The upper and lower class represent the rupture in the Victorian era. Many aspects from these two opposite classes have big representations which shape the Victorian era and demonstrate the issues and situations in that period. This can be seen in the two main characters: Jack and Algernon. If it wasn’t for the society that these characters are living in, they would have never had to live as Ernest. The norms of this era are so idealized that all of the characters would do anything to simply be earnest, which is the satirical and ironical aspect of this play. Some of the smallest things matter to many …show more content…
The acts of Algernon and Jack are the same yet the desires are opposed. Algernon wants to escape from the high society as he creates a false identity to do everything that is not accepted in the Victorian era according to the social norms. However, Jack’s intentions are completely the opposite as he want to be finally accepted into the higher class in order to benefit from their perks. Jack has “invented a very useful younger brother called Ernest, in order [to] be able to come up as often as [he likes]. [Algernon has] invented [an] invaluable permanent invalid called Bunbury, in order [to be] able to go down into the country whenever [he chooses]” (Wilde 779). Therefore, the situation demonstrates the irony due to the opposite desires from both characters: Algernon &