The class system during the Victorian period played a significant role in people's lives. The class to which a person belonged played an important role in that individual's future. In Victorian England, class diversity and class placement hindered or improved people's lives. A literary work that comments on class distinctions in Victorian England is "The Importance of Being Earnest," by Oscar Wilde. In “The Importance of Being Earnest,” Wilde expresses concern for Victorian people who sought to maintain an upper-class reputation while hiding the reality of their lives. The Victorian class system had an influential role on people's lives. The Victorian class system was severe. The class a person belonged to is based on the wealth the family was a part of or the hereditary lineage a person is a part of. The class you belonged to was revealed in people's manners, language/dialect, appearance and values. Victorian England was made up of two main classes, the elite (upper class) and the common people (lower classes). The working class in Victorian England was more noticeable than the upper class because they made up the majority of the population. Many people knew that there were three different social classes, but the poor who did the physical labor and often went unrecognized. According to Mitchell, Sally's Daily Life In Victorian England, “The elite included the aristocracy and landed gentry. Their income came from inherited land or investments, and as the saying goes, “It takes money to make money.” The meaning of this is that the only way you can be part of the rich class is if you are part of some part of the hereditary lineage that is rich. The other part of this quote is that the rich keep getting richer... in the middle of the paper... she is having a conversation with the character Jack discussing his proposal to marry Gwendolyn. Lady Bracknell says she regrets living in a society that only cares about the way people look. This is incongruous because she is saying that she doesn't like being part of a society that cares about the way people look, but only judges people by the way they display themselves and their wealth. Lady Bracknell contradicts herself when she makes this statement. Oscar Wilde mocks people's concern with appearance and reputation by having Lady Bracknell contradict herself. She uses this effectively because constantly throughout the play Lady Bracknell only judges people by the way they appear. Lady Bracknell's contradictory statement allows the reader to amusingly understand that the Victorians only judged people based on their wealth and appearance.