What does Wilde satirize in The Importance of Being Earnest?

So many things are satirized in this play!

1. The snobbery, classism, and elitism of Victorian London is exemplified by Lady Bracknell

2. The fake imagery of grandiosity and wealth by living above their means and still hang out with the upper crust is represented with the dandy, Algernon.

3. Marriage, and the reasons to get married. Victorians might have at times married for love, but most marriages were also business transactions such as the one Lady Bracknell tried to conduct between Algy and Cecily- all for the sake of going up in social ranking

4. Snobbery is illustrated when Jack and Ms. Prism in separate ocasions describe how Jack was abandoned in a handbag at a train station. The play QUICKLY mentions that he was left in Victoria Station but in "THE BRIGHTON LINE"- that is, the line that goes to the Posh side- In other words, forget that he was abandoned. The imporance is that he was abandoned "in the Brighton Line"

5. Moralism is mocked with the reasons why women get attracted to men. As Victorians were moralists and always claimed to abide by religious motivations for everything, here are Gwendolyn and Cecily, falling in love with men just because their names are Earnest. 

6. Algy's eating habits are also a mockery of how the upper classes feasted on excess while the slum district of Victorian London in the East End was in one of the worst economical situations in history.

Trust me, there is a WHOLE lot more satire than our posts would fit!