The society presented by Wilde in the first act of 'The Importance of Being Earnest' is the late Victorian society within which he lived. This society was highly influenced by the nouveau riche and aristocracy. Wilde's play focuses upon this sphere of social society with its drawing room setting. The late nineteenth century society was very much based upon rigid class distinctions and this comedy of the same period holds this same ideal. Evidence of the society this literature was drawn from can be seen throughout the opening act both in the reportee of the characters and its general...
a modern day audience. The ideal of truth and deception created by Wilde again portrays the superficial and trivial reality of high society during this period when 'keeping up appearances' meant everything in status terms.

In conclusion to this essay, Wilde creates a rigid class and status based superficial society without taking a moral standpoint. He believed in 'art for art's sake' and along with literary devices and humour this is a major factor when studying how Wilde portrays late Victorian society to audiences from varied eras. The play relies upon the interaction of the audience whoever they maybe.