Hypocrisy, Folly, and Victorian Morality Theme Analysis

A witty wordsmith, Wilde exposes the hypocrisy of the Victorians’ strict social mores through puns, paradoxes, epigrams, and inversions in the characters’ actions and dialogue. For instance the characters often say and do the opposite of what they mean, or intend. Gwendolen flips “style” and “sincerity” when she says, “In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity is the vital thing.” One would expect that “sincerity” should take precedence over “style” in “matters of grave importance” so Gwendolen’s inversion of these words appears not only funny, but also a tad foolish. Another notable inversion is Lady Bracknell’s quicksilver reversal of her approval of Algernon and Cecily’s engagement. Lady Bracknell does not think much of Cecily until she finds out that she is the heiress to a great fortune, which immediately encourages Lady Bracknell to advocate for the match. Ironically, while money alone is sufficient for Lady Bracknell to approve of Algernon’s engagement to Cecily, it is not enough for her to approve of Jack’s proposal to her own daughter Gwendolen.

Lady Bracknell exposes her hypocritical nature further when she says she disapproves of “mercenary marriages.” Yet her marriage to Lord Bracknell was motivated primarily by money—“When I married Lord Bracknell I had not fortune of any kind. But I never dreamed of allowing that to stand in my way.” Lady Bracknell’s hypocritical attitude towards marriage is not just humorous and ironic; it is also a sharp stab at the paradoxical nature of Victorian social mores. Like Lady Bracknell, Dr. Chausible’s opinion on marriage reverses quickly. In his proposal to Miss Prism he staunchly holds that the “Primitive Church did not condone marriage” yet by the plays end he seems well on his way to marrying Miss Prism anyways. Through such reversals Wilde points out the hypocrisy and foolishness of Victorian social standards.