In the Victorian era: questioning gender roles
In the Victorian era, males were not only the society's protectors and providers, but also its rulers and decision-makers. Women, on the other hand, were homemakers, moms, and wives. It was common for males to own all the property, and wives to rely on and be devoted to their husbands. However, Oscar Wilde questions the morals and values of the Victorian era in his satirical drama "The Importance of Being Earnest." In the most blatant way, Wilde's use of gender role inversion offends these moral principles, as shown by the absurdity of the play's characters. By highlighting gender role reversal in a satirical manner, Wilde uses the play’s characters to ridicule the strictly upheld principles and beliefs of the Victorian age.
Lady Bracknell: challenging gender norms
First and foremost, the Victorian era was segregated between a man – dominant, strong, and commandeering – and a woman – weak, limited, and confined to roles within a house (Kim Yunejee, 3). However, the Lady Bracknell is presented as a domineering figure that rigorously inverts this notion. She exhumes power, confidence, and strong administrative capabilities, both within and outside her home. Throughout the play, she challenges the steps beyond the usual segregation of accepted social norms and stands out among a masculine dominated society (Kim Yunejee, 5). In Act I, she shows power and control over Gwendolen – her daughter – future in a commanding way. She says, “When you do become engaged to someone, I, or your father, should his health permit, will inform you of the fact (Mays, Kelly, 1578).” While she acknowledges her husband's hand in her daughter’s future, she seems to belittle him by pointing at her deteriorating health. Moreover, she places herself as the chief decision-maker, something generally accustomed to men.
The absurdity of Lady Bracknell's masculinity
Secondly, the Victorian society expected women to be sympathetic, motherly, and feminine while men were fearless and courageous (Mitchell, Sally, 75). However, Lady Bracknell’s masculinity is absurdly funny. She is assertive and pompous in every way. While it was expected that a woman was sympathetic, Lady Bracknell shows none at all. When Jack tells her that he had lost all his parents, Lady Bracknell is unmoved and shows no condolence at all; rather, she points out that Jack was rather “careless (Mays, Kelly, 1579).” When talking about Bunbury, Lady Bracknell utters that he should just “make [made] up his mind whether he was going to live or die (Mays, Kelly, 1575).” Unlike the social expectations of sympathy, Wilde’s demonstration of Lady Bracknell showed that women could be the opposite and, while at it, demonstrate masculine capabilities.
Gwendolen: a mix of femininity and assertiveness
Thirdly, it was normal for men to express acts of rebellion while women were more respectful of their parents (Mitchell, Sally, 77). In a gender role reversal stunt, Wilde presents Gwendolen as feminine but assertive and rebellious in nature. She demonstrates femininity when she demands Jack to offer a formal proposal akin to the expectation of the Victorian women. Both Jack and she knew that she would agree to the marriage, but absurdly she shows assertiveness and demands a proposal. However, unlike girls in the era, when her mother orders her to wait in the carriage, Gwendolen disobeys. Girls were expected to obey their mother’s instructions without question. Casting eyes into her future, Gwendolen looks set to model along with her mother, and as Algernon mentions, a woman’s worst flaw is that “she [they] will end up just like their mothers (Mays, Kelly, 1582).”
Challenging domestic expectations
Additionally, a Victorian woman was a house manager who cared more about her chores and pleasing her husband (Kim Yunejee, 4). It was unexpected for a woman to complain about her husband's input in the domestic sphere. Conversely, Gwendolen speaks about her father’s life; she says that he was right to contribute to the home duties. She adds that “once a man begins to neglect his domestic duties, he becomes painfully effeminate (Mays, Kelly, 1584).” While women were not expected to think of a man's contribution at home, an apparent gender reversal sees Gwendolen state that a man becomes effeminate when they neglect these presumably feminine duties. It was atypical to find a Victorian man striving to accomplish the so-called “domestic duties” which Gwendolen thinks effeminate a man, showing her thinking being above that of the typical Victorian woman.
Men as dandies: challenging the gentleman culture
In the Victorian era, there was a close bond between women and less heartily “bromance” between men (Mitchell, Sally, 82). The male was expected to act like gentlemen and share serious discussions over matters. Absurdly, Jack and Algernon were presented as not only ungentlemanly but in a comical manner, weak and unserious. Algernon's concern with clothes and dressing passes as feminine. In one occasion, he criticizes Jack by saying, “Well, I don’t like your clothes. You look perfectly ridiculous in them. Why on earth don’t you go up and change (Mays, Kelly, 1572).” In act two, Algernon tells Cecily that he would not trust Jack to buy him any piece of cloth due to his lack of “taste in neckties.” Wilde satirizes the gentleman culture of the Victorian society by portraying Algernon and Jack as dandies (Kim Yunejee, 18). Instead of having women concerned with fashion and clothing, Wilde's portrayal of men shows a gender role reversal.
Reversal of relationship dynamics
Furthermore, while it was expected of men to take control and dictate relationships (Mitchell, Sally, 75), Jack and Algernon take female roles, and instead, their relationships are controlled by women - Gwendolen and Cecily. Instead of actively pursuing Gwendolen and proposing to her, Jack instead passively waits for a time when he asks whether he can (then) propose to her. In the same manner, Cecily seems to dictate her relationship and love with Algernon; from making him her fiancé to the way they speak to one another. In Act II, at one point both couples meet, Gwendolen calls Jack “darling!” while Algernon calls Cecily “Darling!” (Mays, Kelly, 1601): One is not sure whether it is Algernon that acted feminine or Gwendolen that acted masculine – an incident of gender role reversal.
In conclusion: challenging Victorian views
In conclusion, Wilde sets out to challenge the strict Victorian view of the roles of gender in society. By reversing gender roles, Wilde sought to confound the societal attributed false polarity to the sexes. While the society placed men as the strong characters who made decisions and controlled their spouses, Lady Bracknell refutes this by being the domineering figure in the play. She demonstrates her power and control over the male characters in the play, including her husband. In the same manner, her daughter Gwendolen and her daughter’s friend Cecily dictate the direction of their relationships. While the Victorian view of men acting in a “gentleman” manner was the custom, the male characters – Algernon and Jack – are dandies who talk and complement each other and appear interested in fashion; something expected of women. By comically presenting these characters, with their gender roles reversed, Wilde ridicules the upheld morals and principles of Victorian society, and in a way, shows that women can excel in the roles traditionally afforded to men.
Work Cited
Kim Yunejee. "Why Is Being Earnest Important To Victorian Women?: New Woman And Social Geography Of Victorian Culture In Oscar Wilde’S The Importance Of Being Earnest." Studies in English Language & Literature, vol 40, no. 1, 2014, pp. 1-24. The Association of English Language and Literature in Korea, doi:10.21559/aellk.2014.40.1.001.
Mays, Kelly J. The Norton Introduction to Literature. 12th ed., New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 2013.
Mitchell, Sally. Daily Life in Victorian England. Westport, Conn., Greenwood Press, 2009.
