“Jack: [Lady Bracknell] is perfectly unbearable …she is a monster, without being a myth” (Wilde 15). Lady Bracknell is a formidable character in the Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, an absurd play that explores high society’s ridiculous ideals in the early 20th century while simultaneously playing with gender roles. Wilde uses Lady Bracknell to emphasize the societal perception of gender on the Victorian classes and the flawed effect of society and social roles on these perceptions. Gender roles of the time typically display men as socially interactive, and well-known among other families of the same class. However, in The Importance of Being Earnest, things are quite different in Upper Class Society. According to Gwendolen, …show more content…
In saying this, Gwendolen is displaying how in Wilde’s society, men are unknown – quite different from the society of the time. She explains the home to be the place for the man, not the woman. It is also said that when a man neglects domestic duties he is effeminate. Effeminate refers to having feminine qualities – Wilde is literally telling the reader that domestic duties are for the man and not doing them is reserved for the female gender. This contrast of Wilde’s societal views in this play and of the time display Wilde’s differing view of what men and women should be characterized as. Men are not necessarily always going to be …show more content…
In the country, his gender roles are like the ones of 20th century society. Miss Cardew is expected to stay at home and is looked after by her male ward, Jack Worthing. As for marriage proposals, in contrast to Lady Bracknell’s refusal, Jack refuses for his ward. He continues, “…according to the terms of her grandfather’s will Miss Cardew does not come legally of age till she is thirty-five” (Wilde 49). Wilde uses the country’s ideals to accurately depict 20th century society and display the absurdism of these ideals. Waiting thirty-five years to come of age based on male decisions is ridiculous and Wilde displays this by catching the reader off-guard in accurately depicting society. Lady Bracknell, likewise is used to display the contrast when Wilde uses her in the country. Jack and the accurate depiction of men, must ask for her approval of marriage in contrast to his approval for her daughter, “But my dear Lady Bracknell, the matter is entirely in your hands. The moment you consent to my marriage with Gwendolen, I will most gladly allow your nephew to form an alliance with my ward” (Wilde 49). This is Wilde’s solution to society’s problems. He is essentially saying that in placing genders into roles we are stifling the possibilities. Society’s ideals in what gender’s should behave as are causing two parties to not be united. This could refer
Another symbol, though it may not be called to mind as quickly as food, is Lady Bracknell. Throughout the story, especially in Act III, she is the picture of the high-class in all its pride. Her character's purpose in the story is so witty on Wilde's part that it's comical in itself. She believes that for the high-class anything is possible, and a well-respected, dignified marriage is a key to more power, which is ironic because her character isn't power-hungry. Her pride is easily identified when Lady Bracknell asks Jack where his house is located in London by asking, "What number in Belgrave Square?" to which Jack answers, "149." and she replies, "The unfashionable side. I thought there was something. But that could easily be altered." Jack asks, "Do you mean the fashion, or the side?" and she says, "B...
Jack’s persona ‘Earnest’ has been described by Miss Prism as “irretrievably weak and vacillating” (701.35). Not only that, but Jack uses his persona of Earnest to make it seem like Jack adheres to notions of duty, honor and respectability all the while getting into mischief in London as his fake brother Ernest. Jack has shown that he will even lie to his loved ones his persona in order to get away with misbehaving and be seen as upright and moral. Later into the play Jack and his double life collide when the woman he loves starts to love his alter ego Earnest, although Ernest was an escape Jack used for his personal life but when his personal life and his real life collide he has to embrace his deception to get the life that he truly
Nothing has been said at all about marriage. The subject has not even been touched on.” (Wilde, 622) This shows that Jack is ignoring the stages of courting and jumping right into marriage. Wilde is certainly satirically commenting on courting and how there really just has to be mutual attraction.
Wilde does this in order to portray Lady Bracknell with very strong Victorian views that are illogical and humorous to the reader thus satirising the values which are prominent in Victorian standards. Consequently it can be seen that Lady Bracknell is corrupt beyond reason, sacrificing the happiness of her daughter for her Victorian values and ridiculing Jack for his less than exemplary past. Some critics believe Lady Bracknell to be a ‘living parody of upper class values’ which can be
Oscar Wilde’s, “The Importance of Being Earnest”, play carefully uses satire as a didactic tool to mask the underlying social commentary with the help of comedy through characters theme and dialogue. Wilde uses satire to ridicule class and wealth, marriage and the ignorance of the Victorian Age. Audiences are continually amused by Wilde’s use of linguistic and comic devices such as double entendre, puns, paradox and epigrams, especially in the case of social commentary and didactic lessons. Characters portrayed in the play such as Jack, Cecily, Algernon and Lady Bracknell, allow Wilde to express his opinions on the social problems during the Victorian Age.
During the Victorian Era, society had idealized expectations that all members of their culture were supposedly striving to accomplish. These conditions were partially a result of the development of middle class practices during the “industrial revolution… [which moved] men outside the home… [into] the harsh business and industrial world, [while] women were left in the relatively unvarying and sheltered environments of their homes” (Brannon 161). This division of genders created the ‘Doctrine of Two Spheres’ where men were active in the public Sphere of Influence, and women were limited to the domestic private Sphere of Influence. Both genders endured considerable pressure to conform to the idealized status of becoming either a masculine ‘English Gentleman’ or a feminine ‘True Woman’. The characteristics required women to be “passive, dependent, pure, refined, and delicate; [while] men were active, independent, coarse …strong [and intelligent]” (Brannon 162). Many children's novels utilized these gendere...
Two adolescent women who incorrectly consider the men’s names to be Ernest, and who are passionate about the men for this very reason think highly of both Jack and Algernon. In relating the story of mix-ups and mistaken identities, the ideals and manners of the Victorian society are satirized in a comedy where the characters "treat all the trivial things of life seriously and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality"(Wilde, Oscar). Oscar Wilde’s amusing scenes often take their source in societal satire and unconventional (Baselga 15). All the way through his play, The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde satirizes education, women, and morality.
...Lady Bracknell was excited to hear that Cecily has wealth; she almost instantaneously consented to her marriage to Algernon. Wilde uncovers the frivolousness of their proclaimed love by displaying how Lady Bracknell would only consent for
In Oscar Wilde’s drama The Importance of Being Earnest, he uses light-hearted tones and humor to poke fun at British high society while handling the serious theme of truth and the true identity of who is really “Earnest.” Truth as theme is most significantly portrayed through the women characters, Gwendolen and Cecily but to present serious themes comically, Wilde portrays women to be the weaker sex of society, despite the seriousness of the subject—the identity of the men they want to marry.
Lady Bracknell, Gwendolen Fairfax, and Cecily Cardew are all female character’s who challenge gender roles. In the case of Lady Bracknell, she is presented more as a father figure to her daughter, Gwendolen, then a mother. In a scene in Act I, Lady Bracknell takes on the role of the f...
Wilde’s criticism of high society and manners are explored through the characteristics of Lady Bracknell; the dialogue between Gwendolen and Cecily; and the characteristics of Jack in the country. Wilde’s criticism of high society and manners is shown by creating absurd situations and characters whose lack of insight causes them to respond in an inappropriate manner. An example is shown in Lady Bracknell’s preoccupation with her own parties and that the lack of sympathy for invalids makes her react to the news of Bunbury’s illness in an exaggeratedly cold manner. “I think it is high time that Mr Bunbury made up his mind whether he was going to live or die. I should be much obliged if you would ask Mr Bunbury, from me, to be kind enough not to have a relapse on Saturday, for I rely on you to arrange my music for me”.
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 satiric piece usually has a didactic side to it. In this case, Lady Bracknell learns that the same person she was criticising is actually her own flesh and blood.
Wilde purposely used her role to portray how closed minded the society was, with her opinions and mannerism betraying a carefully calculated speaking pattern with witty epigrams and social wordplay to tear other characters apart. As a ruthless social climber and spokesperson for the status quo, she was not always part of the upper class but rather married into aristocracy, as she previously represent the formerly excluded. However, now that she is Lady Bracknell, she has opinions on just about everything and with her behavior enforcing social discrimination and exclusion for the outsiders from her class; she is an invention of Wilde’s to present his satire on these subjects. For example, when Jack proposed to her daughter Gwendolen, this was the moment that Lady Bracknell was able to “flex” her muscles and bend the rules to suit her pleasure as she saw marriage of more of an alliance for property and social security than love or passion. Thus Jack was placed on her list of eligible suitors if only he could pass her series of challenging tests. Yet at the same time Lady Bracknell relentlessly gives Jack “correct” but immoral advice on finding his parents. "I would strongly advise you, Mr. Worthing, to try and acquire
Lady Bracknell represents the typical aristocrat who focuses the idea of marriage on social and economic status. She believes that if the men trying to marry these girls are not of proper background, there is no engagement. Through this major exaggeration, Wilde satirically reveals the irrational and insignificant matters that the upper class society uses to view marriage.
Throughout the early 1800s, British women most often were relegated to a subordinate role in society by their institutionalized obligations, laws, and the more powerfully entrenched males. In that time, a young woman’s role was close to a life of servitude and slavery. Women were often controlled by the men in their lives, whether it was a father, brother or the eventual husband. Marriage during this time was often a gamble; one could either be in it for the right reasons, such as love, or for the wrong reasons, such as advancing social status. In 19th century Britain, laws were enacted to further suppress women and reflected the societal belief that women were supposed to do two things: marry and have children. In Pride and Prejudice, Austen portrayed a women’s struggle within a society that stresses the importance of marriage and strict behavioral customs. As evidenced by the Bennett daughters: Elizabeth and Jane, as well as Charlotte Collins, marriage for young women was a pursuit that dominated their lives.