Upper Class vs Lower Class

Wezly barnard
Society today is broken up into different levels when it comes to the status of a persons finacial backround. People are classed into lower class, middle class, and upper class in order with how much money they have. Oscar Wilde illustrates his play The importance of being earnest how those people who are part of upper class society believe they can get away with anything. This is evident in the characters of Jack and Algy who try to be someone they are not in oder to be accepted at dinning tables and when traveling to town.
ALGERNON I believe it is customary in good society to take some slight refreshments at five o’ clock
This indicates how Algy feels about people who are part of the upper class as he refers to “good society.” Algy becomes what he refers to as a Bunburyist, which is a person who is pretending to be someone els.
ALGERNON I have invented an ivaluable permanent invalid called Bunbury.
Algy invents this character to be able to dine with those people of the upper class in oder to feel a part of them or be accepted amost fashionable people. Jack also creates a character by the name of Earnest, who he explains is his brother. Jack uses this character to try and win the heart of Gwendolen and believes the only way to win her is by being Earnest.
JACK If Gwendolen accepts me , I am going to kill my brother.
Gwendolen comes from a rich backround and is looked after by Lady Bracknel who most illustrates how rich people can be hypocritical. Lady Bracknel does not approve of Jack and Gwendolen because Jack is not a high class man.
LADY BRACKNEL I feel bound to tell you that you are not down on my list of eligible young men…., do you smoke?
JACK Well, yes, I admit I smoke
LADY BRACKNEL Im glad to hear it.
This part of the play shows how rich people class themselves as better than people of o lower class. Lady Bracknel is asking questions to see if she will approve of Jack and what he has or does, but does not worry about what type of person he might be. This can even be related to in society today. In reality people do see themselves as better than other if they have more financialy. If a person has a lot of money, they will have a better house, car, and socialise in places for higher class people. Rich people can even get away with more when it comes to breaking the law. These people then start to believe they are better than those who do not have money.The ending of the play is unexpected and everything falls into place after a lot of lying between characters. Jack wins Gwendolen and Algy wins Cecily and Jack finds out that Lady Bracknel is actualy his aunt. This illustrates the hypocritical character of Lady Bracknel as she also is part of the lying that goes on in the play.it proves that just because a person might have more than someone els, does not mean they are better or more powerful than that person.