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The Victorian age defined most of the last quarter of the nineteenth century, when England was at its highest point. At the time, the British Empire comprised about one quarter of the world's land area and population and encompassed territories on every continent. For much of this century the term Victorian, which literally describes things and events in the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901), conveyed associations of “aristocracy,” “social status,” and “proper behavior”. The era saw the booming of the English aristocracy, and Victorian England saw great expansion of wealth, power, and culture. More than anything else, what makes Victorians Victorian is their sense of social responsibility. These elements of wealth, power, and social responsibility are seen throughout Oscar Wilde’s play, The Importance of Being Earnest. The Importance of Being Earnest, written by Oscar Wilde was first performed in 1895. It is a play in which Wilde, rather than focusing on the lower classes which, was typically the norm for this era, chose to satirize the life of the English aristocracy. The most prevalent main concern of all the characters in the play is something that Wilde seemed to view as rather trivial: marriage. Wild