The victorian research that i did in class was very helpful in understanding the play. I wouldn't have understood the subtext or underlying meaning as well if i hadn't looked up some of my victorian areas of interest such as education. I learned that education was made compulsory during the victorian age, and that it was mainly taken seriously by the upper-class as they would commonly be home educated. This is what makes Cecily so funny. She constantly complains that she doesn't like her german lessons when she should be grateful for them: "I don't like german. It isn't at all a becoming language." p. 37

Also throughout the book marriage is portrayed more as a market rather than a quest for love.

Lady Bracknel Wont let her daughter marry Jack because he doesn't have enough social status.

The younger characters in the book are seeking true-love where the older, family leaders are only seeking to up their standing in society. I did research on marriage in the victorian age and found that this was truly the case. Marriage was allot less love-oriented in the victorian age and the play that it is in modern society.