In this article I will discuss “Notes
on Love and Marriage: Perspectives from Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being
Earnest”, an analysis by Michael Vance on Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being
Earnest. The analysis includes several different perspectives on the play’s
satirical criticism of 19th century society and its views on
marriage.
One point of interest in Vance’s
analysis on The Importance of Being Earnest is the manner in which the
characters of the play choose their marriage partners. Their decisions reflect
the ideology of the 19th century upper class which Oscar Wilde
stated was “.
. . that we should treat all the
trivial things of life seriously, and all the serious things of life with
sincere and studied triviality" (qtd. in Vance). Gwendolyn and
Cecily make a serious decision to accept the proposals of Jack and Algernon,
respectively, based solely on the fact that both men had falsely claimed their
names were Ernest. Both women could not imagine being married to one who is not
named Ernest and feel pity for any woman who is not married to an Ernest. One
would think that there are more important details required in order to make
such a life changing decision but for these 19th century women, an
honest name that “produces vibrations” is satisfactory. The seriousness of marriage
is further diminished as the Chausible, a celebate man of religion, proposes to
Miss Prism toward the end of the play. They had known each other for several years
therefore he had countless opportunities to propose to her yet only chooses to
do so when two other marriages have been declared. It seemed to be less an
action of love and more an action of “monkey see, monkey do”. What is even more
disappointing is the fact the among the three couples, the relationship between
the Chausible and Miss Prism appears to be the most substantial and honest but
due to poor timing, it seems as though the Chausible is merely “following the
crowd”.
Vance’s
analysis is effective in pointing out the societal flaws Oscar Wilde presents
in his play and the effect satire has in making these flaws apparent to the
reader. The comical manner in which 19th century marriage ideals are
presented in the play serves to exaggerate the major points and succeeds in
showing the reader just how absurd those ideals are.
Vance, Michael. “Notes on Love
and Marriage: Perspectives from Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest”.
May 2000. Web. 4 July 2012. <http://kamus3.homestead.com/wilde.html>
Your blog is well written and follows the assignment given including the summarization and evaluation. I like your own connection back to the text where you discuss the marriage between the Chausible and Miss Prism. This is a nice example that further highlights Wilde’s satire of marriage. Can you find a direct quote from one of these characters that would confirm your statements about their marriage? I think that would firm up your argument. For example, when you write, “among the three couples, the relationship between the Chausible and Miss Prism appears to be the most substantial and honest...”, what evidence of that do you have? If you give an example from the text that shows their honesty, your argument will be defendable. I think you give a great introduction and the conclusion wraps up the main ideas Vance discussed in his writing about the play. In your last sentence, I wasn’t totally clear on what “major points” you were talking about. Did you mean Wilde’s major points for writing the play or the major points the characters had for marriage? I think if you clarify this or reword the sentence you will have a fantastic blog.
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