privilege. However, the importance of cultural capital and social networks to success in the period implies that the rise of the middle-classes in the Victorian period saw the replacement of one set of privileges with another (Loftus 4). However the Nouveaux Riche failed to fully assimilate into aristocratic society due to lack of pedigree.

    Read More

  • Occupations in the Victorian Era by Class

    1050 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the Victorian Era, the standard of occupations were distinctly divided based on class. These social classes that divided the caliber of work in occupations were: the upper class, middle or working class and the lower class. Occupations that required skilled labor and unskilled labor each employed people in separate classes. Men and women within each class had different jobs in accordance with the type of work in their social class. (Victorian Web.)

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Being Earnest By Oscar Wilde

    1272 Words  | 3 Pages

    Oscar Wildes ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’’ is believed by many to be his most genius work and certainly has withstood the test of time. The play is set in London during the 1890’s in which time frame aristocracy and upper class held the majority of the countries wealth. Many of the comical aspects question the morals of the upper class in which he satirises throughout the play. One method of this, for instance is through one of the main protagonist, Algernon Moncrieff. Algernon is an upper class individual who is oblivious to the world around him in such an exaggerated manner that it makes his character comically adjusted for Wildes own views. Many aspects of the time period are made a mockery through puns and witty remarks from the main protagonists, most if not all are portrayed in a sense that makes them undoubtedly a laughing stock. Wildes methods are not discrete; nor are they obvious, many of the comical comments made are by none other than the protagonists themselves. This furthermore enforces the corrupted morals of the time periods prestigious upper class by showing their sheer inability to acknowledge hypocrisy. For example, in act one; Algernon states “ Lane's views on marriage seem somewhat lax. Really, if the lower orders don't set us a good example, what on earth is the use of them? They seem, as a class, to have absolutely no sense of moral responsibility.” This is especially amusing as Algernon believes that the lower class have a duty to set an example when in reality the matter of fact was quite the contrary. Algernon states that he believes the lower class are lacking in morals, he being arguably one of the most morally distorted characters Wilde created makes the double standards more prominent.

    Read More

  • Gender and Consistency in "The Importance of Being Earnest"

    1833 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Importance of Being Earnest is regarded as one of the most successful plays written by Oscar Wilde, a great 19th century playwright. Oscar Wilde deals with something unique about his contemporary age in this drama. It addresses Victorian social issues, French theatre, farce, social drama and melodrama. All these factors influenced the structure of the play in a large scale. This play is basically a Victorian satirical drama showcasing the social, political, economic and religious structural changes that affected 18th century England. It was the time when British Empire had captured most part of the world including Oscar Wilde’s homeland, Ireland. The aristocrats of England had become dominant over the middle and poor class people and Wilde wrote plays with the motivation to encourage people to think against the English aristocracy and artificiality.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Death In The Importance Of Being Earnest

    1354 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde plays around with the standard expectations along with the absence of compassion of a Victorian society in the 1890’s, he demonstrates this through several genres of comedy such as Melodrama, Comedy of Manners, Farce, dark humour and Irony, as well as portraying the themes, death and illness, in this play in a brilliance of unusual amount of references.

    Read More

  • Satire in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest

    1998 Words  | 4 Pages

    In conclusion, The Importance of Being Earnest strongly focuses on those of the upper class society and the vanity of the aristocrats who place emphasis on trivial matters concerning marriage. Both Algernon and Jack assume the identity of "Ernest" yet ironically, they both are beginning their marital lives based on deception and lies. Lady Bracknell represents the archetypal aristocrat who forces the concept of a marriage based on wealth or status rather than love. Through farce and exaggeration, Wilde satirically reveals the foolish and trivial matters that the upper class society looks upon as being important. As said earlier, a satirical piece usually has a didactic side to it.

    Read More

  • Social Order Satire in "The Importance of Being Ernest"

    1361 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Ignorance is like a delicate fruit; touch it, and the bloom is gone,” engraves Oscar Wilde as he sets the literary table with a bountiful demonstration of Victorian satire. “The Importance of Being Earnest” is evidently a comic critic of late Victorian value (Schmidt 5). Brought into this world from Dublin, Ireland, to well-heeled parents in 1854. Wilde received an opportunity for social improvement when graduating from Oxford University, after receiving a financial scholarship that gave him a first hand account of the upper crust society lifestyle which allowed him to acquire material to poke fun at (Moss 179). Wilde shows his characters as if they knew that people where watching them. By doing that he caused the audience to feel that the actors had authentic regret about their characters actions (Foster 19).

    Read More

  • The Double Life in The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

    1331 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Importance of Being Earnest appears to be a conventional 19th century farce. False identities, prohibited engagements, domineering mothers, lost children are typical of almost every farce. However, this is only on the surface in Wilde's play. His parody works at two levels- on the one hand he ridicules the manners of the high society and on the other he satirises the human condition in general. The characters in The Importance of Being Earnest assume false identities in order to achieve their goals but do not interfere with the others' lives. The double life led by Algernon, Jack, and Cecily (through her diary) is simply another means by which they liberate themselves from the repressive norms of society. They have the freedom to create themselves and use their double identities to give themselves the opportunity to show opposite sides of their characters. They mock every custom of the society and challenge its values. This creates not only the comic effect of the play but also makes the audience think of the serious things of life.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Being Earnest Analysis

    1184 Words  | 3 Pages

    Oscar Wilde’s treatment of high society and manners is explored in the play “The Importance of Being Earnest”. Here, members of the upper class display a great deal of pride and pretense, feeling that they are inherently entitled to their wealth and higher social position. An example is Lady Bracknell, who is preoccupied with maintaining the status quo, and quickly squashes any signs of rebellion. Characters from higher societies/classes are mainly concerned about their reputation and respectability. Thus, expectations of the upper class for both men and women include being upstanding, rich and coming from a wealthy family.

    Read More

  • Comparing Being Earnest And A Doll's House

    630 Words  | 2 Pages

    This aspect gives the reader a new view on the possibilities that Nora’s future may hold and just how important her decision to leave really was. Oscar Wilde’s work in The Importance of Being Earnest also reiterates the idea of social classes through satire. Throughout the novel, there is a clear difference portrayed between social and economic classes set during the Victorian era. One obvious case is the dialogue between Gwendolen and Cecily. Gwendolen ventures to disgrace Cecily for her upbringing in the country rather than living in the city.

    Read More

  • Oscar Wilde: Typifying the Victorian Era

    1223 Words  | 3 Pages

    Oscar Wilde was born in October 16, 1854, in the mid era of the Victorian period—which was when Queen Victoria ruled. Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 to 1901.While she ruined Britain, the nation rise than never before, and no one thought that she was capable of doing that. “The Victorian era was both good and bad due to the rise and fall of the empires and many pointless wars were fought. During that time, culture and technology improved greatly” (Anne Shepherd, “Overview of the Victorian Era”). During this time period of English, England was facing countless major changes, in the way people lived and thought during this era. Today, Victorian society is mostly known as practicing strict religious or moral behavior, authoritarian, preoccupied with the way they look and being respectable. They were extremely harsh in discipline and order at all times. Determination became a usual Victorian quality, and was part of Victorian lifestyle such as religion, literature and human behavior. However, Victorian has its perks, for example they were biased, contradictory, pretense, they cared a lot of about what economic or social rank a person is, and people were not allowed to express their sexuality. Oscar Wilde was seen as an icon of the Victorian age. In his plays and writings, he uses wit, intelligence and humor. Because of his sexuality he suffered substantially the humiliation and embarrassment of imprisonment. He was married and had an affair with a man, which back then was an act of vulgarity and grossness. But, that was not what Oscar Wilde was only known for; he is remembered for criticizing the social life of the Victorian era, his wit and his amazing skills of writing. Oscar Wilde poem “The Ballad of Reading Gaol” typifies the Vi...

    Read More

  • Bunburying In The Importance Of Being Earnest

    476 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the play, Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde ridicules and identifies the negative aspects of Victorian society through comedic dialogue. He uses characters with ridiculous personalities to demonstrate his idea of Victorian life. By making absurd scenes with foolish characters, it is his way of mocking the Victorian lifestyle passive aggressively.

    Read More

  • Satire In Oscar Wilde's The Importance Of Being Earnest

    881 Words  | 2 Pages

    The wit of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest stems from his place in society and his views of it. He mocks the Victorian aristocracy through his statements and satirising of marriage dependent on social class and wealth, the careful implantation of comedic techniques which add to the effect of the message Wilde aims for the society to take into consideration and the ignorance portrayed by the Victorian society. These socially acceptable mockeries allow the audience to laugh at the satirical social statements while learning a didactic lesson about the current society issues. Through Wilde’s satirical wit, he completes the educational tales he was aiming for, emphasising to readers the insaneness that society can be and its rules.

    Read More

  • Lady Bracknell Character Analysis

    1092 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Importance of Being Earnest is a play written by Oscar Wilde during the Victorian era. It is a farcical comedy in which the main characters live and maintain a fictional persona to escape their responsibilities. To which Oscar Wilde uses secondary characters within the play such as Lady Bracknell to humorously make her the tool of the conflict and much of the satire. She is the first and foremost a symbol of Victorian earnests and the unhappiness it brings as a result. Lady Bracknell was specially designed to represent Wilde’s opinion of the upper Victorian class repressiveness and traditional negativity. Hence minor characters such as Lady Bracknell play essential roles as they help both the plot and support the themes with assistance

    Read More

More about Importance Of Being Ernest: Conformity And Resistance In Victorian Society

Open Document