Get your essays here, 10,000 to choose from!

Limited Time Offer at MyTermPapers!!!

Social Constraints and Oscar Wilde

2 Pages 472 Words November 2018

During the Victorian period, Oscar Wilde’s homosexuality would have been considered a social constraint in Victorian society and an act of homosexuality would have been considered immoral. Being a homosexual man went against what society perceived as the ideal Victorian man who married a suitable woman and had his children. Although Wilde did marry it was a sham and he only did so he could fit into society. This influenced his work in many ways especially in The importance of being earnest as he mocks the values of a typical Victorian man in a way that people would still enjoy and not realize they were being mocked. However some saw through Wilde’s false facade as on February 28th, 1895, only two weeks after The Importance of Being Earnest’s opening night the Marquess of Queensberry publicly accused Wilde of “posing as a somdomite.” He meant “sodomite,” is a very harsh and insulting name for a homosexual. For some time Queensbury had been harassing Wilde with insulting letters, notes, and confrontations and had planned to disrupt the opening night of The Importance of Being Earnest with public exposure. However, this never ended up taking place. At the end of his career, his strong social views on not standing down to society and disagreeing with its views on homosexuality alongside with his effeminate nature may have influenced the aestheticism and moral implications in his work.
Oscar Wilde, had very strong beliefs and views on the social constraints of women in the Victorian society this is reflected through his effeminacy and him being considered a ‘dandy’ so he did not have the views on women which a typical Victorian man would have had, for example typically men saw women as not much more than a child bearer to keep family names and as a moral support for men and to take out the domestic responsibilities. Wilde believed that women should have more freedom away from the typical domestic duties and oppression they...

Page 1 of 2 Next >

Essays related to Social Constraints and Oscar Wilde

Loading...