The Influence of Victorian Culture on Wilde’s Comedy The Importance of Being Earnest

Defining Victorianism

You will use The Victorian Web to respond to questions about some of the principal developments in Victorian society and the arts. Create a document with the questions and answers.

1. Using the Victorianism section of The Victorian Web, read through several of the brief articles that will help you understand broadly what is meant by the term Victorian.

Then write your own brief definition of Victorianism.

2. Using the Social History section, visit several links under the headings “Public Health” and “Conditions of Life and Labor.”

Then create a character from the lower classes. Write a short statement this character might deliver describing a day in his or her life, basing your information on your readings. Include details on his or her type of employment, general state of health, and hopes and aspirations.

3. Using the Visual Arts section, scroll down to “Painting.” Explore several links and locate and view several paintings. Select “A Victorian Iconography: Subjects in Victorian Painting” for quick access to themes and images.

Then select one painting you have found and describe it considering the following: What is the painting’s subject? What details does the artist choose to include? What values does the painting seem to promote?

4. using the Authors section, explore several of the authors listed on this page, skimming his or her biography, works, literary relations, themes, and symbolism.

Select one author and explain how his or her work is typical of the Victorian period.

5. Read The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde to learn about late-Victorian society’s love for manners and conventional behavior.

Identify the social classes portrayed by the play, their values, and the specific techniques used to criticize them.