Victorian societal conventions Essay Example

Victorian societal conventions Essay Example Victorian societal conventions Essay Victorian societal conventions Essay Ironically, these goals are to fit in with the society one more, thus underlining the futility of her quest. Lady Windermere vacillates between adhering to societal conventions and has followed her instincts in her emotions. By the end of the play she is convinced she has made the right decision, ultimately serving to demonstrate how difficult it is for an individual to break away from the expectations of society. These contrasting themes once again aid in the plot; this is because of how the characters all talk about Mrs Erlynne, saying of how she is a scoundrel and to not be trusted.These accusations are soon scattered around and fall into Lady Windermere’s lap, adding to the tragic stance of the piece. Due to the Victorian societal conventions, anyone that is frowned upon is immediately seen as dirt and someone to keep away from. Another thing to keep in mind is that if the play were to have been written in modern day, the consequences of Mrs Erlynne’s actions whilst would still be frowned upon, would not be unheard of. Therefore, her rejection from society would be less likely as society no longer functions in the overall same way that Victorian society did.Finally we have trust and betrayal. Trust is a fairly rare commodity in this play and Wilde seems to suggest that trust is not to be found very easily within Victorian society. Lady Windermere doesn’t trust her husband and is quick to believe that he has betrayed her. In return, she seems only too eager to betray him with Lord Darlington. Lord Windermere is forced to trust Mrs Erlynne in a way as he hopes that her intentions towards her daughter are benign and that she won’t try to drag all of them into the mire.This trust is then rewarded at the end of the play as Mrs Erlynne leaves with the potential scandal avoided. Wilde could be suggesting that there isn’t enough trust and far too much deception and betrayal, and that in order to get ahead in life one must learn to be brave and trust others a bit more. Trust and betrayal are very important themes in Lady Windermere’s Fan as without them, there wouldn’t be much of a story to tell or at least, a less interesting one. This is because, without the idea of betrayal the level of tragedy would have greatly decreased, in turn possibly causing less intrigue and viewer enjoyment.Wilde has also once again, skilfully and linguistically hidden another truth of the world and how it works. Overall, I believe that all the contrasting themes in Lady Windermere’s Fan play important parts in not only creating an initial idea for the play but also, to continue the play with fluent language that will draw in the viewer and even make them think. Not only do these themes entice the viewer, they create a complex and interesting story line to last years.