The importance of being serious by the famous literary provocateur Oscar Wilde was written in the Victorian era. The statement that "A text reflects the dominant ideologies of the era in which it was written" in reference to The Importance of Being Earnest is completely false. The play explores the inner workings of the Victorian upper class and questions the attitudes and ideologies that society of the time was based on. Wilde notably criticized certain social and financial expectations related to marriage in an upper-class or aristocratic society. Wilde also describes women as having greater social and moral responsibility and power than men, contrary to the ideology that "a woman was inferior to a man" and therefore should be powerless. The immorality of upper class society through their behavior is also criticized. Contrary to this, the only moral characters are the working class represented by Merriman. Therefore, Wilde comprehensively challenges the dominant ideologies of Victorian England through the use of characters and themes. The Importance of Being Earnest was first performed in 1894 during the Victorian period. era. Oscar Wilde was educated at Oxford, prospered at university, and moved to London in 1878, where he was accepted into the aristocratic and bourgeois circles of the day. In this society he developed a set of values ​​and attitudes which influenced his works. The Victorian era was the period in history in which there was a rigid social class structure consisting of a large working class, upper class, aristocracy, and royalty. This rigid structure was supported by a strong patriarchal society, seen as making moral decisions. The Victorian era was a time where... middle of paper ...... strength is more important than love. This view is represented through the figure of Lady Bracknell. Lady Bracknell married well and her main goal in life was to see her daughter Gwendolen do the same. Lady Branknell says: “I am not in favor of long engagements. They give people the opportunity to discover each other's character before marriage, which in my opinion is never advisable.” This shows how society has made the institution of marriage more about politics and status and less about love. A socially respectable marriage has nothing to do with the chemistry between the couple and everything to do with each person's inheritance and wealth. Marriage is supposed to be based on love, Wilde in the play does not represent the ideologies of the era in which it was written, it is a critique of the structure and attitudes held in the society of the time..