Abstract

This paper examines The Importance of Being Earnest (1899) through a Marxist perspective of Oscar showing how Wilde critiques Victorian middle class values and exposes the persistence of class division. Wilde uses irony, inversion, and humour to challenge rigid class divisions, the economic nature of marriage, and focuses on appearances over relationships. Using the concept of Ideological State Apparatuses (ISAs), the study argues that although Jack and Algernon try to challenge social expectations through their shifting, they are deeply shaped by the institutions that shape them. The comic ending does not disrupt the social order but instead highlights how class ideology continues to endure. In the end, Wilde’s work offers a critique that reveals how individuals are shaped by systems of power and hierarchy and struggles that still appear today.