‘Appearances are seen as very important in the act. How and why does Wilde explore the hypocrisy of English society through this theme’?

The Importance of being earnest was written in 1835 during the Victorian period, it's a trivial comedy for serious people. Throughout the novel you discover the play's major themes, the hypocrisy of English society and why appearances are important within the novel.

 Wilde explorers many themes in the novel, one of them being marriage. In the Victorian period marriage was looked upon as an important asset in a woman’s life because it was about maintaining or bettering your social position. The big question that the importance of being Earnest raises is whether marriage is pleasurable or a restrictive social duty? .In the Victorian period if you were to get married you'd submit to an interrogation, in act 1 you see Lady Bracknell interrogating Jack Worthing to see if he is suitable for her daughter Gwendolen, however you can understand that Lady Bracknell has had a lot of experience with Bachelors available for her daughter. Lady Bracknell degrades people that are good enough for Gwendolen because she knows no one is good enough for her daughter so she tries to pick out the flaws from that person. From Lady Bracknell’s perspective having an acceptable title, along with the parents to prove it is essential in her opinion, because she’s got high class title she needs to find the perfect husband for Gwendolen.

 Another theme that is looked at is Society and Class. The Importance of Being Earnest reveals that there are differences between upper class and lower class, members of upper class resemble a great deal of pride and pretense. Especially when it comes to their high social position and their wealth, the lower class in Earnest are less pretentious and more humble, but equally good at making jokes.

 Furthermore another theme that is important in the novel is respect and reputation. In the play upper class is about being respectable so much so they do a lot of lying. In the Victorian period the upper class had different expectations for both men and women, men were looked upon as to have come from a good family, that they were rich and upstanding. However women were convinced to be rich, have high morals and to have come from a wealthy family with a good background to be proud of. All the characters in the play strives to be respectable and they all mock the idea that one can be both respectable and happy.

 In the Victorian society hypocrisy was like a mask because most people comported themselves in overly sincere, in polite ways but cruel attitudes. Wilde portrays the divide in some scenes in the novel, especially between Gwendolen and Cecily there mannerism towards their servants or governesses. The constant changing between truth and lies of earnestness and duplicity shows how messed up Victorian values of honesty and responsibilities are.

‘How are the characters, attitudes and prejudices of Cecily Cardew, Miss prism and Dr. Chausable are established during the opening of Act 2’

In the second act of ‘The importance of being Earnest’ were introduced to three characters; Cecily Cardew, Miss Prism and Dr Chausable. Cecily Cardew is represented as a young and light-hearted woman, she comes across as a person that doesn’t like studying or German especially dialogue. She states ‘But I don’t like German. It isn’t at all becoming a language. I know perfectly well that I look quite plain after my German lesson’. Oscar Wilde reveals Cecily as the dominant speaker in the beginning of act 2 during the conversation with Miss Prism (her governess). Miss Prism is very careful on what she says to Cecily Cardew because of their statues Cecily undermines and ignores Miss Prisms comments and questions. Even though Miss Prism is only a governess, Cecily has the influence to change the subject of conversation.

At the beginning of act 2 Miss Prism says ‘Child, you know how anxious your guardian is that you should improve yourself in every way’, her guardian is Jack Worthing and he wants her to succeed in life but never give up. He’s very determined that she should be studying. With Cecily’s reply ‘Dear Uncle Jack is so very serious! Sometimes he is so serious that I think he cannot be quite well. Wilde is portraying to us that she isn’t serious when it comes to studying; she thinks that her Uncle Jack is exaggerating. Miss Prism belittles her by using the word ‘Child’ because Cecily is being immature, so she’s trying to come across as if you’re not going to be grown up I’ll treat you like a child.

Oscar Wilde is trying to make us an audience pre-judge Cecily Cardew without even knowing her by showing us that she’s being childish and inconsiderate when it comes to her Uncle Jack and her studies. Wilde illustrates Miss Prism as a caring and considerate woman, who thinks high of Cecily Cardew and wants the best for her, the relationship between the both of them are very close. Oscar Wilde portrays Dr Chausable as a clergyman.

                                                                   

An in-depth analysis of Act 1 Scene 1

(Beginning scene of 'The Importance Of Being Earnest', in Algernons flat and the sound of the piano being played in the adjoining room).

At the beginning of the conversation between Algernon and Lane, you can instantly tell within the first two lines that Algernon has a higher status compared to Lane. You know this by Lane saying "I dont think it polite to listen,sir", it comes across that Lane is Algernons butler because he is referring him to as "Sir also he intends to always agree with Algernon he never disagrees or state his opinion.