Marriage, during this time period, was arranged by the authorities of the household and chosen to push someone higher up on the social ladder. Oscar Wilde, like many upper class society, did not marry for love but instead married a girl with a small fortune that aided him in his own financial issues despite his homosexual tendencies. Jack wishes to marry for love; however, Lady Blacknell refuses him on behalf of Gwendolen and explains that he is “not down on my list for eligible men” (Wilde 308) showing the high expectation people held and how your feelings were disregarded if you were not considered up to standard to maintain or improve the others social status. Not only did someone not have a choice in who they were to be married to, but it was not even thought of as enjoyable in most occasions. Marriage being thought of as a professional interaction is shown when Jack visits Algernon in hopes of proposing to
A good example of this would be Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest. Oscar Wilde was able to accomplish a brilliantly comical play, while developing the plot and characters, by portraying humor through comedic elements. The Importance of Being Earnest is a social satire, using irony and paradoxes to insinuate the problems and faults found in Victorian society. During the Victorian era, there was much emphasis on social class, marriage and courting, gender class, religion and many other societal issues. Wilde uses satire to ridicule marriage, love and the mentality of the Victorian aristocratic society.
Both texts expose the benefits and flaws in leadership, both good and bad, through the use of metaphors, characterisation and the development of theme. The Shakespearian play "Henry V" demonstrates the effect of intelligence on a leader's capacity and choices. In the play Henry does not outright declare war on France, but rather demands the French throne from the French king through the use of clever politics. Before advancing war on the French, and he sends a stern message to the French king, "Deliver up the crown, and to take mercy On the poor souls for whom this hungry war Opens his vasty jaws ; and on your head Turning the widows' tears, the orphans' cries, The dead men's blood, the prived maidens' groans, For husbands, fathers, and betrothed lovers That shall be swallowed in this controversy." Shakespeare has used a metaphor here to describe the seriousness of the issue at heart.
Sexual Violence and the Victorian Era: Oppressive Social Forces in Robert Browning’s Printable Version By Christine Utz Robert Browning’s poem “Porphyria’s Lover” is a social representation of the Victorian era, which supported the creation of dominant and sexually abusive men. During the nineteenth century, Victorian ideals determined the guidelines for social etiquette. A traditional regime of patriarchy flourished under the strict gender stratifications of the time period. However, tensions grew between the sexes in both the political and domestic realms and gender violence surfaced in response to the heightened conflicts. Robert Browning was born into this conservative time period, but was able to employ expressive freedom through literature.
The play satirized the hypocrisies the Victorian society and the people who lived in it. With his magnificent witty dialogues, Wilde criticizes a class-based society and their obsession with the surface of the people. Thus, it could be deduced that with this masterpiece Wilde says that we should look beneath the surface, try and find the real personalities hiding beneath the social norms. There are some conventions of Comedy of Manners which can also be seen in this play. For example, “[c]onstancy in love, especially in marriage is thought to be boring” (Conventions that governed Restoration/Comedy
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde The Victoria Era of England began in the 1800’s with the reign of Queen Victoria. During this era, English society established a way of life they deemed acceptable to public conformity (Anacondas). Satirist Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde wrote many plays, poems, and novels seeking to ridicule this popular trend. An Irish immigrant turned English writer, Oscar Wilde was a man of interesting gossip and humorous satire. One famous play Wilde wrote was The Importance of Being Earnest which is a widely known play for its sarcastic plot of Victorian life.
Mrs. Warren's Profession by George Bernard Shaw Mrs. Warren's Profession is a socially introspective and morally thought-provoking play that was written by George Bernard Shaw in 1898. The play reflects on several important themes concerning life in Victorian society. Through the characters of Mrs. Warren, whose fortune turns out throughout the story to be found on the management of high-class brothels, and her daughter Vivie, whose rejection of the gender standards of the Victorian era make her 'unfeminine' by society's standards, one comes to comprehend the gender and economical class structure of this era better. As Shaw himself stated with regard to the play, prostitution is not caused by the depravation of the female or the lust of the male, but simply by "underpaying, undervaluing, and overworking women so shamefully that the poorest of them are forced to resort to prostitution to keep body and soul together" (Powell 229). In short, Mrs. Warren's Profession is a reflection, through the main characters, on the era's class, gender, and economical structure that together fuel corruption and immorality in society.
Rhiannon Hill To what extent is Wilde satirising Victorian society in ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ and how does this add to the comedy? The Importance of Being Earnest is a farcical, comedy of manners which uses satire to mock Victorian values, particularly within the upper class, ideals such as marriage for status. Wilde carefully uses each character to mock different aspects of society; Algernon Moncrieff (a young, eccentric dandy) is used to light-heartedly mock the superficiality of the upper classes, Lady Bracknell (a bold and powerful matriarch) is used to mock the Victorian ideals of marriage. Through Lady Bracknell, Wilde stretches the limits much further, as the satire of marriage ideals is much more controversial than the subjects that Wilde mocks through Algernon. Jack (a young man seeking marriage, who is lacking any sort of family) is used by Wilde alongside Algernon to show witty repartee and banter between the two characters.
The prince then keeps giving. Machiavelli stresses: And so, if a prince wants to maintain his reputation for generosity among men, it is necessary for him not to neglect any possible means of lavish display; in so doing such a prince will always use up all his resources and he will be obliged, eventually, if he wishes to maintain his reputation for generosity, to burden the people with excessive taxes and to do everything possible to raise funds. (41) Once the prince has to start taking from his subjects they will start to feel hate towards him. They will not even be thankful for anything that they have received in the past. All will be forgotten except for his taking of their money.
He is supposed to have the most control, able to keep his people in line however due to his state he was not able to accomplish any of these necessary attributions of a king, therefore this would help contribute to the civil war outbreak, as a weak character in the position of a king isn’t good. In addition, Henry had a trait of having favorites among his nobility. This is shown by he gave out patronage to his favorites, Somerset and Suffolk, they were also made dukes in 1448. This would cause problems inside his nobility. Dukes were usually direct relatives of the king, however Suffolk and Somerset were not, where as Richard of York was.