Social Class Conflict In Oscar Wilde's The Importance Of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest, a play by Oscar Wilde, explores the theme of deception and social class conflict, and how detrimental they are to forming new relationships, through the conversation between Cecily and Gwendolyn. In the passage that starts on page 78 and extends to page 80, Gwendolyn and Cecily are formally introduced to one another establishing the plot of The Importance of Being Earnest. Wilde utilizes a compassionate and gentle tone as Gwendolyn and Cecily first meet. Soon after, however, this tone changes to a blunt spitefulness between the two women. Wilde’s contradictory tones illustrates the fabricated nature of both Gwendolyn and Cecily. Each character’s false first impression illustrates the deceptive theme of the
Both women are warm and caring toward one another before meeting as Gwendolyn claims, “What a very sweet name! Something tells me that we are going to be great friends” (Wilde 78). The positive reception of one another, although insincere, is exactly the way Victoria Society expects citizens to act. Despite never meeting the two act as though they are best friends. Cecily, less experienced in putting up an erroneous façade, is surprised at Gwendolyn’s friendliness responding, “How nice of you to like me so much after we have known each other such a comparatively short time” (78). Cecily’s naiveté illustrates her honesty, and represents the lower classes genuine innocence. The two women clearly present a false exterior as their admiration for one another soon turns into animosity. At the conclusion of their conversation Gwendolyn now claims, “From the moment I saw you I distrusted you. I felt that you were false and deceitful” (84). The juxtaposition of these two claims foreshadows the immense deception that takes place throughout the rest of the play. Their original polite conventions are commonplace for their society, and actually required of
A single act of fraud has led to the intricate and convoluted circumstance creating the awkward and uncomfortable situation Ernest, Algernon, Gwendolyn and Cecily share. Wilde is able to prove the harmful effects of fraudulent action by developing the consequences of one deceitful action that spiraled and multiplied into numerous acts of duplicity by all characters involved. The snowball effect of a single action stresses the gravity of being earnest, and the implications that lying causes. The Importance of Being Ernest, performed for the first time in 1895, was originally intended for an audience of aristocrats. Wilde, a fellow aristocrat, uses deception and the responses of each character to represent another major theme throughout the play, the conflict between social classes. The tone of the scene sets the foundation for Wilde to satirize the counterfeit identities of citizens in Victorian society. Wilde depicts the upper class as prideful and arrogant, and the lower class as humble and modest. The conversation between Gwendolyn and Cecily plays into this overarching theme. Gwendolyn claims her superiority stating, “My first impressions of people are never wrong” (78). This claim embodies Gwendolyn’s pride, and the aristocracy’s inherent hubris. Gwendolyn declares this notion to Cecily, a member of a lower social class, in an attempt to prove her