Question: Is Lady Bracknell a "class snob?"

Homework - 27th Aug 2013

Quote 1: “To be born, or at any rate bred in a handbag, whether it have handles or not, seems to me to display a contempt for the ordinary decencies of family life which reminds one of the worst excesses of the French revolution, and I presume you know what that unfortunate movement led to?”

Quote 2: “The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did it would prove a serious threat to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square.”

Answer:

Yes and no. Yes, because I think Lady Bracknell is a class snob, as illustrated from this source. She thinks that the lower class people are very unfortunate and ill-fated and contrasts it with the French Revolution. It could mean that the people might behead the child in the handbag, as it was similar to what happened in the French Revolution. (Where the king was executed) She also talks about family decencies and its outcome/result (if they didn't care about the handbag!), as referring to the first quote.

No, because she thinks it’s the upper class’s fault that the child was left in the handbag. She had planned to take a serious action over it. So that means that she is not totally biased towards upper class people. She also thinks that education was still available for the baby in the handbag, as referred to the second quote.