Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest” is a mockery of the Victorian age. He mocks the Victorian ideals by showing a sarcastic attention on the Victorian age. The idea of earnestness was so much loved by the Victorian society. The society held the virtue of earnestness as sublime. People became lazy in an attempt to live an earnest life.
The trivial lives of the aristocrats who are good natured are exposed by the good-naturedly of Wilde. Most of the characters from the leisure as well as an aesthetic class, for instance, Algernon do nothing apart from eating, gambling, as well as gossiping without consequence. According to Wilde, the characters play down serious issues, for instance, Algernon cares more about cucumber sandwiches to other class conflicts which he ignores them (Wilde 270). Additionally, the author illustrates the philosophy of aestheticism which was espoused by Walter Pater in the late 19th century. The philosophy argues that there is a primary relationship between art and beauty and not with reality. Wilde suggests that art should be useless instead of emulating reality. Art is useful for our appreciation of beauty when it is not serving a social purpose. As a result, the idleness depicted by Algernon is not merely laziness but the product of an individual who is aesthetic useless.
Wilde brought to light the idea of aesthetic movement demonstrating that art was for the sake of creating beauty and not meant for educational purposes or presenting moral ideals. Algernon, as well as Cecily, see life as an art as a result engage themselves in imaginations that enrich their lives. Besides, Cecily fills her diary with false events including a false engagement so that her life would look interesting (272). To conclude, most of the time people cared so much about how things looked (Parker 174).
Works Cited
Parker, David. "Oscar Wilde's Great Farce: The Importance of Being Earnest." Modern Language Quarterly 35.2 (1974): 173-186.
Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge UP, 1999. Print.
