Professional Documents
Culture Documents
International Baccalaureate Diploma Program
International Baccalaureate Diploma Program
Diploma Program
Extended Essay
Language B: English
November 2017
1
Abstract
The nineteenth century, and more specifically the Victorian era, is a time in
history which is sometimes forgotten in favor of the more popular proceeding
century. However, through art such as plays like The Importance of Being Earnest,
we can gain insight into life at that time and, perhaps more importantly, how
authors perceived and valued that social structure
This essay is guided by the question: “To what extent do the main characters in
The Importance of Being Earnest satirize the social behavior of the Victorian era?
The second part of this writing, titled “Characters: Social Outlook and Satire in
the Victorian Era” focuses on the analysis of the play in accordance with the
research question. The main object of analysis in this chapter was the different
characters’ behavior, although other literary devices were explored such as how
the play was structured and the way spaces were set.
Index
Introduction ............................................................................................................ 3
Chapter 2: Characters: Social Outlook and Satire in the Victorian Era. .................. 9
Conclusion: .......................................................................................................... 14
3
Introduction
The Victorian era was characterized by a strict set of morals and behaviors
which were restricted by both law and a social sense of propriety morality.
However, it also saw the advent of many aspects which would shape modern
society, such as the second industrial revolution. It is in this context that the author
and playwright Oscar Wilde lived. Not only did he criticize said society with words:
his life was a symbol of rebellion towards that system.
Additionally, he also had a special vision of what art should be: it should revolve
around being beautiful; this is called the aestheticism movement. The author was
so devoted to this movement, he wrote essays and gave lectures promoting it, and
as such this may create conflict when trying to establish a critique or to identify the
moral significance of one of his writings.
Taking this into account, the following question arises: To what extent do the
main characters in The Importance of Being Earnest satirize the social behavior of
the Victorian era? To answer this, two specific objectives need to be fulfilled, the
first being to create a theoretical framework containing information about the
author, his time and criticisms regarding his play so as to have a better
understanding of the work; the second being to analyze the way in which the main
characters’ language and behavior satirize the Victorian era. These chapters aim at
answering the way in which the moral significance and criticism of the play are
shown, despite the importance of aestheticism for the author.
someone that died more than a hundred years ago from a very different
perspective, as a whole person instead of the preconceived notion I had of a
Victorian; this brought me closer to the author, and thus, sparked my interest in his
work, particularly this play.
5
Oscar Wilde was born in Ireland in 1854. He was a strong promoter of the
aestheticism movement or art for art’s sake, as it is also known. Wilde wrote
essays, and gave speeches where he expressed maxims such as “Love art for its
own sake, and then all things that you need will be added to you” (Wilde, 1913,
p.143) or “All things are either beautiful or ugly” (ibid., p.175). At first glance, these
may seem like polarizing absolutes, however, these phrases and, as a
consequence, Oscar Wilde himself, don’t define their core concept of beauty, nor
what it takes for something to be beautiful. Therefore this doesn’t mean that art
should be hollow or devoid of meaning to be aligned with the principles of
aestheticism. Accordingly, regarding aestheticism, Angeles (1992), the author of
the Harper Collins Dictionary of Philosophy, says “morality should be the servant of
art” (p. 4). This helps to cement the thesis that morality, criticism and beauty are
not mutually exclusive terms in an aesthetic play, although there should be a
prevalence of the latter.
6
It’s reasonable to assume Wilde put moral significance to this play, taking into
consideration the words of Jordan (1970), lecturer at the University of Queensland,
with respect to the play in question, “The Importance of Being Earnest, after all, is
a product of the age of the New Woman—the suffrage movement, the rational
clothes movement, women in sport, women at the universities and so on.” (p.103).
These social changes are reflected in Wilde’s phase as the editor of the magazine
Lady’s World, the name of which he changed to Woman’s World to make it look
more professional. However, the contents of the magazine are what show Wilde’s
thought, as the Master in English Language and Literature, Lokšová (2014) says,
“focused mainly on the women’s suffrage, education and employment, and other
issues concerning the position of women in the society.” (p.13). This exemplifies
Wilde’s commitment to social change, and how he used his means to bring this
about. Considering he was also an artist, it is fair to assume he would use art to
present his views about society, more so having established that aestheticism does
not negate the possibility of moral significance.
Additionally, society was shaped by the changes produced due to the second
industrial revolution in one of the nations where changes were the most
pronounced: England. While, as its name states, industrialization grew rapidly
because of machines, this also meant many people were left unemployed and
unfair working conditions abounded. The PhD Scholar of the Department of
English, Hazra (2013) mentions, “The exploitation of the poor in this age of
industrialization became a serious concern for the social reformers and some legal
actions were taken to protect the lower class” (p.4). While this may show this
society had a little bit of fraternity, the word “some” implies these actions were not
enough. As Hazra mentions, this exploitation led to a reaction within society: with
part of this reaction taking the shape of socialism, it’s no surprise that Marx’s and
Engel’s Communist Manifesto was published during the Victorian era. Many
condemned the movement while others praised it. Wilde (1915) commented on the
matter that “Socialism, Communism, or whatever one chooses to call it […] will
restore society to its proper condition of a thoroughly healthy organism, and insure
the material well-being of each member of the community” (p.6), thus showing his
7
sympathy with the movement. Although his position on socialism might be further
explored, this fragment bears witness to his commitment to and desire for social
change in yet another aspect.
However, Oscar Wilde not only advocated for social change, he was a
representation of change during his time, more specifically in not chaining himself
to the apparent general rule of heterosexuality of his time. Although according to
Darga (2002), the editor of the Drama series by Cengage Learning, this lead to his
imprisonment on “charges of “gross indecency between male persons”” (p. 322), it
helps to understand the morality of the time and the relationship of the author and
the society he lived in. As such, “Wilde’s severe deconstruction of his gender role
and duty was taken too far by his acts not being kept in the dark” (Wulu, 2013,
p.21). This shows his actions were not really a crime in themselves, but their crime
lay in their being made publicly, for this would hurt the status quo on which society
so strongly depended.
In the same way, the values of Victorian society were reflected in their
appreciation of art. Wilde’s only novel, The Picture of Dorian Grey, shows us a
clear example of this, given that “British reviewers condemned the novel for its
immorality, vulgarity and its unclean and poisonous content, even after the deletion
of 'objectionable' texts.” (Lokšová, 2014, p. 53). This shows Victorian commitment
to its values, and once again to appearances, given the novel made a clear
transgression of accepted morality and on another level, how reluctant Victorians
were to change in whatever aspect could be presented.
of the lightest possible texture, and never was intended to be subjected to the
sayings, and with some well-directed thrusts at social foibles and hypocrisies,
but, as a rule, the satire is not very keen or very powerful […] The general
8
representation was brisk and pleasing, and the audience retired in great good
The author thus confirms the initial statement about the play’s shallowness;
even though the author recognizes there are some elements of criticism,
subordinating moral significance, portraying a more aesthetic outlook. However,
there’s an important detail: the positive mood of the audience, for, paraphrasing
Reinert (1956, p.17) quoting Bentley, (1946) the ridiculous action prevents the play
from being bitter criticism, as such making criticisms easier to accept for the
audience, thus becoming more effective in evoking change although this may fail
and end up being disregarded as just a funny play.
More recently, the purpose of the play has been revised and given more power
in terms of criticism and meaning, for instance, “If at one level the play is a social
satire and at another it is a farce, at the most important level it seems to be a
fantasy in which unattainable human ideals are allowed to realize themselves.”
(Jordan, 1970, p. 104). In this case, Jordan delves further in the play and does the
opposite to critics of the time when the play was published, seeing it as
transcending satire and giving it a bigger meaning.
In the next chapter, a similar approach will be taken, addressing the play’s
critique of the Victorian system through the behavior of its main characters in
contrast to regarding the play simply as a plain comedy.
9
The paratext of the play alludes to part of its underlying social critique: Victorian
society’s obsession with seriousness, i.e. earnestness. In fact, it goes even further
and states who the messages and criticisms are aimed at: the serious people, or to
put in a different way, the upper classes. However, not only are the high or upper
classes the target audience of the play, they’re also the ones that are represented
in it.
In the same vein, the idea of Algernon being from the aristocracy is cemented in
the following dialogue: “Why is it that at a bachelor’s establishment the servants
invariably drink the champagne? I ask merely for information.” (ibid, p. 5). Although
this statement may seem innocuous on Algernon’s part, it really is making a clear
distinction between him and Lane, pointing out the differences and reminding Lane
that whereas he (Lane) has to steal champagne to taste it, Algernon may as well
waste it carelessly given how little he need worry about money. In this way, the
10
A few lines later, almost at the end of the first act, there’s a final criticism of
Victorian society in the following conversation, where Jack says, “Oh, that’s
nonsense, Algy. You never talk anything but nonsense.” (ibid., p. 36). First, this
shows the final appearance of a common phrase Jack has been using in this act
(“That’s nonsense”), which serves the purpose of showing Algernon’s nonsensical
behavior is constant, as has been presented in this act. Further, it shows the way
this character is perceived by others, and to a certain extent, how the audience
should feel towards him: as almost a madman, coincidentally after it has been
shown that he’s no longer part of the high classes.
However, Algernon replies, “Nobody ever does” (ibid.). In this way, Algernon
almost adopts the figure of the madman who actually is the most sane, given that
they’re criticizing him for the irrationality of his actions, but by Algernon’s statement
he reflects that both parties are equally irrational, thus, bringing down possible
Victorian, or more particularly, higher classes’ feelings of superiority towards other
people’s ways of living.
11
It’s no coincidence these two actions take place at the end of the first act:
through this, the author is taking advantage of a technical aspect of the structure of
the play, this being the waiting time between acts, to make the audience reflect
about what has been presented to them before any new criticism is presented.
Similarly, Jack incidentally helps to build a false image around himself in order
to maintain his status as an earnest or formal Victorian as was expected of him at
the time. For example, the following can be read in a conversation with Algernon, “I
don’t know whether you will be able to understand my real motives. You are hardly
serious enough.” (ibid., p. 13). This quote, more than describing Algernon, shows
the way Jack perceives himself and the way he wants the world, and more
importantly, the target audience to see him: as a fellow earnest Victorian, as an
ally. By making that judgment on Algernon, he transforms himself into a potential
figure of order within the play.
Nevertheless, he quickly dismisses that idea by saying, “a high moral tone can
hardly be said to conduce very much to either one’s health or one’s happiness”
(ibid.). Saying this at the beginning of the play lets the audience know what will
happen next is fake.
12
Further on in the play, the initial impression that Jack conveys to the audience
succeeds through the way other characters talk about him, for example Gwendolen
says, “he is so serious that I think he cannot be quite well” (ibid., p.37), while Miss
Prism says, “I know no one who has a higher sense of duty and responsibility.”
(ibid., p. 38). If it were not for the initial statement made by Jack, the audience
might well end up believing something like that. It can be surmised that other
serious characters such as Lady Bracknell or Miss Prism might be pretending as
well, but given that they don’t admit it, neither the audience nor other characters
have any way of discovering this. Subtly, the author leads us to think all the
characters and the Victorians they represent might be pretending. By doing this,
the author instigates the audience to come to terms with their own reality and rebel
against the system by uniting and admitting they don’t like that system which
they’ve lived under because of their commitment to each other, despite their
unhappiness. For these reasons, the era has been said to be “well-known for its
sham seriousness, hypocritical morality and artificial sophistry” (Hazra, 2013, p.3),
having as a common denominator an element of fakeness in that system, given
13
that they don’t like it but they pretend they agree with it and, maybe more
importantly, perpetuate it.
These phony ways penetrate even deeper into other aspects of the characters:
when Jack proposes marriage to Gwendolen and has to own up to the lie that he’s
not really named Ernest, but Jack, he decides to commit to his lie. This is in
accordance with what he said earlier on in the play, “the truth isn’t quite the sort of
thing one tells to a nice, sweet, refined girl.” (ibid., p. 30). In this regard, he’s
making a critique of the current state of affairs regarding the treatment of women. A
feminist reading of this quote might be put into place, especially considering his
previous role as editor of Woman’s World, in which he can be seen to be criticizing
the Victorians unequal treatment of gender. However, and in a bigger picture it
could also be thought to be a reflection of the author’s own marriage and marriages
in general during this time, criticizing their shallowness and dishonesty. Finally, it
also has the function of tracking the progress of Jack’s character, given that this
quote is from the first act.
Conclusion:
Going back to the main question, according to the analysis made it can be
concluded that the main characters in The Importance of Being Earnest satirize the
social behavior of the time to a large extent. In this way, the main issues that are
discussed include sacred institutions such as marriage, established standards such
as the capitalist system and the accumulation of wealth, and the essentially fake
morality and hypocrisy permeating almost every aspect of the lives of Victorians.
The way the play is structured helps to reinforce the critique and satire made by
the characters. For instance, the first act poses a more powerful critique than the
following acts, which helps the audience reflect and internalize what has been said
and done.
Likewise, the main characters that were analyzed represented two points of
view of society. As was shown, Jack represented moderate compliance with
Victorian standards, and Algernon a complete transgression and rejection of those
principles. Thus, by portraying opposite sides, the author may better criticize one
side or the other, and in the bigger picture, society.
However, in the end, the author presents a deeper insight: Jack, and Algernon
are very similar, united in their rejection of the current system, and more than
similar, they are equals. In this way, the author appeals to different statuses in
society to come together and rebel against the artificial system they don’t like but
live under.
Finally, for future analysis, and in contrast with the nature of this writing,
secondary characters, as well as particular kinds of characters, could be explored
and perhaps compared to those of the main characters in order to have a deeper
insight into different social groups and how the author dealt with their roles in the
15
play.
16
References:
Darga, S. (Ed.) (2002). Drama Criticism Vol. 17. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Gale
Group
The Victorian Society. PARIPEX Indian Journal of Research, 2(1). 3-4. doi:
10.15373/22501991
Wilde, O. (2017) The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious
Wilde, O. (1913) Essays and Lectures (4th edition) London: Methuen & Co. Ltd.
Wilde, O. (1915) The Soul of Man Under Socialism. New York: Maisel
17
Wulu, A. (2013) Liberating the Sexed Body: Oscar Wilde Erodes Victorian