Age Isn't Just a Number

Throughout Oscar Wilde’s play, The Importance of Being Earnest, the characters display many immoral actions. One would think that during the Victorian time period it would be a high priority to obtain moral values. Wilde portrays his characters as having the rebellious attitude toward the Victorian culture. This dialogue between Cecily and Lady Bracknell is one of many examples of the immorality exposed during this play.

Cecily: Well, I am really only eighteen, but I always admit to twenty when I go to evening parties. Lady Bracknell: You are perfectly right in making some slight alteration. Indeed, no woman should ever be quite accurate about her age. It looks so calculating….Eighteen, but admitting to twenty at evening parties. Well, it will not be very long before you are of age and free from the restraints of tutelage. So I don’t think your guardian’s consent is, after all, a matter of any importance.

The dialogue between these two characters epitomizes the way people believed and acted in Decadent culture. Cecily believes it is okay to lie about her age at times when she thinks it is appropriate. I would have expected Lady Bracknell to speak up and say something to Cecily about lying about her age, but she, like Cecily, believes there is nothing wrong with it. Of course Lady Bracknell would say that she didn’t need her guardian’s consent to say she was two years older than what she really is because it wouldn’t matter anyways. Her ward or guardian is John Worthing, and he is the one that calls himself Ernest in the city and Jack in the country. There were some really great role models during this time period. I think this is humorous because Lady Bracknell should be someone that helps distinguish between what is right and wrong, but even she thinks there is no harm in lying. Lying about anything is, without a doubt, under the category of immortality. In our society today, lying leads to nothing good. If I were to admit to lying about my age, it would not go unnoticed. I would be punished. In the Decadent culture, it seems to be there are no consequences for the actions people take. The only way a person learns from his or her mistakes is by being punished or having consequences. Wilde took a step away from showing how the characteristics of being honest and trustworthy are of great importance in not just the Victorian culture but in life as well. There is no point in time when lying should be accepted as being moral.

Callie Holloway