In what ways is Oscar Wilde mocking Victorian society in his drama The Importance of Being Earnest?

Criticism and satire are ubiquitous in the play
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. Not only does Wilde
blasts against the snobbery, self-importance, ignorance, and idleness of the upper-class
Victorian society, but he also targets plenty of ideals that were as ridiculous as they
were nonsensical.

An example of this is the treatment of
the themes of marriage and courtship. To the Victorians, marriage was an institution
that provided social possibilities for both parties involved: The "better" the marriage
(money wise), the higher the possibilities. Marriage also served as a way to network for
the improvement of family finances and for the preservation of family names. On the
other hand, courtship was part of this networking process: It was the period of "weeding
out" good or bad "candidates".

In the play The
Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde treats the topic of marriage with plenty
of comedy, especially among the male characters. Lane, Algernon's butler, admits that
his marriage was a result of a "misunderstanding"; Algernon feels that marriage is
"demoralizing"; Lady Bracknell sees it as a process in which she has to "work together"
with higher ranking ladies to assure that the candidate is "satisfactory"; Gwendolen and
Cecily see marriage as a fantasy led by the triviality of a first name.  In all, that
aspect of Victorian society which was so safeguarded in the best families was the
subject of complete ridicule in the play.

Another aspect of
society that is satirized is the secret reality of how the upper classes enjoy living
above their means. We see that, even though both Algernon and Jack are considered "upper
class men", both have a very hard time paying back creditors. Algernon does not pay
because he is obviously an over-spending dandy. Jack is too, but his overspending is
done as his alter-ego "Ernest", who has a penchant for eating in expensive restaurants
and not paying the bill. In Jack's case, he just enjoys the thrill of being "bad".
However, both Algernon and Jack expose the reality of many so-called "well to do"
families: Many of them lived off their family name and did not have enough capital to
sustain their expensive habits.

Therefore, Wilde basically
gives Victorian society all he has to give as far as his true feelings for it: He care
very little for the high and mighty ways that Victorians would adopt only to look down
on the underdog. Hence, the play did its job at making their lives look fake, trivial,
and worst of all, worthy of laughter!