Guilty Of The Manipulative Desires For Marriage example essay topic

All the Wrong Reason to Marry The work that will be discussed in this essay is the "The Importance of Being Ernest" and it was written by Oscar Wilde. The topic of marriage in this play involves the manipulative desires and dishonest values of marriage. The female characters in this story including Cecily, Gwendolen, and Lady Bracknell are all guilty of scheming and controlling marriage. The desires and mentalities of these women are identical to the women of the Victorian Period.

The men in this play are also guilty of the manipulative desires for marriage. Oscar Wilde's work is an aggression on Victorian Society because marriage was used as a social convenience. Oscar Wilde gives foreshadowing in the beginning of the play of what he has in mind about marriage. "Good Heavens! Is marriage so demoralizing as that?" (Wilde 1762) This essay will be proving the critique of marriage being used as a social tool. During the Victorian Period, women did not have a choice of their role in society and there rights were very limited.

The main factor was the lack of education that was available for women. The only education a woman could receive was to become a teacher or a nurse, but this extremely limited. The majority of women were taught to get married, have children, and be a housewife. Women were born and raised to have children, be a wife, and rely on men for everything and anything.

Married during this time were controlled by there husbands because they had no rights. Issues regarding ownership of property and divorce were terrible for women giving them basically no rights. The desire of manipulating marriage in "The Importance of Being Ernest" is directly related to these factors. Oscar Wilde portrays his characters regarding these factors and has a point to teach his audience the flaws about marriage. The characters in this work are all involved in manipulative desires regarding marriage. The main reason for marriage should be because of the affection, love and closeness you have for someone.

On the contrary, the characters in this story all have uncharacteristic reasons for marriage. The women in this story who wish to marry are interested in their spouses solely because of their notorious backgrounds. Gwendolen is stimulated to marry Jack because he was found as an infant in Victoria Station and also because she adores the name Ernest. Cecily wishes to marry Algernon because of his notorious behavior and sinful reputation. These examples portray that these women want to marry for all the wrong reasons.

Algernon and Jack have manipulative desires for marriage as well. Algernon decides that he wants to marry Cecily upon just meeting her, proving he based his decision on the fact that she is young and pretty. It seems questionable why Jack would want to marry Cecily because he is aware of how egocentric she is. These situations all prove my thesis because marriage is merely being used as a social tool. The characters in this story have all the wrong reasons they wish to marry. Oscar Wilde has the correct values regarding marriage, and he tries to teach his audience by writing about all the immoral motives that are present in this story.

Lady Bracknell is in a league of her own with issues regarding marriage. Her views of marriage are solely based on social position, financial status, and reputation. Unfortunately, women during the Victorian Period did share the same views as her. This again proves people choosing marriage for all the wrong reasons and using it solely as a social tool. She viewed marriage as being a financial arrangement, meaning that women must marry a rich man that can take care of her very comfortably. Lady Bracknell refuses to allow the marriage of Jack and Gwendolen because he was an orphan.

She also does not consent to Cecily's marriage until she finds out about his riches. Lady Bracknell would be associated with the term used today gold-digger. All of these characters have one-dimensional and ridiculous reasons for which they wish to marry. Oscar Wilde continues to teach the audience about the unimportance and worthlessness regarding marriage with his characters actions and attitudes.