Marxism and Importance of Being Earnest, Essay Example

A Marxist Criticism of “The Importance of Being Earnest”

Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest” arrived at the turn of the century- at a time which would prove to change. During the next century, the world passed through modernism and into post-modernism, and Wilde’s play included many of the themes and literary styles which would become popular much later. What would Karl Marx have to say about this masterpiece? Marx called post-modernism an agenda rooted in the ‘golden age of capitalism’. (Daly 88) Yet the themes of love across class lines would resonate with the Marxist socialism which predicted that the gap between the classes would increase to the point of the collapse of capitalist society. The second act of the play begins to justify the quests of two men who are considered unworthy husbands, and the third act returns to the silliness which dumps the knowledge and ethics of Act Two on its head.

Jack Worthing’s constant posing as Ernest may be one of the most confusing details to consider from Karl Marx’s point of view. After all, it eventually leads to the attempts of his best friend, Algernon, to marry the granddaughter of Jack’s late adoptive father. This granddaughter, Cecily, is under Jack’s guardianship. However, as a direct result of the tolerance for the wealthy and established classes in England, Jack’s connection to Algernon allows this social no one to rise above his usual level, the level which they all later find out that he was born into. While Algernon genuinely cares for Cecily and comes from a rich family, the realities of his still-uncertain future force any family of that time period to consider him a wild card. It is important to remember that these events take place in England- where the division of the classes is considered important but not subject to as much change as in America’s five-minutes-of-fame capitalism. Each of these couples attempts to marry out of love, are obstructed by wealth or family ties, and then are freed by those same barriers. Another Wilde, ethical philosopher Lawrence Wilde, writes of Marxism as the “discovery of a common humanity…in need of liberation through the overcoming of capitalism and its structures of alienation.” (Daly 91) Marxist philosophies consider the vanities of Lady Bracknell, Cecily, and Gwendolen a method of isolation and class separation, and the ironies the “discovery of a common humanity”. (Daly 91) The couples all try to appeal to Lady Bracknell’s sense of justice and fairness first; she is not moved. Marx hated theories of fairness because they produced no action and tended to cause arguments which changed nothing. (Miller 851-852) When Jack blackmails the lady into allowing his marriage, the couples get what they want.

Karl Marx would have shunned the “Bunburyist”. (Wilde 359) After all, leading a double life belongs to the luxuries of people rich or privileged enough to do more than survive or live well; these Bunburyists must draw enough attention to be considered important people and must be rich enough to have no need to worry about the costs of two separate lives. Each of these men live two lives, and only think of themselves in both lives. The vanity of too much freedom for the wealthy classes would have disgusted Marx, who constantly warned that it causes the destruction of civilized societies. An appeal to fairness, wrote Marx, produced as much effect in the real world as it did in “The Importance of Being Earnest”—none. (Miller 847-848) Their final success is hidden in some ridiculous antics. Yes, Marx would hate this play and love to hate it.

Works Cited

Wilde, Oscar. “The Importance of Being Earnest,” Ways In: Reading and Writing about Literature and Film, 2^nd ed: 340-410. 2003. Print.

Daly, Glyn. “Marxism(s) and Post-Marxism(s).” Years Work Crit Cult Theory, 9 (1): 22-32. 2002, Web. Retrieved 27 May 2014 from < http://ywcct.oxfordjournals.org/>.

Miller, Richard W. “Marx In Analytic Philosophy: The Story Of A Rebirth.” Social Science Quarterly (University Of Texas Press) 64.4 (1983): 846-861. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 27 May 2014.