lady bracknell essay

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• What is Oscar Wilde known for?
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Lady Augusta Bracknell

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Lady Augusta Bracknell , fictional character, the mother of Gwendolen Fairfax in Oscar Wilde ’s The Importance of Being Earnest (1895).

An imposing dowager, Lady Bracknell is the embodiment of conventional upper-class Victorian respectability. She vehemently disapproves of the romance between her daughter and Jack Worthing, the protagonist of the play and a supposed orphan. Worthing knows nothing of his parentage except that he was found in a leather handbag at Victoria Station (“on the Brighton line”). Lady Bracknell refuses to permit her daughter “to marry into a cloak room, and form an alliance with a parcel.” A literal-minded, domineering woman, she insists that Jack “produce at least one parent, of either sex, before the season is quite over.” Several turns in the plot eventually reveal that Jack is the son of Lady Bracknell’s late sister and a perfectly acceptable suitor for Gwendolen.

The redoubtable Lady Bracknell was portrayed by Dame Edith Evans in a filmed version of the play (1952).

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Lady Bracknell

Lady Bracknell is the total antagonist of the play. She is Gwendolen’s mother. Also, she is Algernon’s aunt who is described as snobbish, mercenary and domineering. This lady is a strongly oriented matriarch person; she doesn’t even understand that lead herself as a tyrant, she strongly believes money is more important than breeding and bullies everyone in her path. She is cunning, narrow-minded, authoritarian, and possibly the most quotable character in the play.

This lady is a disaster who blocks all marriages and all love in the book. Is it because of her love failure? Fortunately (or unfortunately, judge by yourself) her marriage was a happy one, and that is why her primary goal in life was to give the same happy love and life to her daughter and nephew. She prepares a list of eligible men in town for her daughter and even made interviews to get to know them better. Her humor in speeches she likes to give, as like her nephew, is unintentional.

Nevertheless, in this book, she is a typical representative of Victorian classism. The perfect symbol of Victorian earnestness. Through the figure of Lady Bracknell, author of the text shows in a satirical way the hypocrisy and stupidity of the British aristocracy. There always had to be some evil that has power but no heart. She doesn’t want Gwendolen to marry Jack when she finds out he is an orphan. Oh, those prejudices are such awful stuff. Also, she dislikes Cecily as a mate for her nephew, Algernon. Till what period? Right to that moment when she discovered that Cecily is rich. Only after that, she says that she is such a good and cute girl who totally matches her nephew. Is there somewhere bigger insincerity than in that episode? She is a mother of insincerity.

Lady Bracknell values ignorance, which she sees as “a delicate exotic fruit.” We even suppose that she didn’t love her husband. Just imagine a situation – when she gives a dinner party, she prefers her husband to sit downstairs and eat with the servants. 

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Lady Bracknell in the Essays

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The Importance of Being Earnest

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The Importance of Being Married: Lady Bracknell as Marriage Market Mamma in Oscar Wilde's <i>The Importance of Being Earnest</i>

2011, HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe)

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The Importance of Being Earnest

An age of surfaces: oscar wilde's society above and below the surface emily r. stein.

“We live, I regret to say, in an age of surfaces” (2257). So the character of Lady Bracknell observes at the conclusion of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. The play as a whole is one firmly preoccupied with the idea of surfaces and their importance in Victorian society, where it must have often seemed (especially to someone as flamboyant as Wilde) that appearance mattered more than anything else. Wilde uses this play to unveil some of the flaws of a superficial society—by first exaggerating frivolity’s influence, then making it absurd, and lastly unfolding some of its logic to make it both more understandable and more reprehensible. In so doing he exposes the unnaturalness, even the danger, of a world where exteriors have completely replaced interiors and the surface is all that remains—which is as much a menace today as it was during Wilde’s own time.

Lady Bracknell’s inquisition of Jack, her daughter’s suitor, in Act I serves as a telling prototype. Having already questioned Jack about his income, knowledge, and personal habits, Lady Bracknell now turns to “minor matters”: his background (2232). Her first of many reproaches on this score is a fine example of the baseless social appraisal that Wilde critiques so...

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Marriage in the Importance of Being Earnest: Analysis

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What are Algernon’s and Lady Bracknell’s views on marriage? Find the answer here! This essay analyzes the themes of love and marriage in The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde.

Introduction

• Algernon’s View on Marriage
• Lady Bracknell’s Views on Marriage

Works Cited

The concept of marriage has been given preeminence in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. Love is the thing that people of any social class aspire to, and marriage can be the logical consequence of it.In the play, marriage is discussed in the context of plot progression and as a subject for theoretical assumption and discussion. All throughout The Importance of Being Earnest, marriage is present as the main topic, thus demonstrating the importance that society accorded this matter.

Although there are varying views on the subject among various characters, it is evident from reading the play that the matrimony institution was held in high esteem at that time. While there is a division on whether marriage is pleasant or unpleasant, all the characters agree that love and marriage are essential parts of life. (Wilde 5)

What Is Algernon’s View on Marriage?

To underscore the importance of matrimony, the author introduces the subject in the opening part of the play. It is used in a discussion between Algernon and his servant, Lane. Once the subject is introduced, it becomes a recurring concept in the entire play. First, the butler insinuates that married households usually lack a sense of taste to a point where they cannot purchase “first-rate” champagne. Then he observes that the champagne in a bachelor establishment is of higher quality, and that is the reason why servants tend to over drink. This makes Algernon wonder if the marriage has become so demoralizing to a point where people lack a sense of taste. Despite the butler’s failed marriage, he still thinks that love and marriage is a pleasant experience that anyone should endeavor to have. (Wilde 6)

Although Algernon’s view on love and marriage is not known during the conversation with his butler, we get to know his thoughts on the subject in a monologue where he claims that marriage is an institution that has “absolutely no sense of moral responsibility.” (Wilde 5) In the ensuing conversation with Jack, Algernon’s thoughts on marriage come out on the surface. During the pleasantries, Jack claims that he decided to travel from the country to town purposely for pleasure.

As the conversation with Algernon continues, Jack claims that he has come to propose to Gwendolen, the girl he has been flirting with. This throws his friend Algernon aback since he believes that a proposal is more of a business venture than pleasure. According to him, marriage kills the excitement of being in love and leads to uncertainty. (Raby 26)

Algernon Moncrieff has such a negative mentality on marriage to a point where he vows to “forget the fact” that he is married the moment he does so. This mentality, according to Jack, is what led to the formation of Divorce Courts, but Algernon disagrees and claims, “Divorces are made in Heaven.” (quoted from Wilde 7) Defending his position, Algernon claims that most married people do not value their marriages, and most of them are even capable of flirting with other men while their husbands are sitting right across the dinner table.

Although Algernon is opposed to the idea of his first cousin Gwendolen getting married to Jack, he advises him that he will have to lie occasionally to be able to get away from his wife. This clearly shows that Algernon Moncrieff thinks that all marriages are unpleasant an opinion that Jack and Lane do not share. (Raby 28)

What Is Lady Bracknell’s View on Marriage?

On her part, Lady Bracknell addresses the issue of marriage by claiming, “An engagement should come on a young girl as a surprise, pleasant or unpleasant, as the case may be.” By looking at the set of questions that Lady Bracknell subjects Jack, it is clear that she has a distorted view on love and marriage.

By looking at the list of bachelors and the prepared script that Lady Bracknell addresses Jack from, it is apparent that the social class on which the story is based viewed marriage in terms of social standing, income, and character of the participants. Indeed, Lady Bracknell does not seem to have respect for the marriage institution, and that is why she tries to pair Algernon with Mary, who is already married. (Wilde 11)

Although Algernon is cynical about marriage institution and thinks that people’s opinions on the topic are “somewhat lax,” his views on marriage and divorce change once he meets and falls in love with Cecily. On his part, Jack is a romantic who believes that having the right attitude towards marriage is the ingredient that makes it last.

Although he believes the truth “isn’t quite the sort of thing one tells to a nice, sweet, refined girl,” (Wilde 91), he ends up telling Gwendolen the truth once he realizes that it is not in his nature to lie. Once Jack apologizes to Gwendolen, her reaction becomes a clear pointer that she was also cynical about men and the marriage institution in general. (Wilde 148)

This essay analyzed the concept of marriage in The Importance of Being Earnest. y. In summary, Wilde has brought out the nature of marriage in the morality of Victorian society. As shown by the quotes from the text, the characters are divided into those who believe that marriage is pleasant (that is Algernon’s view on marriage) and those who believe that it is unpleasant (that is Lady Bracknell’s view on the theme). Even among those who believe marriage is unpleasant, something happens at the end that restores their faith in love and the marriage institution as a whole.

Raby, Peter. The Cambridge Companion to Oscar Wilde , 1997. Cambridge University Press. 25-41. Print.

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IvyPanda. (2018, September 21). Marriage in the Importance of Being Earnest: Analysis. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-concept-of-marriage-in-the-importance-of-being-earnest/

"Marriage in the Importance of Being Earnest: Analysis." IvyPanda , 21 Sept. 2018, ivypanda.com/essays/the-concept-of-marriage-in-the-importance-of-being-earnest/.

IvyPanda . (2018) 'Marriage in the Importance of Being Earnest: Analysis'. 21 September.

IvyPanda . 2018. "Marriage in the Importance of Being Earnest: Analysis." September 21, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-concept-of-marriage-in-the-importance-of-being-earnest/.

1. IvyPanda . "Marriage in the Importance of Being Earnest: Analysis." September 21, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-concept-of-marriage-in-the-importance-of-being-earnest/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Marriage in the Importance of Being Earnest: Analysis." September 21, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-concept-of-marriage-in-the-importance-of-being-earnest/.

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