Question: Evaluate “The Importance of Being Earnest” as a social satire.
Introduction
If strict moral values leave no room for question, a society loses much of what is known as humanity. “The Importance of Being Earnest” is an iconic play of the Irish playwright and poet Oscar Wilde (1854 – 1900). Structurally the play is a romantic comedy. But the play satirizes social conventions about class, relationships, acceptable behavior, and art. The jokes satirize the social conventions of free choice.
The Importance of Being Earnest as a social satire
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Visibility and showy correctness
The aristocratic Victorians valued duty and respectability above all else. A determined and serious desire to do the correct thing was at the top of the code of conduct. Appearance or visibility was everything and style was a much more important substance. For this reason, Wilde questions whether the more important or serious issues of the day are overlooked in favor of trivial concerns about appearance. Gwendolen is the paragon of this value. The tea ceremony in Act Two is a hilarious example of Wilde’s contention that manners and appearance are everything.
Self-absorption without compassion
Two areas in which the Victorians showed little sympathy or compassion were illness and death. When Lady Bracknell hears that Bunbury died, she reacts without compassion. like other aristocrats, Lady Bracknell is too busy worrying about her own life. Gwendolen who learns from her mother is totally self-absorbed and definite about what she wants. She tells Cecily:
“I never travel without my diary. One should have something sensational to read in the train.”
So, Wilde sketches a social class that thinks only of itself, showing little compassion or sympathy for fewer fortunate.
Attitude to religion
Another serious subject is the religion that is also a topic of satire. Canon Chasuble is the symbol of religious thought and Wilde uses him to show the little and so-called religious attitude and belief of the Victorians Chasuble can re-christen bury and encourage but his interchangeable sermons are filled with meaningless banality. Even Lady Bracknell mentions that christenings are a waste of time and especially money. Chasuble’s pious exterior betrays a racing pulse for Miss Prism.
“Were I fortunate enough to be Miss Prism’s pupil, I would hang upon her lips.”
Here Wilde’s satire is gentle and humorous to rebuke a society for its self-importance.
Passion, sex, and moral looseness
Various characters in the play allude to passion, sex, and moral looseness. Chasuble and Prism’s flirting and coded conversations are starkly sensual and sexual. Algernon stuffs his face to satisfy his hunger. The diaries are the acceptable venues for passion and Miss Prism’s three-volume novel are all examples of an inner life covered up by suffocating rules. Besides, Wilde’s characters allude to another life beneath the surface of Victorian correctness. Much of the humor in this play draws a fine line between the outer life of appearance and the inner life of rebellion against the social code that says life must lie earnestly.
Stringent class discrimination
The strict Victorian class system perpetuates the gulf among the upper, middle, and lower classes. Snobbish, aristocratic attitudes further preserve the distance between these groups. Jack explains to Lady Bracknell that he has no politics. He considers himself a liberal unionist. Lady Bracknell finds his answer satisfactory because it means that he is a Troy or conservative. The playwright also satirically focuses on education that was not for learning, but it was mindlessly following the convention. Thinking causes discontent and discontent leads to social revolution. Thus, Wilde is unique as a social satirist.
The vanity of the upper class
The vanity of the upper class is the most important satirical topic of the play “The Importance of Being Earnest”. When Miss Prism chides the lower classes for producing so many children for Chasuble to christen, she is the advocate of class discrimination on this subject. To the Victorians, reform means keeping the current social and economic system in place by perpetuating upper-class virtues and economy.
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Conclusion
Now, we can say that in respect of representing the lifestyle of the Victorian People, “The Importance of Being Earnest” is a play that is comparable to the restoration comedies such as “The Way of the World” and “She Stoops to Conquer”.
