Another point to consider whilst exploring the viewpoint above is the use of Lady Bracknell as a stock character. She can often fall into the category of stupid empty-headed aristocrats or people who take themselves too seriously. The aristocrat category which she falls into throughout the play allows Wilde to satirise society. For instance, when she says Jack being found in a handbag seems ‘to display a contempt for the ordinary decencies of family life’. This statement creates comedy for several reasons; on the outer layer it may appear foolish because if you were found in a handbag it suggests that your family life was non-existent so to comment on the decencies of a life he has obviously never known creates humour. On the second layer, it is ironic that she comments on his family’s decencies when they find out he is her nephew by the end of the play. This creates humour by showing the often hypocritical nature of the aristocracy. They have there own set of rules and beliefs that they often judge others for yet it happens within there own families. This brings us on to the final and deepest layer the comment allows Wilde to satirise society by showing the aristocrats lack of depth and wrongly prized attributes. This may be funny to a Victorian audience but maybe not as funny to a modern audience because the class system was more prominent in the Victorian era than it is now. However, in both contexts, Wilde almost uses Lady Bracknell as an example of what one shouldn’t be like.
Consequently, it can be augured that Lady Bracknell is simply being used as a dramatic device to help drive the plot forward. This view suggests that it is therefore the overall plot which creates the comedy as opposed to Lady Bracknell. She advises him to 'acquire some relations as soon as possible' and make an effort to produce 'one parent'. Her constant references to his family makes the topic a point of interest and creates a substantial base of irony as she is his family. In this respect her comments help to usher the audience to the plays dramatic end. The plays ending ,however, is a clear example of Lady Bracknell being used as a tool. She is the one who hears the name Miss Prism and brings up the story about babysitting her sister's son which is how Jack realises he may be the son. Here she is directly used as a link between the two stories which brings the play's plot to an end. In this particular part of the play she doesn’t create any comedy which directly refutes the stated view.
A final way Lady Bracknell's character creates comedy is via gender inversion and role reversal. Lady Bracknell is given a position of power and constantly makes it known; it could even be argues that she is the most powerful character in the play. For example, when talking to Jack she uses imperatives such as 'come here' and 'sit down immediately' which creates a stern tone often adopted by those in positions of power. Something like this would be funny to a Victorian audience as men were the more dominant gender then and women were often supressed or restricted to the home so Lady Bracknell adopting a position of power over a man would be quite funny. However, For a modern audience this may not be as funny because women are now of equal value to society. Another example of this could be when Gwendolen says she and Jack are engaged Lady Bracknell informs her daughter that she cannot make those decisions and is in fact 'not engaged to anyone'. Throughout the play she makes references to her husband who appears doing his duties at home which is stereotypically a female role. She says the he is used to 'dining upstairs' which means he is often kept out of the way as many Victorian women used to be. Again this would provoke more laughter from a Victorian audience but it is important to realise that these stereotypes do still exist which means a modern audience wouldn’t be excluded from the comedy created by Lady Bracknell's comments.
Finally, Wilde creates and uses the parallel of Lady Bracknell and her daughter Gwendolen to create comedy. One of Wilde's more famous quotes from the book directly refers to this and comes from Algernon who says 'all women turn out like their mothers'. This was exhibited throughout the play as some of Gwendolen's views appear very similar to her mother's. For example when talking about her father she says he isn't widely known because he stays at home which is 'the proper sphere for a man'; and when he doesn’t do his duties he becomes 'painfully attractive'. This creates a parallel between Gwendolen and Lady Bracknell via they're use of nonsensical language. Surely if someone is attractive that's a good thing so to be painfully attractive makes no sense. This is an example of how Gwendolen can speak of something trivial yet in such a serious tone which directly parallels her mother's use of contrasting tone and topic. For this reason people may say that Lady Bracknell doesn't create extensive comedy as her character is easily replaceable however, Wilde did believe in art for art's sake so Lady Bracknell just becomes convenient in the provision of entertainment regardless of if it is funny or not.
Therefore, after examining all of the arguments it appears clear to me that Lady Bracknell does create comedy in the play so I do agree with the view. I feel the arguments for why she doesn’t create comedy are very limited and are often from unilateral in the sense that it may not be funny to one person but it will be to another; therefore I've concluded with my opinion because she may not always sustain laughter from the whole audience but her witty dialogue and trivial comments always make someone laugh.
by
simonedbovell (student)
