The Preoccupation with Food in Oscar Wil.odt - Nothing says...

Nothing says high society Victorian manners and social constraint like the light refreshment
of a cucumber sandwich at high noon. The paper-thin slices of cucumber between crustless, barely-
buttered, small slices of white bread carefully halved into tiny triangles that can barely be called
food, have become synonymous with politeness and the repressive manners of the upper-class
English. The use of this and other food in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest may
seem inadvertent and innocent. But it is carefully and cleverly placed throughout the play to highlight
the ridiculousness of aristocratic excess and to juxtapose indulgence and lack of restraint with the
stuffy social adherences of the Victorian aristocratic lifestyle. Its function is to mock falsity and point
out the very lack of “earnest-ness” in Victorian life, which is the implication of this comedy of
manners. In this essay, I will show how food is used as escape from the upper class Victorian
lifestyle, how it is used to turn on its head the values held by the upper class and how it gives insight
into the childlike folly of Jack and Algernon.
In The Importance of Being Earnest food is used as an escape from and to avoid the upper
class Victorian lifestyle. Algernon, specifically, uses food as a buffer and an escape from high
society life. Algernon orders cucumber sandwiches for his Aunt Augustus and uses it to cushion the
experience of entertaining her company by “indulging” himself and eating them all. Thus, from the
very beginning, Algernon sets himself up as a man with a considerable appetite. “With his servants
Algy does not wear a mask of manners and the audience gets to know his nature before he is
enmeshed with other characters…Algernon sits in his morning room eating Lady Bracknell’s
cucumber sandwiches and his first conversation is about his appetite”. (Ware 23).
ALGERNON. And speaking of the science of Life, have you got the cucumber sandwiches
cut for Lady Bracknell?
LANE. Yes, sir. [Hands them on a salver.]
ALGERNON. [Inspects them, takes two and sits down on the sofa.] Oh, by the way, Lane, I
see from your book that on Thursday night, when Lord Shoreham and Mr. Worthing were
dining with me, eight bottles of champagne are entered as having been consumed. ( Earnest

act 1)
It is clear that Algernon deems food and drink important. Even Jack points out his gluttonous
reputation when he remarks in Act 1, “Eating as usual I see Algy!“ Algernon indulges himself for
pleasure and escape. If he cannot escape through taking care of his pretend invalid friend, Bunbury,
or through “Bunburying “ as he calls it, he escapes through his indulgence in food. “Algernon’s
appetite in the first scene is consistent throughout the play. It is the leitmotif that reminds us of
Bunbury”.