... aspects of this character. It seems as though Lady Bracknell is acting to instill logic into Gwendolen in Scene I when Gwendolen has been engaged to Jack. She is obviously jumping into something without thinking and it looks like Lady Bracknell is going to put it to a halt. "In the carriage, ... admit I smoke." Well you would expect that if Lady Bracknell would scold Jack. But instead, she replies, "I am glad to hear it. A man should always have an occupation of some kind. There are far too many idle men in London as it is." This is such an illogical response that it is funny ... . Lady ...

• Word Count: 1981
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... , as a class, to have absolutely no sense of moral responsibility' (Act 1, page 2) In the final act of The Importance of Being Earnest, Jack Worthing says of Miss Prism (who he mistakenly believes to be his long-lost and unmarried mother) "Who has the right to cast a stone against ... express ironic views contrary to what we would expect characters to believe. We see this type of humour at work, for instance in Algernon's pontifications on marriage, Jack announces he has come to ask Gwendolyn to marry him; Algernon responds, "I thought you had come up for pleasure? I call that business-,...

• Word Count: 1627
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... with that name. Wilde mocks the contemporary attitude that names actually exert some weight on the determination of one's character when letting Algernon assure Jack: "You look as if your name was Ernest. You are the most earnest looking person I ever saw in my life."3 The same ... comes up when thinking about Cecily, who in her fantasy has created a relationship with the unknown figure "Ernest" whom she only knew from Jack's depictions of his younger brother. She is so fixed on that image she has created that she even writes fictional letters in Ernest's name to ... decision of whom ...

• Word Count: 1589
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School