The Importance of Being Earnest Criticizes the Victorian Society Essay Example for Free

The Importance of Being Earnest Criticizes the Victorian Society Essay In The Importance of Being Earnest, author Oscar Wilde criticizes the Victorian society. His characters represent the Victorian era and have twisted views on issues regarding intense emotions such as love and marriage. They do not fully appreciate these concepts and either disregard them or confuse them with emotions that lack depth. Wilde depicts his Victorian society as superficial and incapable of love that is not shallow. In his comedy, both women, Gwendolyn and Cecily, believe to be head over heels in love with a man named Ernest. The reason for their love is simply that the name Ernest is appealing to them. In fact, Cecily has achieved her lifetime goal. She states, â€Å"†¦It had always been a girlish dream of mine to love someone whose name was Ernest† (Wilde 159). Loving a caring or intelligent man was not a priority. The basis of her love was a name. Wilde illustrates the ridiculous nature of his Victorian characters and their ludicrous perceptions of love. Wilde’s characters do not seem to connect intimate emotions with the word â€Å"love. Though Cecily had never met Ernest, she developed a relationship between them entirely in her head. Upon meeting him for the first time, she begins to talk about the letters she received from him. When he tells her he has never written to her, since they have never met, she says, â€Å"†¦ I was forced to write letters for you I wrote always three times a week and sometimes oftener† (158) Cecily and Ernest are supposedly in love but the only thing they share are the letters Cecily wrote to herself in Ernest’s name. There is no real affection between them and the only thing holding their â€Å"relationship† together is her attraction to his name. In Wilde’s comedy, the concept of marriage is not seen as something to cherish but rather as inconvenient and bothersome. In an exchange between Algernon and his servant, Lane, Lane mentions that married couples often have an inferior quality of wine compared to bachelors. Algernon answers, â€Å"Is marriage so demoralizing as that? † (116). To Algernon, marriage is not at all important if it means sacrificing the quality of wine. Wilde is criticizing the priorities of the Victorian era as being irrational and impractical. Rather than being in a loving, satisfying marriage, the Victorian bachelor prefers to sip fancy wine. When Jack tells Algernon about his plans to propose to Gwendolyn, Algernon states that proposing is not romantic whatsoever and that nothing is romantic about a â€Å"definite proposal† (118). He even says, â€Å"Divorces are made in heaven† (118). Algernon’s contempt for marriage is obvious and feels that divorce is an excellent solution to the terribleness of marriage much like most of society today. Wilde depicts the Victorian society as superficial and hypocritical. His observations relate to modern society. People in this age look for certain qualities in their ideal partner, most of which are based on image. Instead of learning to love, one pushes aside his potential love of his life if they do not meet these shallow qualifications. The public is taught to toss aside anyone with any minor imperfection instead of seeing any amazing characteristics they may have. Celebrities are seen with their gorgeous partners and the public uses them as models of a perfect relationship. This is done without fully realizing that most of these â€Å"power couples† were matched up by publicists and do not share tender emotions for one another. Society is not taught how to love. This explains the 50 percent divorce rate. To Modern society, like Wilde’s Victorian society, divorce is holy.