Timeless message of equality in The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar WildeThe Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde satirizes Victorian society. His characters' witty epigrams provide light comedy masking the underlying theme of criticism of the Victorian way of life. Wilde's effective use of humor diffuses the tense theme of his work. In a Victorian society that emphasized progress, it was precarious for artists like Oscar Wilde to express an imperfect interpretation of life in 19th-century England. Wilde's attack on the ethics of his time is an attempt to fulfill the author's prophecy that art has the power to dictate life, not just imitate it (614-615). At a time when the world was measuring the progress of empirical research, Wilde chose to use the English language rather than the scientific method to transform society. The Importance of Being Serious satirizes two main social constructs: social class and gender relations. In The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde mocks upper-class characters to bring about a change in the social construction of the class system. Wilde satirizing the upper class? pompous attitude, ideas of progress and emphasis on seriousness. Wilde identifies the pompous attitude of the upper class by creating characters with a distorted perception of their importance in society. When Lane, the servant, said there were no cucumbers at the market, "not even for cash?" » (8), Algernon seems surprised that his wealth did not give him the slightest chance of obtaining cucumbers from ordinary mortals. Algernon's subordinate view of Lane also symbolizes his arrogance. At the beginning of the story, Algernon wants to tell Lane about himself, but... middle of paper... art impacts life instead of just imitating it. Wilde was at the forefront of a movement of artists who subverted the limitations of the scientific method to reform society. While The Importance of Being Earnest continues to flourish several years after its writing, Wilde's message of equality between social classes and sexes transcends generations. Oscar Wilde succeeded in transforming the landscape of art and society. Works Cited Keach, William, John Richetti, Bruce Robbins, and Carol Moulton, eds. Adventures in English Literature. Toronto: Holt, Rineheart and Wiston, 1996. 599-615. Kishlansky, Mark, Patrick Geary and Particia O'Brien. Civilization in the West. New York: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers, 1998. 839-843. Wilde, Oscar. The importance of being serious. New York: Dover Publications, 1990.1-54.