Abstract :
The objectives of the study entitled Social Criticism in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest are to (1) describe the social criticisms presented in The Importance of Being Earnest, (2) find out the effects of the social criticism on the main character John Worthing. The writer applies the library research including internet browsing to improve the data collection in order to find the data. The data may be in the form words, phrases, clauses and sentences related to the Social Criticism in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of being Earnest.The sociological approach is used to describe the social criticisms presented in The Importance of Being Earnest, and psychological approach is used to find out the effects of the social criticism on the main character John Worthing.
The character of Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest represents a person from Victorian high class. She rejects John Worthing to marry her only daughter, Gwendolen. The high class has some standard for searching her daughter's husband candidate. John Worthing is a person who has enough authority in country. He also has good working and enough wealth. But,his family background is not clear enough. This condition is un-satisfactory for Lady Brecnell,because the family background is important thing fo someone.Therefore she refuses John Worthing to marry her daughter, although she exactly knows they love each other. Finally Lady Bracknell knows that John Worthing is her own nephew who was lost when he was a child.