‘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.