A comedy of manners is defined as a form of comedy that satirizes the manners and affectations of a society and questions their high standards. In the Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde uses satire to mock marriage, love and mindset of an aristocratical Victorian society. Usually satirical pieces are used not only to serve as a form of criticism, but to correct the flaws in the characters and make them better in the end. In her dissertation on the play, Sarika Priyadarshini Bose writes that “[one] sacred norm of Victorian morality that the play turns inside out is the other foundational idea of the Victorian family, the value of marriage” (199). (From “Women as Figures of Disorder in the Plays of Oscar Wilde,” 1999). It is evident from reading the play that the “marriage institution” was a very important value at the time. Although there is a division between the characters on whether marriage is pleasant or unpleasant, they all agree that marriage is an important part of life.
Marriage is first introduced in the opening lines of the play, through a discussion between Algernon and his servant, Lane. In this conversation, Lane insinuates that married households usually lack a sense of taste, so much so that they cannot purchase first rate champagne. “I have often observed that in married households the champagne is rarely of a first-rate brand” (Wilde 1). He observes that the champagne in a bachelor’s establishment is usually higher quality, which is why servants tend to over drink. This forces Algernon to wonder if marriage has really become demoralizing to the point where people lack a sense of taste.
Lane says that despite his failed marriage, he thinks that marriage is a pleasant experience, that anyone should venture to have. “I believe it is a very pleasant state, sir. I have had very little experience of it myself up to the present. I have only been married once (Wilde 1)”. Although Algernon does not make his views known during his conversation with Lane, he later says that marriage is an institution that has “absolutely no sense of moral responsibility”.
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Algernon claims that a proposal is more of a business venture rather than one for pleasure. Algernon says, once you are married “the excitement is all over. The very essence of romance is uncertainty” (Wilde 3). According to him, marriage simply kills all of the excitement of being in love, and eventually leads to uncertainty. Algernon has such a negative view on marriage he vows to forget the fact” that he is married the moment he becomes married. Jack says that this mentality is what led to the divorce court. “I have no doubt about that dear Algy. The Divorce Court was specially invented for people whose memories are so curiously constituted” (Wilde 3).
But Algernon disagrees and claims that “Divorces are made in Heaven” (Wilde 3). Algernon says that most people who ae married do not value their marriages, and most of them are capable of flirting with other men while their husbands are in the same room. Algernon is opposed to the idea of Gwendolen (his first cousin) getting married to Jack. He tells Jack that he will occasionally have to lie in order to get away from his wife. This shows that Algernon clearly thinks that all marriages are unpleasant. An opinion that Jack and Lane obviously do not share.
All throughout the play, Oscar Wilde has brought out the nature of marriage in the Victorian society. The characters are divided in the middle among those who believe that marriage is pleasant and those who believe that it is unpleasant. It is evident from reading the play that the “marriage institution” was a very important value at the time. Although there is a division between the characters on whether marriage is pleasant or unpleasant, they all agree that marriage is an important part of life..
