Importance of Being Earnest Values Analysis

In the excerpt from The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde uses characterization and diction to reveal the shallow values in the society that overall is also shallow in nature.

Wilde uses characterization to reveal how shallow the upper class’s values and the society that surrounds them is. For example, Gwendolen (Gwen) and Cecily are quite manipulative, as when they try to use their anger toward Algernon (Algy) and Jack to force them into submission. Even going as far as using a “dignified silence” and being upset when it produces “an unpleasant effect” or in other words, the response they didn’t want. Later on, the character of Gwen is characterized as even more shallow. An example is when she tells Cecily that she “nearly always speak[s] at the same time as other people.” This shows that Gwen cares more for her own words than others and ignores their input on conversations, even cutting them off and inputting her own thoughts. Perhaps this is because she is considered to be of a high upper class, therefore it is most likely excused if she is in the presence of someone with a lower standing in society than her. Later on, satire is used to characterize that men are just as weak as women. This is shown when Gwen says that “men are infinitely beyond” women and Algy and Jack proceed to clasp hands as Jack says “we are.” However, the action of holding hands would show the opposite, that in fact Jack and Algy are on the same level as the women, perhaps even lower as they are manipulated easily into christening themselves for the sake of a pretty wife. When all of the characters have shallow values, it reveals that the society around them has a shallow nature.

Wilde also uses diction to illustrate the character’s shallow values. This is shown when the characters use exaggerated phrases to describe things that shouldn’t be a big deal. For example, Gwen says that their silence produced an “unpleasant” effect and Cecily elaborates that the effect is a “most...