Matriarchal Figures in The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde a

Matriarchal Figures in The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde and Persuasion by Jane Austen ‘A dominant female member of the family’[1] is often described as a matriarch. Lady Bracknell in ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ and Lady Russell in ‘Persuasion’ fulfill this role therefore can be described as matriarchs, and as such they play vital roles. They affect the lives of Gwendolen and Anne, by imposing their beliefs on them. Although Lady Russell is not related to any of the characters in ‘Persuasion’, after Anne’s mother died Lady Russell took on the role of her mother. Lady Russell has some control over Anne, as Anne ‘had always loved and relied on’ her and cannot believe she would ‘be continually advising her in vain’. The matriarchs are pivotal as they are the prime reasons for the plots’ complications; Lady Bracknell tries to prevent two potential marriages between Jack and Gwendolen, and Algernon and Cecily, and she is the reason Jack finds out about his family connections. Lady Russell persuades Anne not to marry Wentworth causing eight years of heartache and misery, as she was wrongly persuaded. She induces further complications by trying to persuade Anne to marry William Walter Elliot, when Anne and Wentworth meet again. Lady Bracknell’s importance is enhanced because she overshadows her husband, which is true to her matriarch ways, and he occupies a subordinate position. Lady Bracknell has taken the opposite role to that which society accepted in the 1890’s, her husband stays at home, while she goes to social gatherings. Her husband’s role is summed up in Gwendolen’s speech to Cecily about her father. ‘The home seems to be the proper sphere for the man. And certainly, once a m... ...y say that Anne should marry for money ‘she deprecated the connexion [to Wentworth] in every light’, and only approves of alliances with men with money, such as Charles Musgrove and William Walter Elliot. The matriarchs actions and advice to women would be ‘don’t marry for money, but go where money is’[8]. [1] The Pocket Oxford Dictionary [2] York Advanced Notes ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ [3] Richard Foster , Wilde as Parodist: A Second Look at The Importance of Being Earnest [4] Inside the House of Fiction, ‘Jane Austen’s Cover Story’ [5] Dan Rebellato, Drama Classics Series, ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ [6] York Notes Advanced – ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ [7] Richard Foster , Wilde as Parodist: A Second Look at The Importance of Being Earnest [8] Juliet McMaster , Alfred Lord Tennyson as quoted in ‘Class’