The Importance of Being Earnest: The Theme of Class

The Victorian society in which Wilde lived was concerned with wealth, family status, and moral character, especially when it came to marriage. Lady Bracknell’s interrogation of Jack’s proposal to marry Gwendolen demonstrates the three “Cs”— cash, class, and character. First, she asks him about his finances and then his family relations, a measure of his class. That Jack has no family relations reflects poorly on his character. In the Victorian world, one’s name was the measure of one’s social capital, so the fact that Jack doesn’t have any family is an insurmountable obstacle to his marrying Gwendolen. According to Lady Bracknell’s marriage standards, Jack has the cash, but he doesn’t have the class, so his character comes into question.

     Lady Bracknell’s scrutiny of Jack’s socioeconomic status is reflective of the Victorian world in which she was created. Her evaluation of cash, class, and character is one that Wilde interrogates throughout The Importance of Being Earnest. In Act I Algernon  comments to Lane that the lower classes should set a “good example” of “moral responsibility” for the upper classes, otherwise they are of little “use.” Algernon’s statement is odd precisely because he seems more concerned with the morality of his servants than with his own moral compass. Meanwhile, he continues to lead a deceptive and excessive lifestyle, never bothering to question the ethical implications of such a life. By pointing attention to Algernon’s lack of self-examination, Wilde further undermines the Victorians’ criteria for character by suggesting that it is inherently faulty.

             One might think aristocrats would see the errors of their ways and try to be more virtuous in a moral sense. However, they see their attitudes as the virtuous high ground. When miss prism seems to chide the lower classes for producing so many children for chasuble to christen, she appears to see it as a question of thrift. "I have often spoken to the poorer classes on the subject. But they don't seem to know what thrift is."

             Every page, every line of dialogue, every character, each symbol in The Importance of Being Earnest is bent on supporting wilde's contention that social change happens as a matter of thoughtfulness. If the eccentric or unusual is to be replaced with correct behavior and thought, human sympathy and compassion suffer. If strict moral values leave no room for question, a society loses much of what is known as humanity.