Mary Wollstonecraft and The Importance of Being Earnest Essay

Mary Wollstonecraft would have found in the witty comedy The Importance of Being Earnest a junior-grade vindication of her ideologies. Wilde touched on many issues that Mary Wollstonecraft herself had strong opinions on, such(prenominal) as, primarily, equality in confederation, including related concepts such as conjugation, social responsibility, sex activity and gender roles, and independence. Wollstonecraft had argued for the rightfulnesss of man, and then extended her arguments to cover women in particular, whom she felt were in fixly debased and exploited in Victorian society.She treasured a motley in British law that would grant women equal rights of property upon marriage. close known for her radical feminist stance, Wollstonecraft was deeply concerned about the status of females in society. She argued that the womanly innocence is actually just a dampen name for miserable ignorance, saying that most women were unjustifiably kept in ignorance, and were valued for, a nd expected to give value to, appearances only, and she argued that women were educated to be glossy to men.She argued for the education of women, and espoused the basic feminist assumptions of equality of men and women. She was particularly contrasted to the idea of women being educated to become submissive. Wollstonecraft as well contended that everyone, including women, had a right to be independent, and she envisioned a society where all were equal, where women had equal opportunities she wanted women to hold power over themselves Wollstonecrafts societal concerns argon echoed in Wildes play. In the play, marriage is a dominant theme, and is shown as a strong moving force, a motivation for many of the characters actions.Marriage, according to the skirt Bracknell at least, is a womans obligation. Algernon and Jack discuss whether marriage is a matter of business or pleasure, which is in some sort a questioning of the institution of marriage as it was practiced then. Wildes p lay reflected the ceremonious views of Victorian society, and the Victorian clique system is also parodied effectively. In Victorian England society social position was everything, and the upper class viewed themselves as having virtues unquestionable by the take down classes.In Victorian society appearances were also of paramount importance this is seen particularly in Gwendolen, when she insists on the correct performance of her marriage proposal above all else. The focus on appearances by the upper class furthered the superior attitude of the upper classes. The disconnection between the upper and lower classes is widened because of this, to the detriment of other values such as equality and to the perpetuation of the exploitation of the lower classes.Wollstonecraft had wanted a revolution in female manners in the play the women represent roles that contradicted reality and thus presented a possibility of a change in gender roles. Lady Bracknell had a dominant personality Gwe ndolyn and Cecily are shown as relatively headstrong and in charge of themselves, as opposed to the conventional expectations of society Algernon and Jack are somewhat passivethereby foreground the cookie-cutter roles persons were supposed to assume in society. There is also a suggestion of sexuality in the women characters, as evidenced by their flirtatiousness.We are also reminded of Wollstonecrafts views on education in the play. Lady Bracknell approves of ignorance, explaining that The unharmed theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a sobering danger to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence The upper class, of course, was evoke in preserving the existing social structure, which allowed for unequal treatment and subjugation of the lower classes. .This focus on appearances translates to the oppression of those who cannot keep up appearancesthat is, the lower classes. such(prenominal) a focus is seen in Lady Bracknells attitude towards Jack, to whom she is mixture until she discovers his origins, or when she becomes very king to Cecily when she discovers the Cecily is rich. All in all, the play touches on Wollstonecrafts primary ideological concerns, and is easily considered a blatant irony of Victorian England society. The play is a vehicle of ideas for social change, much wish well Wollstonecrafts works. She would have approved.