“The Importance of Being Earnest” is a drama written by Oscar Wilde in 1895. From the name of the writing, one may wonder what Earnest means in particular. Earnest is a name of two imaginary persons, created by two aristocrats: Jack and Algernon, in order to have double lives and go away from the social pressure. This essay analyzes such topics as social classes, marriage, and double lives in the drama by Wilde.
To begin with, double life is a central metaphor in this drama, claiming to be an escape from frustrating social norms. In the conversation with Jack, Algernon claims: “Well, one must be serious about something, if one wants to have any amusement in life. I happen to be serious about Bunburying” (Wilde 67). In other words, Bunburying means an invention of a fictional character, which seems for Algernon to be a serious activity. It is true because aristocrats and other representatives of the upper classes had specific obligations to society, and this was a burden to Algernon and Jack.
In this drama, social classes play a significant role because the behaviors of representatives of upper classes and lower ones are different. One may claim that aristocrats, who represent the majority of actors in this play, are full of pride and pretense and are ready to do everything needed to maintain their status quo. For instance, Lady Bracknell was concerned about Jack’s suitability as a husband to Gwendolyn. While having a conversation with Jack, she asked him about the money and heritage he had, and about his parents, or the class he came from. After Lady Bracknell found out that Jack is an orphan, she said: “To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness” (Wilde 26). Then, after this arrogant comment, she started to ask Jack about his father and his origins once again. Therefore, Oscar Wilde demonstrated concerns of aristocrats, who cared only about fortune, and social status, even in issues related to love, marriage, and the creation of a family.
Concerning marriage, representatives of upper and lower classes cannot be considered a couple, and Oscar Wilde emphasized this in his drama. Although the tension between social classes is a crucial topic discussed in this drama, marriage not as a social construct but as an institutionalization of relationships between a couple should also be analyzed. In particular, in this drama, marriage is not seen as a romantic event, occurred because of law but rather a business. For instance, when Jack said to Algernon that he decided to propose Gwendolen, Algernon replied: “I thought you come up for pleasure… I call that business” (Wilde 8). In other words, Algernon sees flirting and making visits to Gwendolen for pleasure romantic, but not the marriage itself, which also shows a satiric feature of this drama.
In conclusion, it should be highlighted that “The Importance of Being Earnest” is a satiric drama written by Oscar Wilde, who decided to show all the arrogance of aristocrats living in the Victorian world. Out of social pressure, representatives of the upper social class, as Jack and Algernon, pretended to be other people to have ordinary lives and not be judged. Those who came from lower classes, in turn, had no opportunity to marry aristocrats, even having sincere feelings.
Work Cited
Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest. 1895. Samuel French Inc., Web.