Abstract： The Importance of Being Earnest is one of the most well-known and successful social comedies of Oscar Wilde. This farce comedy， as a treasure in literature， has aroused much attention and enduring attraction. This paper mainly adopts the methods of analysis， contrast and example illustration to discuss some of the female characters in The Importance of Being Earnest from the aspect of feminism and try to reveal how feminism enlightens the works in the late Victorian era.

Key Words： feminism; social comedy; late Victorian era; manifestation

Introduction

The Importance of Being Earnest is generally acknowledged as the representative play of Oscar Wilde. As Jackson said，“It stands out from all Wilde’s works at his contemporary time.”（Jackson：165）Undoubtedly， there are also many controversial comments about it. On no account can we ignore feminine consciousness. However， its author， Oscar Wilde， left us many questions about this play. It is not easy to understand its essence and maybe get misled if readers can not appreciate it from background of the author.

Oscar Wilde （1854-1900）， one of the most remarkable and controversial writers， committed a lot to English literature， even to the literature of the whole world. A lot of literary works mirror the social realities as well as many writers such as Oscar Wilde. His works include fairy tales， novels and so on， but it is his dramatic works that win him fame in the whole world. （Kingston， 2007： 4） Wilde has always been concerned about female in his early writing. In his works， Wilde shapes female as independent and smart characters. Besides， they are romantic and persistent. Compared with other writers， the female in Wilde’s writing are full of more rebellious spirit， more freedom thoughts and stronger self-consciousness. It is apparent to readers that female is not the traditional symbolic sign in his works any more， but individual image with practical significance and value. With the gradual awakening of female in Wilde’s works， they mostly get rid of the identity as ornamentation in upper class and own independent personality， which make them get respect and love from their husbands. Moreover， their ideology and life attitude play a vital role in the stability of family and marriage.

In recent years， his social comedy The Importance of Being Earnest has been given enough attention both home and abroad and causes some critical attention. Therefore， many essays on The Importance of Being Earnest appear in academic journals， but many interpret it within a limited range of perspectives. In the early years of 1923， John Drinkwater， as a poet and playwright affirms the originality of this play. （Xueping Wu，2007：4） Harold Bloom specially writes Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest： Modern Critical Interpretation （Bloom，1989） to assess this play. Major critical studies focus on Wilde’s dandyism and homosexuality. Most radical essays are written to discuss culture study and social values or study the aestheticism.

However， as far as Wilde’s women characters are concerned， critics seldom analyze them intensively except for his play Salome. So， this paper is to focus on some of the women characters in The Importance of Being Earnest and try to show how feminism enlightens the works and take interest in some more feminist study on Oscar Wilde’s works.

ⅠSpecific Manifestations of Representative Female

Gwendolen， as one of the heroins， is young and beautiful. Meanwhile， she is na?ve but courageous and passionate. When she loves Jack， she casts secular norms aside. And she wildly loves Jack， who seems to be a prince in her heart and she does not consider Jack’s status and wealth. In Gwendolen’s mind， she passionately and simply loves Jack as much as Jack loves her.

In the 19th century， the dualistic-social-structure between masculine and feminine has constituted the main cultural structure. Naturally， social tradition requires that male should be virile and female should be docile and obedient. （Sinfield， 1994） But Gwendolen is not very submissive. For example， when Jack proposes to Gwendolen， her mother sees the scene ， saying，“Mr. Worthing！ Rise， sir， from this semi recumbent posture. It is most indecorous”. And Gwendolen reacts， “Mamma！ I must beg you to retire. This is no place for you. Besides， Mr. Worthing has not quite finished yet.”Further more， when Jack tries to rise， she restrains him.（Wilde， 21）From this description， it is obvious that Gwendolen is not an obedient child as tradition requires and she dares to be against her mother’s authority. There is no doubt that her deeds show her rebellious spirit. Still in Act One， when her mother asks Gwendolen to wait for her below in the carriage， Gwendolen and Jack blow kisses to each other behind Lady Bracknell’s back. （Wilde， 22） This sentence demonstrates her noncompliance to her mother. And when Lady Bracknell disagrees on her relationship with Jack， Gwendolen secretly meets Jack and tells him“ Whatever influence I ever had over mamma， I lost at the age of three. But although she may prevent us from becoming man and wife， and I may marry some one else， and marry often， nothing that she can possibly do can alter my eternal devotion to you.” （Wilde， 31） This is the true voice and manifesto from her heart about her attitude towards her love， which is overt rebellion for her free choice. From this， we can see her mother cannot control Gwendolen’s mind. On no account can we ignore Act Three when Gwendolen says“ The home seems to me to be the proper sphere for the man. And certainly once a man begins to neglect his domestic duties he becomes painfully effeminate， does he not？ And I don’t like that. It makes men so very attractive.” （Wilde， 70） The above depiction shows that Gwendolen’s opinion to man in society.

And as we all know， in that period， it takes it for granted that women should be Angel in House and go around their family. However， Gwendolen holds the view that the home seems to her to be the proper sphere for the man. Undoubtedly， it is the manifestations about Gwendolen， who is the typical representative to bravely pursue love and free marriage. She does not care for her parents’ opposition and break through the constraint of some traditional thought， in order to express her love to Jack. There is denying that it subverts the system of patriarchy in that era.

Like Gwendolen， Cecily is the other heroin in this play. She is intelligent and well-educated. As a beautiful young female， Cecily is brave enough. When Chasuble listens what Cecily has learned， he asks doubtfully“ Reading Political Economy， Cecily？ It is wonderful how girls are educated nowadays.” （Wilde， 38） Because he can not believe that Cecily as a young girl should accept the knowledge that man should learn. From this scene， it is apparent that female makes efforts to pursue the equal rights as well as male， which are not only the equality in politics， economy and job， but also in education. Through the dialogue between Cecily and Miss Prism in Act two， it appears that female is not the fragments of traditional culture. On the contrary， they gradually awaken and make progress to improve their status through education.

And Cecily is the awakening female， she arms herself with knowledge. She not only learns German and geography but also political economy that seems to be the topics of male in that period. Knowledge enables female to have their own voice in society. And when Algernon tells Cecily she has a mission to reform him. Cecily responds“ How dare you suggest that I have a mission？” Algernon says “I beg your pardon： but I thought every woman had a mission of some kind， nowadays.”And then Cecily answers“Every female has！ No woman.”（Wilde， 41）Usually， female includes young girl， but woman does not. These words from Cecily express she possesses the awareness of equality between female and male. Cecily says“ Well， I admit I am glad to hear that you have a bad memory. Good memories are not a quality that women admire much in men.” （Wilde， 57） and“No， men are so cowardly， aren’t they？” （Wilde， 78） This depiction shows female has sufficient speaking right to reveal male’s cowardice and weakness.

Compared with two heroes， two female heroines are more graceful and initiative. Gwendolen and Cecily are all educated well and they are not in passive and suppressive position. In Act two， as ladies in the upper class， Gwendolen and Cecily absolutely know they should behave themselves well and be reserved in public. However， at the tea table， they are rude and do not give consideration to the secular norms about female in order to fight for a man named Earnest. It goes without saying that there remain male aggressiveness and invasion under cover of their docile and submissive appearance， which apparently is the confrontation to gender perspective in Victorian Age.

There are other manifestations of other female characters， especially through the following dialogue. Lady Bracknell：“I’m sorry if we are a little late， Algernon， but I was obliged to call on dear Lady Harbury.I hadn’t been there since her poor husband’s death. I never saw a woman so altered; she looks quite twenty years younger...”Lady Bracknell：“It really makes no matter， Algernon. I had some crumpets with Lady Harbury， who seems to me to be living entirely for pleasure now.”Algernon：“I hear her hair has turned quite gold from grief.”Lady Bracknell：“It certainly has changed its color. From what cause I， of course， cannot say. （Wilde， 16）According to the common sense， a wife will become older when she loses her husband. However， Lady Harbury looks quite twenty years younger and turns her hair quite gold rather than grey when her husband dies. It is easy to understand that losing husband is a kind of liberation for Lady Harbury. But the key point is she is not entrenched in traditional view for mourning her husband. Oppositely， she is out of rule， which is her rebellion against the rigid society and for her freedom.

Ⅱ The Causes for Female Rebellion

On the one hand， Victorian Age is generally considered as the peak of the whole British Empire. The whole country has benefitted from its first completion of Industrial Revolution. The great wave of the Industrial Revolution has swelled England’s cities. So， people living in a solid economic foundation pay more attention to various social phenomena and have some new thoughts under the traditional value system. There is strict control in individual’s basic desire， and the whole society advocates moral cultivation and modesty， to make it a rational and restrained society for gentleman. （Wenjuan Liu， 2013：99）

On the other hand， the late Victorian era is mainly a typically traditional male-dominated society. Naturally， in such society， female is asked to be gentle， beautiful， kind and pure in patriarchal society， which obviously has numerous injustices and irrationalities. So， in this society female can never always be satisfied as male’s accessories and decorations.

With the “New Woman” growing increasingly vocal in her demands for freedom， education， political power， and clothes that allowed her to move and breathe easily while she campaigns for equality. Naturally， the late Victorian Age becomes the primary of women’s liberation movement in England. At that time， with the humanism rising and human rights being respected， subject consciousness is increasing. The women are not satisfied with under man’s wing. They start to find access to self-development in pursuing freedom and marriage. Tradition women gradually get rid of obedience and tolerance and become self-confident and independent. The Importance of Being Earnest is the representative play of Oscar Wilde.

Conclusion

The story of The Importance of Being Earnest ends up with happy ending. The heroines surpass contradiction and accept the heroes’ pedantic mistakes with a tolerant attitude. Wilde gives the full affirmation to female for the pursuit of equal rights.

In conclusion， through the analysis of the play The Importance of Being Earnest， we can find out Wilde’s attitude to female in Victorian Age.

Female in his works mostly owns certain personality characteristics and free will. Wilde presents a group of new women who are exempted from secular restraint and bravely pursue love to realize self-value through individual effort from the author’s perspective. The revolutionary overturn of traditional gender character in Wilde’s works right reflects voice of feminist in the late Victorian era. This play is of great practical significance and the heroines’ pursuit of female power deserves modern female learning and using for reference.

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