Have you ever noticed something that seemed ridiculous or petty but everyone never said anything bad about it? Well, that is exactly how Oscar Wilde felt about the Victorian upper class. In the play “The Importance of Being Earnest”, Oscar Wilde uses the characters to portray how he viewed the Victorian upper class. Wilde satirizes the Victorian upper class by using understatements about serious matters, bringing attention to the comedic behaviors of the characters, and portraying the humourous beliefs of the characters on serious topics. First of all, Wilde satirizes the Victorian upper class by using understatements, characters like Algernon make light of serious matters and take light matters seriously. Algernon claims, “ in married life
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Algernon’s claim of, “relations are simply a tedious pack of people,” shows how he does not take family seriously(25). He does not like his family and does not believe that he should care about them. Another example is how Lady Bracknell approves of Algernon’s engagement to Cecily, but not Jack’s to Gwendolen. She does this because Jack does not have any parents and refuses to find some while Cecily had parents before she became Jack’s ward and she has money. This shows that Lady Bracknell believes that parents can tie in with the wealth someone has, making them good candidates for marriage. Her refusal leads to Jack finding out who his parents are through the revelation of Mrs. Prism’s past and a handbag.Finally, Cecily tells Algernon, who she thinks is Ernest, that they had been engaged for three months after he proposed to her, even though they had never met before. Cecily’s belief that her and Ernest were engaged showed how what Wilde thought of women. He thought that once women fell in love, the already started thinking about marriage, even if they had never meet the person face-to-face before. Oscar Wilde satirizes the Victorian upper class to show how he truly feels. He uses understatements to show how the upper class only really care about the light matters instead of the serious ones. Wilde also uses the beliefs and behaviors of the characters to bring light to how they really act when not in public and are away from the
Algernon’s claim of, “relations are simply a tedious pack of people,” shows how he does not take family seriously(25). He does not like his family and does not believe that he should care about them. Another example is how Lady Bracknell approves of Algernon’s engagement to Cecily, but not Jack’s to Gwendolen. She does this because Jack does not have any parents and refuses to find some while Cecily had parents before she became Jack’s ward and she has money. This shows that Lady Bracknell believes that parents can tie in with the wealth someone has, making them good candidates for marriage. Her refusal leads to Jack finding out who his parents are through the revelation of Mrs. Prism’s past and a handbag.Finally, Cecily tells Algernon, who she thinks is Ernest, that they had been engaged for three months after he proposed to her, even though they had never met before. Cecily’s belief that her and Ernest were engaged showed how what Wilde thought of women. He thought that once women fell in love, the already started thinking about marriage, even if they had never meet the person face-to-face before. Oscar Wilde satirizes the Victorian upper class to show how he truly feels. He uses understatements to show how the upper class only really care about the light matters instead of the serious ones. Wilde also uses the beliefs and behaviors of the characters to bring light to how they really act when not in public and are away from the