More Than Providing Nutrition: Food and Eating in The Importance of Being Earnest

Human beings are programmed to desire food as a source of fuel. More than a necessity to satisfy basic survival needs， food， inextricably connected with eating habits， rituals and dining companions， is also important to understand peoples personality and the society as a whole. With rich symbolic meanings， food-related imagery has long exerted a significant part in literature， particularly in drama to achieve realism and manifest human complexity， thus conveying abstract ideas. In The Importance of Being Earnest （1895）， Oscar Wilde， noteworthy for his witty and humorous writing styles， uses numerous tricky scenarios revolving around food to throw a satirical spotlight on the Victorian society.

Firstly， food serves as a substitute for negative feelings， thus shedding light on the inner world of the characters. Throughout the drama， the character Algernon seems to have an excessive appetite for any form of food， be it cucumber sandwiches or muffins， even when he is not physically hungry. On the one hand， the foods mentioned in the play serve as a tranquilizer or comfort food which provides consolation to people： Based on the idiom “as cool as a cucumber” which refers to someone extremely calm in a difficult situation， cucumber sandwiches could cool people down in times of stress; and muffins， with high carbohydrate level， are believed to “give a distinctive pleasure or temporarily feeling better” （Torres and Nowson 887）. On the other hand， the fact that Algernon tries to hide his excessive appetite in the face of Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen indicates that food is the only way for his emotional catharsis. In the Victorian era， men from the upper class are expected to maintain quite masculine and emotionless appearances， which means that Algernon has to address his emotional problems on his own and his consumption of food thus could be the only suitable way to manipulate his moods in frustrating situations.

Secondly， as food is a common metaphor for sexual desire between couples， the two male characters fight over food could convey sexual implications. According to Stephen Mennell， “food， something that every human being has a carnal need for， could be associated with another carnal desire： sex” （Mennell 162）. Throughout the drama， it seems that the men fight over food the most， especially when they are talking about issues relevant to love and marriage. Their first fight over food， for example， occurs when Algernon is commenting on the nature of marriage and talking about Jacks proposal to Gwendolen. Here， the fact that Jack becomes enthusiastic about eating bread and butter after finding out that Gwendolen is devoted to it clearly shows that the act of eating is an expression of sexual desire. This interpretation could be enforced by Algernons comment on Jack： “You behave as if you were married to her already” （Wilde 8）. In this light， the fact that there are no sandwiches left for Lady Bracknell and that Algernon invents a “Bunbury” in order to avoid dining with her could underline her exclusion from the world of the young couples.

Thirdly， through accounts of eating habits and rituals， Wilde not only blasts against the arrogance of the upper class， but also mocks at the the trivial things which Victorian society considered “fashionable”. Wildes commentary on Victorian social rituals reaches its climax is in Act II， when Gwendolen and Cecily critique each others inadequacies of eating habits at a tea ceremony. Gwendolen sneers at Cecilys lack of taste by stating “sugar is not fashionable any more” and “cake is rarely seen at the best houses nowadays” （Wilde 63-64）， elevating herself above Cecily on her social status. In response， Cecily offers Gwendolen cake and sugar that she does not want. In the “comedy of manners”， Wilde uses this plot to satirize peoples reliance on the superficial values of Victorian society.

To summarize， Wildes portrayal of food in The Importance of Being Earnest functions differently when we examine the subject from different perspectives： on the individual level， food consumption highlights the way in which the Victorians were forced to deal with their emotional problems. Besides， food could be also used as a metaphor for sexual desire between couples. As a social status symbol， food also plays an important role in class differentiation. All those interpretations are interwoven in this drama， opening a well-rounded perspective of the Victorian era.

References：

[1]Wilde， Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest[J]. Samuel French， 1895.

[2]Cucumber. The Oxford English Dictionary[M]. 7th ed. Oxford： Oxford University Press，2005.

[3]Mennell， Stephen. All Manners of Food： Eating and Taste in England and France from the Middle Ages to the Present[J]. Oxford： Basil Blackwell，1987.

[4]Torres， S.， & Nowson， C. Relationship between stress， eating， eating behavior， and obesity[J]. Nutrition，2007，23，page number.

【作者簡介】趙馨蕾，華東師范大學，本科。