Earnest Blog #2

This past week in AP Literature we have been reading and analyzing Oscar Wilde’s play, The Importance of Being Earnest. One of the most prominent themes that we were supposed to highlight, was Oscar Wilde making the serious aspects of life trivial and the trivial aspects of life serious. Oscar Wilde especially makes this known within the characters that hold upper class statuses. Wilde makes a clear distinction between the upper lower classes, by showing that the upper classes have the flexibility to act irresponsibly when the lower class takes responsibility for the upper classes immature actions. The classes play a very important role within the play, the social structure present certain barriers that each of the social class have to abide by. Another important theme within the play is also the lack of knowledge and lies, actually lies create this sense of lack of knowledge, and without the truth how can one know anything.

                The most important line in the play is “We live,” “in an age of surfaces.” Lady Bracknell says this line, it is ironic that she says this because her motives are driven precisely on material and “surfaces.” Lady Bracknell is the power center throughout the whole play, she is filled with masculine qualities that over power many of the men within the play. She sets an example for the other women in the play, such as Gwendolyn, Gwendolyn is merely the product of her mother’s influence as well as the effects of the upper class society in the city. Whereas Cecily creates her power, she hasn’t been influenced by anyone other than her governess, who she despises; Cecily creates her own influential stature, her creativity and naivety give her power over the lower class within the country society. The men in the play lack power, but they have the influence to dictate what happens in terms  of who gets hurt and how their action affect other people. The difference between men and women within the novel is that the women how knowledge and are well informed and conscious about how their actions affect other people. On the other hand, men in the play don’t know how their actions are going to influence other people, in this the women have much of the power in this topsy-turvy world that Wilde is trying to hold up to the Victorian society.

                The setting within the play also plays a huge role within differentiating the relationship between the characters. The two main setting are the city (aka London) and the Country. Obviously London is suppose to represent the wealthy scene where morality is loosely affected, in London people can get into “scrapes” and repent there scenes. The country represents the truth, everything is revealed in the country, and the impureness of the city is taken seriously at one point in the country, but then it is taken trivally when it is revealed that the country is really where the money is located. After it is revealed the Cecily is the richest out of all the characters she is respected and considered desirable.