Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest is a satire of the Victorian obsession with morality and earnestness. Jack pretends he has a brother called Earnest in order to protect his family in the country from any form of embarrassment on his behavior in the city, in which he calls himself by his “brother’s” name. Thus, he morally does the right thing, despite his lack of earnestness. His friend, later revealed as Jacks older brother, pretends to be Earnest in order to spend time with Cicely, which I see as morally wrong. The name of Earnest plays a big part of this satiric theme as both Gwendolyn and Cicely admire the qualities it suggests, which, ironically, neither man seems to possess. In conclusion, I believe the author is commenting on how being earnest does not mean one is morally right.
In Elizabeth Browning’s Sonnet 21, the speaker comments on how he or she must hear that they are loved every day in order to still their doubts that they are false. The speaker recognizes that the lover sees each utterance as the skipping of a broken record. The speaker also demands that his or her object of affection loves him or her truly. What the author may have been saying that much true love has been lost as people focus more on properness and moral standards.
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