Satire In The Marriage Of Algernon By Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde is a satirical writer, and while he did not disapprove of marriage and other social customs, he does makes fun of its traditional sacredness—because its happiness eluded him also in his personal life. Some people would say that Oscar Wilde did not agree with marriage because that’s the obvious take-away from the book (and also because of the decisions he made in his own life). Good writers are able to poke fun of certain social mores, by relaying their opposite points of view. When Jack mentions he has come to propose, Algernon says, “I thought you had come up for pleasure?...I call that business” (page 15). To Algernon, marriage is nothing but a business contract, saying “[t]he Divorce Court was specially invented for people whose memories are so curiously constituted” (page 15). In this character’s view, marriage

Algernon doesn’t have a positive view on marriage, and in fact, views it as “demoralizing.” The author flip-flops what is trivial and what is important. Through the use of satire, he may actually make the opposite point of view: that certain traditions are sacred and relevant in society.

Algernon and Jack have created double personas, Bunbury and Earnest. They did this because they wanted to appear more established and wealthy than they really were. Dishonesty is at the root of their actions, as they try to create the illusion of being someone different than they were and associating with higher-class people. The women they were trying to marry liked them in return because they just liked the name Earnest and had their hearts set on marrying two fellows with such an extraordinary name. Wilde proves his satire by exaggerating such an