The Importance of Being Earnest
English 2325
Day #1
Essential Questions:
•How does money affect a person’s
status in society?
•How does Oscar Wilde use comedy
to comment on the values of his
culture?
•Is social status communicated
through manners and appearance?
How?
I can…
•discuss the play as a critical
commentary on the superficiality
and insincerity of the upper
classes in Victorian England.
•analyze the impact Wilde’s irony
and sarcasm have on the reader.
•support all assertions and
analysis with direct textual
evidence.
Turn in your homework at
this time.
The Victorian Era
•Named for Queen Victoria of
England
•Queen from 1837-1901
•Followed the reign of “Mad” King
George
•The culture was very moral and
serious
•Upper-class women were
expected to be the “angel in the
house”--to take care of their
husbands and families
The Victorian Period
•English society was divided
into classes
•In the upper class, people
with a bad reputation were
outcasts no matter how much
money they had
•Good manners were
extremely important
•To be a member of the
upper-class was to be welleducated and come from a
rich and respected family
(“old money”)
•Considered bad manners to
flaunt wealth
•The lower classes were
generally ignored by the
upper-class
Women in the
Victorian Period
An example of Victorian needlepoint
•Young women were always
chaperoned until they were
married
•Women’s clothes covered them
from neck to ankle; clothes had to
be modest.
•They were encouraged to marry.
•Women from upper-class families
often went into marriage with a
dowry, but they could not own
their own property and almost
never controlled their own
finances.
•Ladies of the upper class were
permitted to enjoy pleasurable
pursuits: needlepoint, painting
china, parties, balls (galas),
horseback riding, croquet.
•They were allowed to go to the
beach, but they would need to
wear very conservative bathing
suits…
1900 House: Corsets, bathing suits, periods, and spring cleaning
Men in the
Victorian Period
•Young men in the upper
classes received an
education, but spent
much of their life in
leisure pursuits.
•First sons would inherit
the family wealth, and
had little to worry about.
•Second and subsequent
sons could choose to go
into the service (army) or
to become clergymen.
•These were respectable
positions, but lower on
the social scale.
Society in the
Victorian Period:
The Season
•The term “Society” as used in Victorian
literature generally refers to the wealthy
upper classes, namely the aristocracy, whose
wealth was inherited, and the top tier of an
expanding middle class, known as the new
gentry.
•They determined popular trends in literature,
music, art, and fashion, and threatened
expulsion from their elite ranks as punishment
for social mistakes.
•The social and artistic events of London
made it the nexus of the British social elite.
•Aristocratic and gentry families spent most of
their time at their country houses, but visited
London for several months each year during
the social Season.
•The Season coincided with the sitting of
Parliament and ran from just after Christmas
to late June.
•The season was an opportunity for the
nobility and gentry to introduce their children
of marriageable age to society.
Oscar Wilde
(1854-1900)
•Born in Ireland; lived in
England and abroad
•Attended Trinity College in
Ireland and Oxford University
in England
•Very witty and funny
•Believed in the value of “art
for art’s sake” - art (literature)
should not be concerned with
political issues
•Wrote several plays, poems,
stories, and essays but only
one novel
•Novel: The Picture of Dorian
Gray
Oscar Wilde
•With other writers and artists,
rebelled against the prim, moral,
religious culture of Victorian
England
•Was known to be wild,
flamboyant, witty
•Although homosexual, married
and had children
•Being homosexual was illegal,
and he served time in prison for
it
•Brilliant writer
•Loved to shock people
•“Bad Boy” of his time - The “Lil
Wayne” of his day
•The play was written in
1895.
•A comedy in three acts
•Satire
•Immediate hit when first
performed.
•Criticizes Victorian moral
and social values.
•Bridges the Victorian and
Modern periods of
literature.
•Uses wit, puns,
exaggeration, and wordplay
to create humor.
Literary Terms
•Adage
•Chiasmus
•Cliché
•Epigram
•Farce
•Free indirect discourse
•Lampoon
•Litotes
•Pedantic
•Satire
•Comedy of manners
The Aesthetic Movement:
Art for Art’s sAke
James McNeill Whistler’s Peacock
Room is on permanent display at the
Smithsonian.
• In the late 19th century, artists and critics
were spreading the gospel of art for the sake
of beauty rather than any social or political
agenda: art for art’s sake. They argued that life
should imitate art rather than nature.
•Oscar Wilde embodied the Aesthetic
movement by making his life his art. Early in
his career, he was known for wearing velvet
breeches and coat, keeping his hair long, and
carrying around a sunflower as an aesthetic
accessory.
•The artists of this movement were inspired by
East Asia and focused above all on beauty.
•The Importance of Being Earnest is built
around the beauty of words, fashion, and
pretense.
The Aesthetic Movement
Quick Write
1. Oscar Wilde became his own
work of art. Consider what you
wore to school today. What do
you think the clothing you
wear says about you? Write a
few sentences describing your
clothing and how it reflects
your personality.
2. Pretend you are an Aesthetic
artist. Your job is to find and
highlight beauty in everything.
What would you wear or do on
a daily basis? Draw a picture or
write a paragraph about how
you would highlight beauty in
your daily life.