Explore Wilde’s presentation of Lady Bracknell in Act 1
In ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’, Oscar Wilde primarily endeavours to present Lady Bracknell as a
character who reflects on the typical upper class woman in the Victorian era. He does this and uses her to
criticise Victorian society and their values, in particular the upper classes views on marriage and the lower
classes This means Wilde presents her as a hypocritical, scathing and unsympathetic, towards other
characters, in particular Jack, as he is (to the best of her knowledge) not part of her family as she doesn’t
judge her own daughter and nephew as harshly as she does non-family. Wilde also uses her to inject
humour into the play, by making her comments extravagant and often humorous.
In ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’, Wilde presents Lady Bracknell as shallow and hypocritical. Wilde
writes, “Men should always have an occupation of some kind”. Men in her class don’t have or need jobs to
earn money, and it can also be seen as ironic, as she being of the highest class in society, looks down on
those in the lower classes, who have to work to earn a living to survive, and this demonstrates her
hypocrisy and that of the upper class in Victorian society. She judges characters before and without
knowing their true personality or situation, for example, she tells Jack to “acquire some relations as soon
as possible” She judges Jack on his lack of family – something he has no control over – and shows no
emotion towards Jack when finding out he is an orphan. Wilde uses this as a reflection of typical Victorian
society, showing little emotion, especially in public. It also shows their hypocrisy, and how they measure
people at first meeting. The word “acquire” is unsympathetic, showing her harsh and compassionless
personality. Wilde uses her to inject humour into the play, and this line shows that as the audience knows
it’s impossible to ‘acquire’ family. He also uses hyperbole with her speech to show humour, such as the
line, “could hardly expect our only daughter to marry into a cloak – room”. Wilde also writes, “In families
of high positon strange coincidences are not supposed to occur”. Wilde endeavours to show Lady
Bracknell’s sense of superiority and her arrogance where families of high society should have nothing
strange in their loves, and they need to be perfect. This therefore shows the sense of superiority the upper
classes had over those of the lower classes. However, it can also be seen as ironic, as it does happen to an
aristocratic family, so Wilde uses Lady Bracknell and her family to show that despite their wealth and
status, families of high society are no different than the lower class families, and their sense of superiority
is false. Lady Bracknell also describes the street Jack lives on as having an “unfashionable side” She has
incredibly specific views on how society should be and how to uphold the values of an aristocratic society,
which Wilde uses to highlight her shallowness. It also adds humour as the audience knows that there’s no
such thing as an ‘unfashionable’ side to a road, so her shallowness is presented through humour. This
could have been used by Wilde to show his aristocratic audiences in Victorian England when the play was
written how absurd their behaviour could be, but without offending them. He wants them to question
their values and ideas about society but also have a successful play that attracts audiences and earns him
money.
Wilde also presents Lady Bracknell as being very aristocratic and set in her views on society and how her
status as being one of the upper class makes her superior to those around her. Wilde uses her to portray
how the upper classes are scared of the lower classes revolting and threatening their position of power and
authority. She talks about “acts of violence in Grosvenor Square”, and is concerned about the threat posed
to her and her level of society by the lower classes. She doesn’t want the “worst excesses of the French
Revolution” to be repeated in England, so she knows what a revolution would do to her authority and in
addition that this fear of the lower classes had spread across Europe. Wilde endeavours to criticise the
Victorian upper classes for being against the lower classes wanting a better life for themselves. Lady
Bracknell is scared the “unfortunate movement” will be repeated in England. Again, those Wilde seeks to
criticise will be part of his audience, so he uses Lady Bracknell’s character to condemn them and their
In ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’, Oscar Wilde primarily endeavours to present Lady Bracknell as a
character who reflects on the typical upper class woman in the Victorian era. He does this and uses her to
criticise Victorian society and their values, in particular the upper classes views on marriage and the lower
classes This means Wilde presents her as a hypocritical, scathing and unsympathetic, towards other
characters, in particular Jack, as he is (to the best of her knowledge) not part of her family as she doesn’t
judge her own daughter and nephew as harshly as she does non-family. Wilde also uses her to inject
humour into the play, by making her comments extravagant and often humorous.
In ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’, Wilde presents Lady Bracknell as shallow and hypocritical. Wilde
writes, “Men should always have an occupation of some kind”. Men in her class don’t have or need jobs to
earn money, and it can also be seen as ironic, as she being of the highest class in society, looks down on
those in the lower classes, who have to work to earn a living to survive, and this demonstrates her
hypocrisy and that of the upper class in Victorian society. She judges characters before and without
knowing their true personality or situation, for example, she tells Jack to “acquire some relations as soon
as possible” She judges Jack on his lack of family – something he has no control over – and shows no
emotion towards Jack when finding out he is an orphan. Wilde uses this as a reflection of typical Victorian
society, showing little emotion, especially in public. It also shows their hypocrisy, and how they measure
people at first meeting. The word “acquire” is unsympathetic, showing her harsh and compassionless
personality. Wilde uses her to inject humour into the play, and this line shows that as the audience knows
it’s impossible to ‘acquire’ family. He also uses hyperbole with her speech to show humour, such as the
line, “could hardly expect our only daughter to marry into a cloak – room”. Wilde also writes, “In families
of high positon strange coincidences are not supposed to occur”. Wilde endeavours to show Lady
Bracknell’s sense of superiority and her arrogance where families of high society should have nothing
strange in their loves, and they need to be perfect. This therefore shows the sense of superiority the upper
classes had over those of the lower classes. However, it can also be seen as ironic, as it does happen to an
aristocratic family, so Wilde uses Lady Bracknell and her family to show that despite their wealth and
status, families of high society are no different than the lower class families, and their sense of superiority
is false. Lady Bracknell also describes the street Jack lives on as having an “unfashionable side” She has
incredibly specific views on how society should be and how to uphold the values of an aristocratic society,
which Wilde uses to highlight her shallowness. It also adds humour as the audience knows that there’s no
such thing as an ‘unfashionable’ side to a road, so her shallowness is presented through humour. This
could have been used by Wilde to show his aristocratic audiences in Victorian England when the play was
written how absurd their behaviour could be, but without offending them. He wants them to question
their values and ideas about society but also have a successful play that attracts audiences and earns him
money.
Wilde also presents Lady Bracknell as being very aristocratic and set in her views on society and how her
status as being one of the upper class makes her superior to those around her. Wilde uses her to portray
how the upper classes are scared of the lower classes revolting and threatening their position of power and
authority. She talks about “acts of violence in Grosvenor Square”, and is concerned about the threat posed
to her and her level of society by the lower classes. She doesn’t want the “worst excesses of the French
Revolution” to be repeated in England, so she knows what a revolution would do to her authority and in
addition that this fear of the lower classes had spread across Europe. Wilde endeavours to criticise the
Victorian upper classes for being against the lower classes wanting a better life for themselves. Lady
Bracknell is scared the “unfortunate movement” will be repeated in England. Again, those Wilde seeks to
criticise will be part of his audience, so he uses Lady Bracknell’s character to condemn them and their
