Juxtaposition In The Importance Of Being Earnest

In Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, the differentiation between the town and the country is a great, lurking source of conflict between characters, often in regards to the class-distinction characteristic of Victorian society. Location proves to be a serious contention of Lady Bracknell’s as she considers Jack’s engagement to Gwendolen, assumptions about the city and country exacerbate the rift in Gwendolen and Cecily’s friendship, and the obligations of both places cause the creation of Ernest Worthing and Mr. Bunbury by Jack and Algernon in order to escape from their respective settings. While Wilde’s emphasis on the contrast of the town and the country is subtle, it is integral to the plotline of the play and the thoughts and actions of its characters. This juxtaposition creates tension that leads to the unraveling of Jack and Algernon’s double lives, foreshadowing and surrounding the climatic moments of the play. Lady Bracknell is the embodiment of the Victorian era’s aristocracy, and her preoccupation with maintaining wealth and class plays a large factor in her standards for Gwendolen’s future. When Jack mentions his home in the country, Lady Bracknell is quick to assert that city-life is critical to Gwendolen’s hand, insisting that “[a] girl with a …show more content…
Wilde cleverly uses the deceit that begins with Algernon and Jack’s dislike of the qualities of their respective settings as the basis for the entire storyline of the play. When the story ends all characters are happy not only because of their rekindled and accepted romantic relationships but also (and much less obviously so) because Jack will get his desired life in the town with Gwendolen and Algernon will get to happily remain in the country with