Gender Roles In Oscar Wilde's The Importance Of Being Earnest

Essentially, marriage in the 1700’s was seen merely as a means of birthing heirs and finding a way to financially support yourself, so it resulted in both men and women being devalued. It is universally known that women were often treated as inept and helpless rather than sophisticated people with autonomy and capabilities. In fact, during this time, “married women were consistently compared with minor children and the insane-- both categories of people considered incapable of caring for themselves. To marry a woman was, in one sense, to ‘adopt’ her-- or at least to adopt responsibility for all the circumstances of life with which she entered the marriage” (Teachman 39). Furthermore, when women got married, they would legally cease to exist.

It is time to discuss the meaning of gender, its significance, its importance, and how this could play a major part in one’s life. What is gender you might ask? Could it determine the role you play if you may play a role at all? Gender is socially learned and reinforced characteristics that include one’s biological sex and psychological characteristics. It is said that gender has nothing to do with male or female.

From the conversations between Jack and Gwendolen, Algernon and Cecily, it is also notable that both of the girls were not really caring about “whether the man actually possesses the qualities that comprise earnestness” (SparkNotes Editors), what they admired was merely their name. This demonstrates again the Victorian upper class’s shallowness. Besides, it is quite preposterous to be engaged to someone only because of his or her name. This kind of engagement could hardly be serious and sincere. Moreover, it is ironic that none of the men were called Ernest.

For the male gender to stop women from dominating society, women had to continue to suffer. In the Victorian Era, a woman was the purest form of a human or a wife owned by her husband and was responsible for the education and care of the children and the whole household. A woman had to ensure that everyone around her was happy even though she was not. If the woman fell somewhere in between, then she was a dirty, impure whore who did not add any value to the Victorian society. Men dominated during the

The lower classes were obliged to work hard in the factories and farms and make do with very low wages. It often resulted in friction between the classes bordering on social strife although it never erupted in a revolution the way it did in France. The injustice of the English society encouraged novelists such as Oscar Wilde to describe in moving terms the many hardships suffered by the common people and the many failures and follies of English life. Oscar Wilde’s great plays, The Importance of Being Earnest, incorporates some classical

The role of emotions in developing relations between characters. Most women in the Victorian era lived a subservient life. Married women had similar chemistry with their husbands as unmarried women did with their fathers. All they had to do was to obey without questioning and look after the house. This typical female, with her docile nature, has been accurately portrayed by the author, as the protagonist.

When observing the concept of honour and the male vision of women depicted in the play, the inequality is prevalent.

Everyone has that boisterous relative that always says what they are thinking. In this story, Lady Bracknell is that relative. She is constantly telling people how she feels about certain situations, nevertheless how people should act. Lady Bracknell 's view towards people as well as how they should act greatly adds to both the satirical feel in addition to the meaning overall.

(913). Even though women were discouraged from being involved with the public sphere, Gwendolen’s disapproval for any gender stepping up to the public sphere shows Wilde’s

At that time in history, the status quo and social norm was simple. Patriarchy was the predominant force as men were regarded as superior to women, both in society as well as the relationship scene. Shakespeare attempted to change this perception through his multiple works of literature. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare uses the theme of gender roles to express the idea that the status quo and social norm in the Elizabethan era can be challenged through courtship, father-daughter relationships, and wedlock. The play commences with the courtship of multiple individuals.

Oscar Wilde’s Victorian melodramatic play The Importance of Being Earnest opened on February 14, 1895. Wilde used this play to criticize Victorian society through clever phrasing and satire. Throughout the play The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde displayed the themes of the nature of marriage, the constraints of morality, and the importance of not being earnest. One of the themes that Oscar Wilde includes in the play is the nature of marriage.

Nordau criticised Wilde for being a dandy, and for gallivanting unabashedly in society. “Wilde dresses in queer costumes which recall partly the fashions of the Middle Ages, partly the rococo modes. He pretends to have abandoned the dress of the present time because it offends his sense of the beautiful …” (Nordau 317). Nordau continues to mock Wilde for his aesthetics, drawing a link between his shallow search for beauty and the desire to be recognised and admired.

Jane Austen auspiciously illustrates societies concept of marriage in her novel. England’s early nineteenth century was measured off of class, wealth, and etiquette. The social status of a woman

Women in the Victorian Era were believed to be the “ideal of character”, and they were considered to be “sweet, innocent, fragile, and docile,” ; the complete opposite of a man. Marriage was one of the most significant points of a women’s life. However, the rights of a married woman was similar to the rights of a child; they could not own property, vote, or sue. Women lost the rights to own property they brought into the marriage, even following divorce. The husband had complete legal control over any income earned by his wife, meaning women were not allowed to open banking accounts, and a married woman was not able to arrange a contract without her husband's legal approval.

A pertinent issue which has gained a lot of attention recently in the social media is the way people should behave depending on different factors, for example: culture or gender. Moreover, nowadays there are people who think that taking up other gender roles is overrated because these are usually determined by past generations. Therefore, they argue that in the current world people should behave the way they want without taking into account other people’s opinions. However, this issue was really relevant in England during the nineteenth century where codes of behaviour were strictly followed and taken into account by the society. This essay will examine the representation of gender in one Victorian work, Oscar Wilde’s 1899 melodrama The Importance of Being