double standards in victorian society

8/10/2019 Double Standards in Victorian Society

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Double Standards in Victorian Society

The work of Oscar Wilde is placed in London, in Victorian Society Age. This

society had like main characteristics the existence of rigid social standards, which

had to be followed by people of high class. Then they could not live freely in the

way they wanted. They have no choice, and they built an external appearance

behind they hid their true identity and kept their instincts and real desires secret. In

this atmosphere of oppressive moral rules Jack and his friend Algernon had a

secret life, the first used the name of Ernest to live in a free way his secret

passions. He told everyone he has a younger brother: Ernest who lived without

limits. The second uses the Burnburyst expression for defining the other life he

has. He -as bunburyst- had the possibility of doing forbidden things in hisconventional life. In this way, they could live through fictitious identities a double

life. They are the best expression of double standards in Victorian Society.

I consider that the play is a Wildes critique of the society he had to live.

Using this play he depicted all the hypocrisy of that time in a funny and at the same

time sarcastic way. In fact, the whole plot is a funny portray of all situations that

can emerge when people have a double life. Misunderstandings were daily events,

and they are solved in a pity manner because the important was first of all

appearance. Therefore using the characters of his play, Wilde criticizes duality of

people in Victorian Society who on the one hand were absolutely concerned about

appearances and standards of morality, while on the other hand they indulged

forbidden things.

In my opinion this duality of people in Victorian Society is consequence of

the same social requirements of this time. These oppressive rules obliged people

to construct an external faade behind which they hid their true characters keeping

their real preferences secret. These circumstances brought an atmosphere of

hypocrisy mixed with real beliefs. In fact it is not easy to distinguish between real

intentions or false opinions. For instance when Gwendolen and Cecily were

speaking, they are very nice and polite each other, even when they realize they


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were could being talking about the same man, they never abandon their manners

although both of them were really irritated, but still they pretended to keep an

educated conversation may be a little ironic when Gwendolen said to Cecily: Do

you allude to me, Mis Cardew, as an entanglement? You are presumptuous. On an

occasion of this kind it becomes more than a moral duty to speak ones mind. It

becomes a pleasure and Cecily answered: Do you suggest, Miss Fairfax, that I

entrapped Ernest into an engagement? How dare you? This is no time for wearing

the shallow mask of manners. When I see a spade I call it a spade. (Wilde, 1920:

81-82) On other hand I have found some irritant statements for me, for example

when Gwendolen said: True. In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is

the vital thing. (Wilde, 1920: 90).

In this meaning, we have to remain that it was the spirit of those times, for

us it can be unthinkable, but at those moments it was the right behavior. Hence, we

cannot judge the characters as hypocrites because they only acted according the

requirements of their time. They had no choice, even though their attitudes can

seem hypocrite for our current standards, they were normal people of their time.

Jack and Algernon were honorable men, who only wanted to do what they had to

do, and women had no options, they were considered almost inferior creatures

than men, they had to appear innocence and ingenuity. All of them can be

considered real examples of respectable people of their time, but for us it can be

difficult to understand why people pretend to live for pleasing other. In our times

only stupid people live for maintaining appearances, however there are more

stupid people than one can think.

Ada Caicedo de Guerra

C.I. V. No 9.246.896


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Referencias bibliogrficas

Wilde, O. (1920): The importance of being Earnest. Boston: Walter H.Baker Company. Retrieved fromhttps://archive.org/details/importanceofbein1920wild
https://archive.org/details/importanceofbein1920wildhttps://archive.org/details/importanceofbein1920wildhttps://archive.org/details/importanceofbein1920wildhttps://archive.org/details/importanceofbein1920wild


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double standards in victorian society

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