Socialism and Gender Relations in Oscar Wilde's the Importance of Being Earnest (1895), and a Comparison with George Bernard Shaw's Mrs Warren's Profession (1893/1902)

This thesis first explores Oscar Wilde’s aesthetic and socialist ideas and then examines the ways in which they impact the portrayal of gender relations in his play The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). The thesis analyses how Wilde’s perception of gender roles assigned to men and women by the Victorian Society affects the characters in the play where men are effeminate and more individual, and women are the ones without individualism. The final chapter brings Wilde’s aesthetic socialism into dialogue with George Bernard Shaw’s more traditional socialism, in particular with his portrayal of the position of women in late-Victorian capitalism in his play Mrs Warren’s Profession (1893/1902)