Earnest: Critiquing Victorian Society

Both Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest and Caryl Churchill’s Cloud 9, are apt at critiquing victorian society. Yet, the plays are somewhat thematically different. The critiques present in The Importance of Being Earnest focus on the victorian obsession with appearances, whereas those in Cloud 9 have a greater emphasis on colonialism and the repression of gender and sexuality. Both works are highly relevant to the society and time in which they were published. Hence, although both critique victorian society, Churchill also discusses modern society and how attitudes have since shifted. The ridicule of victorian society’s lack of sincerity becomes apparent within the irony, exaggeration, and diction of the plays, especially evident
Irony plays an integral role in the satirization present in both plays, often exhibited through explicit contradictions within the text. In The Importance of Being Earnest, Gwendolyn, upon meeting Cecily, claims that she “like[s her] already” and that her “first impressions of people are never wrong (2.1.549-550). Yet, after a brief misunderstanding regarding their mutual engagement to Ernest, whom they deem to be the same person, they begin adamantly arguing. This is followed by Gwendolyn claiming that from the moment she met Cecily she “distrusted" her (2.1.699). Further emphasizing this ironic contradiction, Gwendolyn again expresses her initial sentiment regarding first impressions, claiming that her “first impressions of people are invariably right (2.1.701). Repeating her initial sentiment in this new context brings attention to her blatant insincerity. This is clearly untrue and the words are lost of meaning. Similar irony is present in Lady Bracknell’s speech. It is clear she does not wish for Algernon to marry Cecily and yet upon hearing that Cecily is wealthy, she begins complementing her. It is here that she expresses how