Oscar Wilde Constanly Mocks Victorian Society Essay

Act leash offers happy resolution to the problems of individualism and married couple that drive much of the humor in the previous acts. Wilde continues to gibe the companionable customs and attitudes of the aristocratic class. He relentlessly attacks their value, views on marriage and respectability, sexual attitudes, and maintenance for stability in the social structure. Wilde attacks social air with the continuation of speeches by his roughages that are the confrontation of their actions. While Cecily and Gwendolen agree to persist in a dignified silence, Gwendolen actu al unneuroticy states that they will non be the starting time ones to speak to the men.In the precise next by-line she maintains, Mr. Worthing, I feel something very particular to ask you. Wilde seems to be saying that people speak as if they have strong opinions, just their actions do not keep up their lyric. If actions truly do speak louder than words, Wilde has made his point Society, literal ly, speaks volumes, but the words are meaningless. Wilde continues his criticism of clubho holds valuing style over warmness when Gwendolen says, In matters of grave importance, style, not earnestness is the vital thing. lady Bracknell discusses Algernons marriage assets in the same light. She says, Algernon is an extremely, I may almost say an ostentatiously, eligible young man. He has nothing, but he looks everything. What more house one desire?Indeed, in a society where looks are everything and warmness is discounted, Algernon is the perfect husband. What else do aristocrats value? They seem to esteem the appearance of respectability. respectability means children are born within the context of marriage. Wilde once over again mocks the hypocrisy of the aristocrats who appear to value monogamy but pretend not to notice affairs. manual laborers speech to Miss Prism, whom he believes to be his mother, is humorous in both its indignant defense of marriage and excessively its mocking of the loudly ttabooed religious tameers virtues of repentance and forgiveness.He says to Miss Prism, Unmarried I do not deny that is a serious blow. Mother, I forgive you. His words are all the more humorous when Miss Prism indignantly denies universe his mother. It was not at all unusual for aristocrats to have children born out of wedlock, but society turned its head, pretended not to k direct almost those children, and did not condemn their bewilders. The gulf between the upper class and its servants is explored in the scenes with Merriman and Prism. When chick Bracknell unexpectedly shows up at rapscallions, Merriman coughs discretely to warn the couples of her arrival. One female genital organ only imagine his humorous thoughts as he watches the wealthy walk around each other and argue about what should be important.When Lady Bracknell hears the commentary of Prism and recognizes her as their former nanny, she calls for Miss Prism by shouting Prism without us ing a title in face up of her stir. Imperiously, Lady Bracknell divides the servant from the lady of the manor. Wildes audience would recognize this conduct on the part of the servants and the upper class. The stuffy class distinctions defined the society in which they lived. In an age of social registers, Lady Bracknell laments that fifty-fifty the hook Guides have errors. In the next breath, she discusses bribing Gwendolens maid to find out what is happening in her daughters lifetime.In Act common chord she also reveals that her aristocratic brothers family entrusted their most precious monomania Jack to a woman who is more interested in her pocketbook and manuscript than in what happens to the baby in her charge. Wilde seems to be questioning the values of a society that believes in social registers, hires other people to neglectfully watch its children, and uses bribery to keep track of the children who are not missing. The finish of Bunbury gives Wilde the opportuni ty to speak of aristocratic fears and have some continued shimmer with the upper classs lack of compassion about death.The 1885 battle of Trafalgar Square riots brought on ruling-class fears of insurrection, anarchism and socialism. Wilde humorously touches on these fears when he allows Algernon to explain the gush of Bunbury. Lady Bracknell, fearing the worst, exclaims, Was he the victim of a revolutionary outrage? I was not aware that Mr. Bunbury was interested in social legislation. If so, he is tumefy punished for his morbidity. Evidently, to Lady Bracknells acquaintances, laws that protect the welfare of those less flushed are strictly morbid subjects. In fact, this attitude seems to contradict the u concern for reform.However, in reality, Wilde is confirming the upper-class definition of social reform conforming to the status quo. In Act III Wilde annoys a mark on the value of being homosexual with a veiled origin to Lady Lancing. When Lady Bracknell asserts that Cecil y needs to have a more sophisticate hairstyle, she recommends a thoroughly commenced French maid who can make a great deal of change in a very short time. She explains that such a change happened to an acquaintance of hers, Lady Lancing, and that later onwards three months her own husband did not k straightway her.Jack uses the opportunity to make a pun on the word know, using it in an aside a comment only the audience can hear. Jack interprets know to mean they no longer had sex, insinuating Lady Lancings preference for the French maid. He says, And after six months nobody knew her, indicating that the homosexual experience made a new woman of her. Although homosexuality would have been seen as immoral to Wildes audience, Jack indicates that being homosexual might be a good thing almost as a social commentary directly to the audience. It seems a double life is necessary after one is married, whether it be bunburying or the homosexual life Wilde was experiencing in an more and more public way.Wilde continues his assault on family life in Act III by mentioning its strange qualities in several conversations. It appears rather strange, for example, that Lady Bracknell cannot even recall the Christian name of her brother-in-law, Algys father. Algernons father died out front Algernon was one, so stranger yet is Algernons comment, We were never even on speaking terms. He gives that as the reason he cannot re ingredient his fathers name. Further assaulting family life, Wilde has Lady Bracknell describe Lord Moncrieff as flaky but excuses his behavior because it was the result of the Indian climate, and marriage, and indigestions, and other things of that kind. Marriage is lumped unitedly with things such as indigestion.In explaining Lord Moncrieffs marriage, Lady Bracknell says that he was essentially a man of peace, except in his domestic life. Her description invites suspicion that the local constabulary might have visited because of domestic disturban ces. Family life and domestic bliss do not get high label in Wildes estimation. When Miss Prism humorously resolves the problem of Jacks lineage, Wilde takes his hero of unknown origins and paints him as the aristocrat who will now be assimilated into his rightful place in the social structure.Through the poor melodrama of Jacks handbag parentage, Wilde exaggerates the dainty clich of the poor foundling who makes good. As soon as Jack is known to be a member of the established aristocracy, a Moncrieff in fact, he is seen as an appropriate soul for Gwendolen to marry. They will, according to Wilde, live happily ever after in addicted bliss and continue the aristocratic blindness to anything that truly matters. The tag line of the play, spoken by Jack, is a familiar convention in Victorian farces. In discovering that he has been telling the truth all along his name is Ernest, and he has a brother Jack makes fun of the Victorian virtues of sincerity and honesty and asks Gwendole n to forgive him for speaking nothing but the truth.He now realizes the importance of being the person he is supposed to be. Wilde is saying maybe that a new kind of earnestness exists, one that is different from the virtues extolled by the Victorians. Maybe it is possible to be honest and understand what should be interpreted seriously in life rather than being deceptive, hypocritical, and superficial. Some readers believe, however, that the finishing shows Jack mockingly redefining Victorian earnestness as just the opposite a life of lies, pleasure and beauty. Critics debate the interpretation of the last line. A curious stage direction occurs in Act III, revealing the concern Wilde had for the staging of his play to compliment his ideas.As his couples come together and consort apart, he emphasizes the choreography of the pairs. He has them speak in unison, both the women together and the men together. It matters not who they are they are interchangeable. Marriage is simply an trigger that is a gesture, like a christening. The unison speaking is very stylistic, not meant to be realistic at all. It reveals Wildes attitude that what is important in Victorian marriage names really should not be as important as other considerations.In the end, Wilde leaves his audience thinking about the trivial social conventions they deem important. Their Victorian virtues perhaps need redefining. Institutions such as marriage, religion, family values and money should perhaps have new interpretations. The character of people, rather than their names and family fortunes, should weigh most heavily when considering their worth. Wilde was able to use humor to skewer these attitudes and convince his audience about the importance of being earnest.