Satire is defined to be the use of humor to ridicule faults and vices. The Importance of Being Earnest written by Oscar Wilde is a social satire, using irony and paradoxes to insinuate the problems and faults found in the Victorian society. The Importance of Being Earnest is set in the late Victorian Era during a social reform. The class system was defined by the animosity between classes, the upper class treating the lower class …showed first 75 words of 860 total…

…showed last 75 words of 860 total…almost a definition of satire drawing attention to the vices of society, but also the discrimination and hypocritical behaviour of those who were part of it. I would define The Importance of Being Earnest as a social satire. The play exaggerates the negative aspects of the Victorian society and plays it up in a comical manner. Wilde's clever use of wit and irony is used to indirectly make criticism of Victorian social expectations and behavior.