A Humorous Portrayal of Victorian Frivolity in a Production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest

Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest is a timeless romp through the Victorian city. And countryside with many a witty conjecture about the aristocracy and their lack of morals or genuine character. In this piece I will explain how the playwright’s intention in producing a play of this caliber was meant to criticize. As well as draw humorous light to the frivolous nature of the Victorian upper-class. Being a modern piece for his time, it makes a bold statement about fashion, integrity and courtesy while boldly jabbing at those in public view much as Shakespeare had done.

In a quote referenced by Tara Maginnis from Oscar Wilde, he states that fashion. Is “a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.” This is the basis for what drives much of the exposition in Act I, where high class society is portrayed as nothing more than a gala of well dressed (albeit witty) buffoons. Maginnis later goes on to note in her article Style as Substance that more ties can be drawn between the numerous opulent outfits of the era and how many Algernon requires to spend a week in the country. Naturally, the amount of wardrobe changes that occur during the production are just as immense. It creates a general sense of high class atmosphere that adds to the production rather than detract. A healthy dose of spectacle should be used as it was with Oscar Wilde’s productions, the intention being to simulate the wealthy and leave little to the imagination.

This brings us to the final two points of integrity and courtesy of the upper class during Oscar Wilde’s time, or as it was more commonly stated in the late 19th century: manners and morals. In a piece of a similar name by distinguished professor of History at the Graduate School of the City University of New York, Gertrude Himmelfarb notes that manners and morals were often separated by lords and philosophers prior to this time, but combining the two became something strictly Victorian. The concept of “being Earnest” in Wilde’s work is a clear contrast to these ideals as neither Jack nor Algernon possessed the qualities necessary for the decency of what a Victorian man of the era should have been portraying. Instead, all that was required of them was fashion, style, and wealth. Wilde used Lady Bracknell’s political and social views to be the peak of his displeasure with society. And like any social commentator of his time, before him or even after, he dispersed his thoughts and opinions throughout the masses with the use of witty satire.

UCF’s Theatre Department skillfully demonstrated their knowledge on the subject matter. It is clear their dramaturg’s understood the importance of the honesty in their research, much of the etiquette and design of the sets and costumes resembling the documentation still preserved for viewing today. As Wilde would have seen it performed, the play would be contemporary at contain a large portion of its humor in its realism. Even down to the dialects, The Importance of Being Earnest lacked nothing necessary of a proper rendition of not only the written work, but the time period it is set in.

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