The Importance of Being Earnest- Quotes Flashcards
Act 1- Jack scolds Algernon when he asks if Jack has told Gwendolen about his attractive ward Cecily
‘The truth isn’t quite the sort of thing one tells to a nice, sweet, refined girl.’
- Gender
- Morality- Victorian gentleman - Subversion
- Dishonesty
Act 1- After speaking to Lane about Lane’s accidental marriage at the beginning of the play, Algernon says:
“They seem, as a class, to have absolutely no sense of moral responsibility.”
- Morality- Victorian gentleman- subversion
- Social class
- Satire
- Comedy of Manners
Act 1- Gwendolen explains how she wants Jack to show his love more
“And I often wish that in public at any rate, you had been more demonstrative”
- Appearances- most important thing for upper class
- Social classes
- C.O.M;hi class <3 affairs, private v. personal appearances
Act 1- Lane replies to Algernon asking him why he didn’t listen to his playing; comes across as being subordinate to his master
“I didn’t think it was polite to listen sir” - Lane's subtle sarcastic wit- superiority- shows lower class=aware of social class barriers; clever- undermine them inconspicuously; less concerned about appearances.
Act 1- First thing Lady Bracknell asks Jack when she interrogates him
“Do you smoke? […] A man should always have an occupation of some kind”
- Cigs=attractive- bravery, masculine trait for family name
- Comedy of Manners
- Social spheres- men
- Context- Oscar Wilde really enjoyed smoking
Act 1- Lady Bracknell’s sense of social responsibility
“Nor do I in any way approve of the modern sympathy with invalids, I consider it morbid”
- Stock characters- comic villain
- Social Class- social spheres- women expected to be more moral than men- Morality
Act 1- Algernon says this to Jack when giving advice on his relationship with Gwendolen
“The only way to behave to a woman is to make love to her, if she is pretty, and to someone else, if she is plain.”
- Gender
- Victorian gentleman
- Comedy of manners- satirising the upper class
Act 1- Algernon says this when talking to Jack about marriage and divorce
“Divorces are made in Heaven”
- Marriage- subversion
- Epigrammatic reversal
- Religion
Act 1- Jack’s proposal to Gwendolyn
“…ever since I met you I have admired you more than any girl… I have ever met since… I met you.”
- Marriage
- Subversion of Victorian Gentleman
- Gender- subversion- men are supposed to be the confident, unemotional ones
Algernon and Jack are discussing the possible location of Jack’s country house when Algernon says:
“I have Bunburyed all over shropshire on two separate occasions”
- Duplicity/Gender- can act on impulses, do what they want by use of secret life as outlet; women must contain desires- expected to be morally superior
- C.O.M, appearances- private v. personal life- J, Alg. live duplicitous, secret life but J. denies it
Act 1- Random comedy features
- Cigarette case debacle- well made play and farce
- Algernon and Lane’s cucumber convo- repartee
Act 2- Cecily talking to Miss Prism about her lessons
“But I don’t like German. It isn’t at all a becoming language. I know perfectly well that I look quite plain after my German lesson.”
- Appearances
- Superficiality
- Gender
Act 2- Dr. Chasuble flirts with Miss Prism
“[Bowing.] A classical allusion merely, drawn from the Pagan authors”
- Social classes- those who were part of the church used it to try to position themselves as part of the aristocracy
- C.O.M- conflict between religious duty + romantic desires
- Appearances- he tries to makes himself look superior to women -Satire of religion as it makes it seem pompous.
Act 2- Algernon justifies his bold, flamboyant clothing choices to Jack
“If I am occasionally a little overdressed, I make up for it by being always immensely over-educated.”
- Aesthetic movement- style over substance
- Comedy of Manners
- Parody
Act 2- Gwendolyn thinks she has accurate intuition when introduced to Cecily for the first time
“My first impressions of people are never wrong.” -
1st impression of Cecily is sweet, but later she says it was that she was mean- paradox
- Gender
- Comedy of Manners
- Dramatic irony
Act 2- Miss Prism exclaims this when Jack’s ‘wicked’ brother is brought up in conversation with Jack and Dr. Chasuble
“As a man sows, let him reap”
- Moralistic attitude
- Gender- women seen as morally superior
- Epigram
Act 2- Gwendolyn says this when the boys reveal their deceit
“You will call me sister, will you not?”
- Gender and Deception- Women unified against men- women have power- subversion
- Alg. foreshadowed this in act 1- women (or maybe just upper class women) are predictable, superficial
Act 2- Gwendolyn and Cecily’s argument in the presence of Merriman versus alone
‘[With elaborate politeness]’ in presence of Merriman
G: “I am known for the gentleness of my disposition, and the extraordinary sweetness of my nature, but I warn you, Miss Cardew, you may go too far.” once M. + footman left
- Gender
- Social class
- Comedy of Manners
- Farce in stage directions
- Confusion (both believed they’re engaged to ‘Ernest’
Act 2- Jack refuses to deny his true name when revealing it to Gwendolen and Cecily
(Standing rather proudly)- “ I could deny it if I liked. I could deny anything If I liked”
- Social class, Gender- arrogant male
- Subverts Victorian gentleman- lack of humility
Act 2- Algernon requests a flower from Cecily when they meet in the garden
“I never have an appetite unless I have a buttonhole first”
- Deception and dramatic irony- we know this is untrue as Algernon eats food throughout the play w/o doing this
- Aesthetic movement/dandy
- Gender- Alg is trying to impress Cecily
Act 2- Cecily informs Algernon that they’re already engaged when he tries to propose
“You silly boy! […] why, we have been engaged for the last three months.”
- Stock character- ingenue
- Subversion of gender roles- undermining his authority with ‘silly’ and ‘boy’
- Subversion of marriage- treats it as a casual thing.
Act 2- When Cecily first meets Algernon she is fascinated by his wickedness
“I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and being really good all the time. That would be hypocrisy.”
- Morality
- Stock characters (ingenue) and gender- Cecily, as an aristocratic woman, has been sheltered from ‘wickedness’
Act 2- Gwendolen views ‘Ernest’ as an extremely reputable and moral character
“Ernest […] is the very soul of truth and honour. Disloyalty would be as impossible to him as deception.”
- Paradox- Ernest in the country is immoral, in the town is very moral and reputable
- Dramatic irony- both ‘Ernests’ are immoral as they ‘Bunbury’
- Duplicity
Act 3 is a comic resolution because…
- Promise of marriage for G + J, C+ A, and Dr. C + M.P. - ‘[Embraces her]’
- Reunion of family at end (Well-Made Play) - J.+A as bros, J. + B as nephew and aunt, M.P. + B. as old friends
- Well-Made Play: J. realises he is actually ‘Ernest John Moncrieff”, revealed by an old set of papers
