‘LADY BRACKNELL: Mr. Worthing, rise sir…
[He tries to rise, Gwendolen restrains him]’.
Similarly, Lady Russell is seen to be superior to Sir Walter Elliot, he has squandered all his money, yet she is a well-respected member of society, who prevents him from bankruptcy and humiliation, by suggesting he moves to Bath and rents his house. Austen uses Lady Russell to contradict society’s view represented by Harville, on women’s ‘fickleness’, and criticizes the social injustice women faced, denoting they were as capable as men.
Both Lady Bracknell and Lady Russell view class as very important, so much so they are willing to sacrifice the feelings of their ‘daughters’, in order to enhance or sustain the rank their family has. Lady Bracknell has a ‘list of eligible young men’ for her daughter to be married to, Jack is not on the list, but Lady Bracknell is ‘quite ready to enter [Jack’s] name’, if he meets the requirements; these are men of a high class and good background, as she does not want her daughter to marry below her station. Lady Russell also persuades Anne to refuse Wentworth’s marriage proposal as he ‘had nothing but himself to recommend him’ and ‘no connexions’. Lady Russell does not argue with Anne’s choice to marry Wentworth at the end of the novel as Wentworth then is of a higher status as he is now a Captain, where he was only a commander before; he has also made a considerable amount of money.
‘When I married Lord Bracknell I had no fortune of any kind. But I never dreamed for a moment of allowing that to stand in my way’
Ironically, Lady Bracknell had no fortune, so by marrying Lord Bracknell she improved her status, as did Lady Russell, which is indicated because she is a Lady by her surname, so she earned the title ‘Lady’ by marriage. Lady Bracknell is a well-established member of the English aristocracy and very concerned with social affairs, so it would be an embarrassment if her daughter were to marry someone from the lower class. She believes that social opinion is very important and rebukes Algernon for speaking against society as it is a privilege the rich enjoy, and he can be excluded from it.
‘Never speak disrespectfully of Society, Algernon. Only people who can’t get into it do that.’
Lady Russell and Lady Bracknell view marriage as a way for a woman to increase her status; a perfect match being not whether they love each other, but if the woman gains social hierarchy. ‘Lady Bracknell’s mind’s eye is steadily on ‘the funds’, and sees other matters – love, literature, and virtue – exactly for what they are’. They are not important, only wealth, status and background are important for marriage. Lady Russell’s views compliment Lady Bracknell’s, as her prime reason for persuading Anne not to marry Wentworth is he has ‘no hopes of attaining affluence’, and has no status, even though they love each other. Lady Russell believes at twenty two, Anne has to now marry someone before her ‘bloom’ is gone, and she sees Charles Musgrove as a potential suitor for her. She thinks this as he comes from one of the most important and richest family in Somersetshire, besides herself and the Elliots, and he lives close to Lady Russell, which shows she also is thinking about herself; she would like to see Anne as ‘the future Lady Elliot’ but she does not ask Anne what she would like.
‘she would have rejoiced to see her [Anne]… settled so permanently near herself’
Lady Russell also suggests Anne marries William Walter Elliot, when they meet in Bath as he is rich, and appears to be courteous and well-mannered. However, Wentworth was also amiable and courteous, yet she disapproved of him as he had no money or status.
Lady Bracknell is important as she controls the lives of Gwendolen, Jack and Algernon, limiting what they can do and influencing them, she endeavours to ruin Jack’s life by refusing to allow him to marry Gwendolen, as he does not know of his parentage. Her refusal to let them marry further upsets Cecily and Algernon as this causes Jack to refuse to allow Algernon to marry Cecily.
‘JACK: The moment you consent to my marriage with Gwendolen, I will most gladly allow your nephew to form an alliance with my ward’
Even though Jack agrees to let Algernon and Cecily marry if he is allowed to marry Gwendolen, Lady Bracknell still will not allow the marriages to go ahead. Lady Bracknell does not want to change her beliefs and give in, as her principles are more important to her than other people’s happiness. Therefore, Lady Bracknell controls and affects more people by her behaviour, and by imposing her beliefs on them.
The contrast between Mrs. Smith and Lady Russell highlights the difference in classes and the people belonging to those classes. It has been suggested that Anne ‘replaces this cruel stepmother [Lady Russell] with a different kind of mother surrogate’, Mrs. Smith, whom does not interfere with Anne’s life, instead wishing her the best in her future marriage to William Walter Elliot, ‘I hope and trust you will be very happy’. She does not tell Anne he is spiteful, to influence her decision as she thinks Anne is going to marry him and thus must think him to be an agreeable man. When she realises Anne is not going to marry William Walter Elliot she informs Anne about his true character, ‘he is black at heart, black and hollow’. Mrs. Smith is a better mother figure to Anne, as she does not try to control or influence her, but she explains why Anne should not marry a rich man, contrasting with Lady Russell who tries to convince her not to marry a poor man as, part of the upper class of society, she believes she knows what is best for Anne.
Austen was trying to convey that status, wealth and class are not important through the use of Lady Russell, her wrong beliefs and contrasting characters, such as Mrs. Smith. Wilde allowed the marriages to happen, as he had to, as those who attended the theatre were the upper class and they would have discarded his play if he had had Gwendolen marrying a poor man with no prospects, or if she had married someone whose parents were of humble origins. However, Oscar Wilde used ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ to make a mockery of the class system as he disagreed with it, to achieve this he created Lady Bracknell as a representation of the audience. He satirises her character so she is seen to be funny, and so the audience, mainly the upper class in the nineteenth century, will laugh at themselves, and hopefully see that their beliefs are wrong.
Lady Bracknell has the most control over her language, being the most powerful in linguistic terms, and she never surrenders this power because she does not allow her emotions to control her. Even when she is made aware of Jack and Gwendolen’s engagement at the end of the play, she maintains control, and does not let it affect her syntax. Lady Bracknell ‘speaks as if [she] has already written [her] lines out, so perfectly phrased is each remark…[she] speaks with a precision that, in any naturalistic play, would strike the ear as literary and artificial’.
‘Thirty-five is a very attractive age. London society is full of women of the very highest birth who have, of their own free choice, remained thirty-five for years.’
Lady Bracknell speaks completely confidently as though she knows she is right about everything, and thus she is able to use her linguistic skills as a weapon against the characters, which causes them to lose their tempers and manners. ‘She takes pleasure in this weapon which is shown when she tempts Jack to lose his manners and temper, in her remark about him being found at a railway station’.
‘Mr. Worthing, is Miss Cardew at all connected with any of the large railway stations…I had no idea there were any families or persons whose origins were a Terminus…’
However, it can be argued that she never really has control throughout the play; it just appears that she does, because of her control over her language. This is shown as the characters do not listen to her; Algernon mocks her and invents Bunbury to escape from her, and Gwendolen runs away to find Jack. Lady Bracknell also uses her language to control Gwendolen, ‘Gwendolen, you will accompany me’, this is meant as a question but is spoken almost as an order, and Gwendolen often replies in a submissive manner, ‘Certainly, mamma’. This again leads Lady Bracknell to believe she is in control of not only the situation but Gwendolen too, however, even though Gwendolen agrees to follow her mother she does not. This implies Gwendolen says what she needs to please her mother, but does what she wants in her actions, also shown when ‘[she and JACK blow kisses to each other behind LADY BRACKNELL’s back]’.
The conversations between Lady Russell and Anne are more relaxed and open. Lady Russell is not Anne’s mother, and so that may be why she does not talk to her in an assertive manner. Lady Russell instead hints at them, she does not say that she would like William Walter Elliot and Anne to marry, and wishes they would do so, but hints by implying she would like ‘to regard you [Anne] as the future mistress of Kellynch’, and that she and William Elliot would be ‘happy together’. There is more respect for each other shown in the conversation, as Anne does not mislead Lady Russell into thinking she believes this too; instead she tells her that ‘[they] would not be suited’.
It may be suggested that both Lady Bracknell and Lady Russell have been misjudged by readers or the audience, and that they are revealed as having Gwendolen’s or Anne’s best interest at heart. It can be argued, both Lady Bracknell and Lady Russell did have justifications for their reservations about the respective marriages between Jack and Gwendolen, and Anne and Wentworth.
‘You can hardly imagine that I …would dream of allowing our only daughter…to marry into a cloakroom, and form an alliance with a parcel.’
Lady Bracknell’s interrogation about Jack’s social background may seem to be callous, but she is merely showing the same concerns as any conscientious mother in the Victorian Age. The aristocrat in her needs to know of Jack’s heritage, she wants to know whether Jack comes from a nouveau rich family, or from an aristocratic family with inherited wealth and status. The other characters express no desire to need to know about Jack’s heritage, this is because it does not affect them, it only affects Gwendolen, and she may not care as she loves Jack and intends to marry him no matter his background. Likewise, Lady Russell was only concerned for Anne; she did not want Anne to live in poverty or marry below her class, losing respect and status, so she persuaded her not to marry Wentworth. This benefited Wentworth as well as Anne, as Wentworth became focused on achieving his goals and gaining status and money, as he had no distractions. Lady Russell does accept the marriage, at the end of the novel, when Wentworth has money and status, which proves she had no objections to his character, just his ability to provide for Anne. Both women, Lady Russell and Lady Bracknell have to accept the marriages in the end as the men have done what was required for them to get their approval, for Jack ‘acquir[ing] some relations’ and for Wentworth earning status and wealth. Therefore they are seen to be good women who are simply concerned for their ‘daughters’.
Austen also used Lady Russell to highlight Anne’s growth in the novel; Anne develops from a shy, submissive girl who tries to please others, into an independent woman who does what she wants for herself. The audience expects Lady Bracknell to be defeated and humiliated in the end, but instead she is satisfied as she gets what she wants, her family’s honour saved, not ruined. By ending the play like this, Wilde is saying that aristocracy will be preoccupied with wealth and class and it will continue like this for a long time. The only way for upper class snobbery not to be defied is for the people concerned to adhere to the beliefs of the upper class, so in effect become an upper class snob. This is shown through Gwendolen who is formed into a younger version of Lady Bracknell, and has inherited some of her mother’s beliefs, such as that men should stay at home and let the women do the socialising, ‘the home seems to be the proper sphere for the man’.
The matriarchal figures are portrayed as very prominent women in society, and their husbands play such subordinate roles they do not appear in the texts. Lady Bracknell and Lady Russell are also seen to be upper class snobs that want to ensure Gwendolen and Anne marry rich men with promising futures. Lady Bracknell will not allow her daughter to marry Jack as he has no known origins, and if she should allow the marriage she would be criticised by society for it. She does not want her reputation to be tarnished just because her daughter is in love. Lady Russell approves of William Walter Elliot as it would mean Anne would then reside at Kellynch Hall, near her. The women show their snobbery, selfishness and shallowness in this manner, which is the principal reason for them being included in the play or novel. Though Lady Russell does not directly say that Anne should marry for money ‘she deprecated the connexion [to Wentworth] in every light’, and only approves of alliances with men with money, such as Charles Musgrove and William Walter Elliot. The matriarchs actions and advice to women would be ‘don’t marry for money, but go where money is’.
Word Count – 2992
The Pocket Oxford Dictionary
York Advanced Notes ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’
Richard Foster , Wilde as Parodist: A Second Look at The Importance of Being Earnest
Inside the House of Fiction, ‘Jane Austen’s Cover Story’
Dan Rebellato, Drama Classics Series, ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’
York Notes Advanced – ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’
Richard Foster , Wilde as Parodist: A Second Look at The Importance of Being Earnest
Juliet McMaster , Alfred Lord Tennyson as quoted in ‘Class’