Wilde was very critical of the Victorian obsession with morals. Common opinion amongst upright Victorians was that artists such as Wilde were causing “cultural degeneration and decay” (Beckson, “London” 74). During the later nineteenth century there was a general decline in the Victorian ideals, which habitually condemned innovations in the arts. In its place, Modernism was rising and challenging the cultural foundations of Victorian society. Wilde himself was one if these artist that threatened Victorianism’s “undue restrictions in artistic expression…[and]…an outdated conception of the world as one of stable absolute values” (Beckson, “London” 77).
The 1890s particularly was a decade of extraordinary artistic activity and energy (Beckson, “London” 77). The 1890s was the time that Victorianism was coming to an end and the age of Modernism was beginning. Wilde and his contemporaries came to London, each hoping “that he might ride on the crest of the wave that was sweeping away Victorian tradition” (Beckson, “London” 77). As Modernism developed in England, the aesthetic values of Wilde’s circle began to replace the “formerly prescribed values of Victorian art” (Beckson, “London” 78). It can be assumed that for Wilde, playing the part of, and celebrating the image of the Victorian dandy in his plays, was helping him to ride on this wave.
Jack and Algy are, from a Victorian perspective, representative of everything that is loathed about what dandies are perceived to be. They are irresponsible, running up huge debts so as to lead a comfortable and aesthetically pleasing life. They are not at all concerned with good morals. Jack and Algy are the extreme. They have to resort to inventing alternative personas in order to carry on with their antics. In Wilde’s reality though, these characters are not representative of his ideal of the dandy. They have no social conscience at all. They are better described as renegades. In this sense, dandies saw themselves as pushing, but not stepping to far outside the boundaries of social acceptance.
As the play unfolds it is revealed to Cecily and Gwendolen that both Jack and Algy have been impersonating the invented character of Ernest. Serious and moralising Victorian audiences might have expected some sort of remonstrance, or at least Algy and Jack reforming their actions for the better. But they “steadfastly refuse to embrace the melodramatic practice of reconciling their behaviour to that of the middle class” (Gillespie 171). Instead, they embrace what it is to be a dandy. They are tamed from their renegade behaviours in some respects, but they continue to resist conforming to the conventions of Victorian life.
The message that could be seen to lie behind the play is this: that anyone who did not recognise Jack and Algy as renegades, rather than dandies, does not understand the truth of dandyism. This can be seen as a criticism of Wilde’s Victorian audience members and their stereotypes, for “only the uninitiated mistake the dandy for the renegade” (Gillespie 169). True dandies understand the difference between the sensational and the vulgar. At the beginning of the play, Jack and Algy are unaware of this distinction. But come the play’s close, they have reformed to an appreciation of it.
However, these assumptions about what Wilde might be trying to tell his audience do not align themselves with the doctrine of aestheticism. The discussion of moral messages and observations in The Importance of Being Earnest lean towards a more didactic approach to art. Addressing the play as either a satire or a celebration of Victorian society might also suggest that it is a mimetic approach. Wilde’s aesthetic doctrines completely disagree with these two approaches. Wilde believes that “Art never expresses anything but itself”(Hardy 1) and “Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates life” (Hardy 1).
The play, The Importance of Being Earnest follows the conventional pattern of a romantic comedy. But it does so with such an absurd logic and ridiculous sequence of events that it emphasises the artificiality of these conventions. In this sense, The Importance of Being Earnest is a play that conforms perfectly to Wilde’s aesthetic doctrines. It has none of the notions of realism or sincerity that would lean towards giving the play some sort of moral meaning. As Wilde says:
“In all important matters, style, not sincerity, is the essential. In all unimportant matters, style, not sincerity, is the essential.” (Wilde, “Phrases and Philosophies”)
The play is centred on the stylishness and elegance of the lovers. They are not concerned with the sincerity of their actions. One of the components that block any leanings towards sentimentality is the fact that both Cecily and Gwendolen insist that they can only love and marry a man whose christian name is Ernest. It would be difficult for them to justify falling in love with these men for any other reason, as both Jack and Algy are incredibly shallow and one-dimensional dramatic inventions (Hardy 4).
Jack’s proposal to Gwendolen can be seen as another example of how The Importance of Being Earnest aligns itself with Wilde’s aesthetic doctrines. The audience have no idea why Jack adores Gwendolen as much as he professes. Nor are they encouraged to have the slightest interest in finding out. It seems completely plausible in this artificial and ridiculous world of the play that he propose to her at once. But Gwendolen is not impressed with the clumsy manner in which Jack tries to propose. She makes it very clear that the style of his proposal and his style as a lover is “infinitely more important than his sincerity” (Hardy 4). This is a play that creates a world where style is always preferred over sincerity, and surface elegance us more appreciated than any allusion of inner depth.
There is also justification in the play for the aesthetic doctrine that life imitates art, rather than art imitating life. Both Cecily and Gwendolen recognise their diaries as imaginative works of fiction. Cecily informs Algy that they are already engaged by the time they meet. She has created the event and it becomes a reality. The events of Algy and Cecily’s romance are written about before they occur, and when they do occur they merely formalize what Cecily has already written.
It is possible to read The Importance of Being Earnest in a variety of ways. It can be read as an observation of Victorian high society: both satirising and criticising aspects such as the upright and serious moralism. It can also be read as an illustration and celebration of the dandy, and the “significant social force” (Gillespie 167) this character was during the late nineteenth century. But this reading goes against Wilde’s own aesthetic doctrines of Art existing purely for Art’s sake. It is alternatively possible to read the play in accordance with these aesthetic principles. To read no deeper meaning beneath the stylish surface elegance and pure entertainment that comes from the ridiculous situations. Similarly, this reading cannot be completely justified. All writing is political, even when it attempts to be apolitical. The Importance of Being Earnest can definitely be enjoyed in its sense as a purely aesthetic piece of writing, but at the same time it is impossible to separate it from interpreted meanings with regard to the political and moral differences in opinion that surrounded Wilde at the time he wrote it.
Sources
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Beckson, Karl. “London in the 1890s.” In The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. 1895. Ed. Michael Patrick Gillepsie. London: Norton, 2006. 71-78
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Beckson, Karl. "Oscar Wilde." In Modern British Dramatists, 1900-1945. Part 2: M-Z. Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol. 10. 204-218. Found on “The Victorian Web.” Date accessed 08/05/2007
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Gillespie, Michael Patrick. “From Beau Brummel to Lady Bracknell: Re-viewing the Dandy in the Importance of Being Earnest.” In The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. 1895. Ed. Michael Patrick Gillepsie. London: Norton, 2006. 166-182.
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Hardy, Linda. “The Case of Oscar Wilde: Lecture Four: Aesthetic Doctrines and The Importance of Being Earnest.” 2007. Accessed via Victoria University Blackboard. Date accessed 08/05/2007.
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Rienert, Otto. "Satiric Strategy in The Importance Qf Being Earnest." College English 18, 1 (Oct, 1956) 14-18. Found on “The Victorian Web.” Date accessed 08/05/2007.
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Wilde, Oscar. “Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young.” On the Website: “Famous World Trials: The Trial of Oscar Wilde.” Date accessed 08/05/2007.
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Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest. 1895. Ed. Michael Patrick Gillespie. London: Norton, 2006.
