Question

Part 1: A Comedy of Manners: The Importance of Being Earnest:

Jack. May I ask you then what you would advise me to do? I need hardly say I would do anything in the world to ensure Gwendolen’s happiness.

Lady Bracknell. I would strongly advise you, Mr. Worthing, to try and acquire some relations as soon as possible, and to make a definite effort to produce at any rate one parent, of either sex, before the season is quite over.

Jack. Well, I don’t see how I could possibly manage to do that. I can produce the hand-bag at any moment. It is in my dressing-room at home. I really think that should satisfy you, Lady Bracknell.

–The Importance of Being Earnest,
Oscar Wilde

In three to four sentences, explain how this passage uses humor to critique Victorian views about the importance of family.

Answer 1

What makes The Importance of Being Earnest a comedy of manners is the way it satirized the behavior of the Victorian aristocracy.

Answer 2

"The Importance of Being Earnest", by Oscar Wilde, is a critique about how the rules of Victorian society were strictly obeyed. It was very important to have an aristocratic family and an adequate social position. As Jack Worthing was discovered in a handbag in the cloakroom of a railway station he offers, in a humorous way, to produce his handbag in the place of a parent.