Drama: TIOBE- summary

Question 1

1. What does the setting in the opening description make us expect? And does the play so far live up to this?

Answer 1

the setting is decribed as a room which is “luxouriously and artistically furnished”, giving us the an idea of the lush high-Victorain society we are going to be stepping into.

Question 2

1. What do we learn about Lane and Algernon’s relationship early on?

Answer 2

That whilst Lane is Algernon’s butlet/servant, their realtionship is a lot more friendly bordering on brotherly than other people’s relationship between servant/higher-class person.

Question 3

1. What theme crops up near the beginning of the play, and how does this set a tone for the play?

Answer 3

marriage, and Algernon asks his butler if marrige is that demoralising, setting a tone of that marriage is questioned and unpicked in the play.

Question 4

1.How do Jack and Algernon interact at the beginning of the play?

Answer 4

Quite stifly and robotically, with Jack making a comment about his eating habits

Question 5

1. How is the idea of love portrayed in the play?

Answer 5

Some see it as a business move, whilst others see it as love

Question 6

1. Why do Jack and Algernon bicker?

Answer 6

They argue about who owns the cigasrette case

Question 7

1.Why does Algernon get confuses about Jack?

Answer 7

Becasuse he says his name is actually Earnest, and has different personalities in the city and in more rural areas.

Question 8

1. What concept does Algernon introduce to Jack?

Answer 8

Bunburying, which he admits he does, he creates the personality of Mr Bunbury to avoid events and place he doesn’t want to go to, and claims Jack does a similar thing with Earnest, but instead to avoid getting in trouble for doing things.

Question 9

1. What does Jack reveal about his upbringing to Algernon?

Answer 9

That Cecily is a child that he is the guardian for, as she is the granddaughter of the man that adpoted him at birth.

Question 10

1. What quote demonstrates their friendship?

Answer 10

J: “My dear Algy, I don’t know whether you will be able to understand my real motives. You are hardly serious enough.”

Question 11

1.What phrase does Algernon rework to demonstrate that people need an alter ego?

Answer 11

he changes 2’s company, 3’s a crowd to “You don’t seem to realise, that in married life three is company and two is none.”

Question 12

1. When Lady Bracknell is introduced, how is presented, and what are her first lines in the play that seem to fit perfectly?

Answer 12

She is presented as a formidable owman, and the matriarch of the family, which she begins with asking Algernon if he has been “behaving very well”, showing she has a complete understading of his ‘naughty’ side and wants to keep him out of trouble, for the sake of the family’s reputation.

Question 13

1. What does Algernon say about the empy plate of cucumber sandwiches, because he ate them, and how does Lane respond to this?

Answer 13

He begins acting shocked and in disbelief, preteding to be distressed at the fact there is any, even though there isn’t any because he ate them all. Lane then steps in, annoiucing there was no cucumbers at the market, seemingly playing along with Algernon’s story, showing that their connection runs deeper than man and manservant.

Question 14

1. What satirical moment does Wilde include surrounding ideas of grief?

Answer 14

Lady Brakcnell apologises for being a little late, saying she had to stop at a friends who has recently lost her husband, Again, Wilde turns a common phrase on it’s head, by saying that the widow is “Living entirely for pleasure now” and that “[her hair] had turned quite gold from grief”

Question 15

1. What do we see the idea of bunburying fall into motion?

Answer 15

When Lady Bracknell talks about her dinner party, Algernon annouces that his friend Mr. Bunbury has fallen ill and he needs to be attended to.

Question 16

1. What irony do we see in this after Algernon declares he can no longer attend Lady Bracknell’s dinner?

Answer 16

She requests to view the music he has composed for her last reception of the season, and that Gwendolen will accompany her, which she agrees to, before staying where she is to talk/flirt with Jack

Question 17

1. What comedy comes accross from Jack and Gwendolen’s chat?

Answer 17

They both express their love for each other, and decide that they should get engaged. This is ironic because Gwendolen’s main reaosn behind wanting to get engaged is because Jack is called “Earnest”, showing her materialistic side, which will make the audience laugh as they know his name isn’t in fact Earnest, it is Jack, and only calls himself Earnest in the city to avoid getting into trouble.

Question 18

1. How are Victorian ideas of love shown through Gwendolen’s and Jack’s chat?

Answer 18

Gwendolen remakrs on how little experience Jack has at prosposing, in which he responds that she is the only one he has ever loved, which she replies by saying that men often propose for practice, not love, which Wilde is criticising here as a modern audience would see this as atypical.

Question 19

1. What contrast to gender stereotypes of the time do we see with Jack and Gwendolen?

Answer 19

He tries to stand up, and she restrains him, showing the power dynamic between them and how she is in control

Question 20

1. How does Lady Bracknell’s repsonse to finding out that they are engaged reflect gender stereotypes and societal norms at the time, and challenge it?

Answer 20

On hearing of their engagement, she is shocoked and tells Gwendolen that she is not engaged, and will not be until herseld or her father informs her of it. It is intresting here how she has placed herself before her father, showing the hierarchy in their family unit, as well as she is the one having this conversation wtih Gwendolen now, shows how the gender stereotypes and societal norms of the Victorian era are being challenged, which Wilde does to criticse how patriarchal and stiff the rules are in society at the time of writing and publishing the play.

Question 21

1. What does Lady Bracknell proceed ot do next, again cementing her authority?

Answer 21

She begins to question Jack, to see whether or not he is a fit suitor for Gwendolen

Question 22

1. How does Lady Bracknell’s questioning both reinforce and challenge Victorian society?

Answer 22

The questions she is asking, such as whether or not he smokes, and where he lives, are pretty standard questions for a women of upper-class Victorian societyto be asking, although they may come across as quite materialistic and ludacrious nowadays. However, the answers she is looking for are those that are the opposite to what the audeince expect her to be, adding extra comedy and humour to the scene. For example, when she asks whether or not Jack smokes, the audience would expect her to be appalled at Jack’s response that he does, however, she is very much pleased at this response and remarks “A man should always have an occupation of some kind.”

Question 23

1. How do we learn about Jack’s early life?

Answer 23

When Lady Bracknell asks him about his parents, he says he has lost them, which she calls careless, but he clarifies that he never knew them as he was found in handbag in Victoria Station, which she is bewildered by, and quite taken aback

Question 24

1. How does Jack respond to Lady Bracknell’s response?

Answer 24

He asks what he can do to win her over, and so she will permit him to marry Gwendolen

Question 25

1.What is Algernon's response to hearing Jack talk negartively about his aunt?

Answer 25

He is quite amused saying that hearing his relatives abused is "the only thing that makes me put up with them at all."

Question 26

1.What epigram ('one-liners') does Algernon say about women and men becoming like their parents?

Answer 26

"All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his."

Question 27

1.What satirical moment does Algernon say that makes a comment on love and relationships?

Answer 27

Algernon basically says you can be unfiathful to someone if they aren't pretty, reflecting Victorian society at the time.

Question 28

1.How do we see Jack and Algernon's relationship flourish towards the end of this scene?

Answer 28

They banter about what they are doing that evening

Question 29

1.What does Algernon do to find Cecily?

Answer 29

He writes down her address, to find her as he fancies her.

Question 30

2.How does the opening of Act 2 show a different time of Victorian society?

Answer 30

The scene opens in Jack's manor house in the country, reflecting industrial revolution and the countryside.

Question 31

2. How does Cecliy's education differ to what might be expected?

Answer 31

She is taught a lot about other laguages and subjects such a spolitics, which may differ to the ciriculumn delivered to other female students at the time. Her ward, Jack, laid particular stress on her German.

Question 32

2.How is Miss Prism constructed in the opening of Act 2?

Answer 32

She is made to seem very sympathtetic of Jack, and quite fond of him, shown when she says "You [Cecily] must remeber his constant anixety about that unforutante young man, his brother.", which also has dramatic irnony for the audeince, who knows he actually doesn't have a brother.

Question 33

2.What do we discover about Cecily early on in the act?

Answer 33

She keeps a dirary, which is significant, as it shows how she is quite romantic, despite making quite witty social comments.

Question 34

2.What does Wilde criticise through Cecily?

Answer 34

He criticises the 3-volume novel, and Victorain literature as a whole, with Wilde believing that fiction should be fiction, and that there is too much moral messaging and relating to memory, something which doesn;t go down well with Miss Prism, who, like her name, is one-track minded, and defends the 3-volume novel, therefore playing the role of the Victorian audience and defening their society.

Question 35

2.What do we learn about Miss Prism?

Answer 35

She has a crush on Dr Chasuble, and will take any oppotunity to be with him.

Question 36

2.What satirical messaging is brought forward with Algernon's entrance pretending to be Ernest?

Answer 36

He says that he has been "rather reckless", which is used in a comedic manner to woo Cecily, however, it is quite truthful.

Question 37

2.What Victorian expectation does Algernon throw onto Cecily?

Answer 37

He wants her to 'reform' him, meanign Ernest, which was a common thing at the time, which Wilde pokes fun at.

Question 38

2.What irony is there regarding marriage in Act 2?

Answer 38

Miss Prism says "No married man is ever attractive expept to his wife.", which may come accross as a sensible answer, but is made to provide a humourous aspect to the play.

Question 39

2. Whos does WIlde criticise Victorian society through Miss Prism?

Answer 39

She says "People who live entirely for pleasure usually are [unmarried].", which he criticisies their mindset.

Question 40

2.How is the irony between Jack and Algernon built up with Algernon entrance impersonating Ernest?

Answer 40

-Algernon comments he can't stay for more than a week, when people expected him to say something shorter. -Algernon calls Jack a liar, when in fact they both are. -Jack says he doesn't like how Algernon talks about Cecily, when he in fact talks similar of Gwendolen. -Algernon states he won't leave whilst his friend is in mourning, but he was in mourning as he had killed off his fake brother Ernest, who Algernon is impersonating now.

Question 41

2.How does the character of Cecily construct the theme of records?

Answer 41

By recoridng Algernon's remarks to her in her diary, not the first time she has got her diary out in this act.

Question 42

2.What does Algernon discover when he talks to Cecily?

Answer 42

That they have been engaged for 3 months, as she has decided to propose to herself, buy a ring for herself in his name, he called off the engagmeent, but she forgave him, wrote letters for him to herself, and they are now engaged again, with Ernest, with whom Algernon is playing, having no idea of this ordeal.

Question 43

2.How does Algernon poke fun at the upper-class Victorian society when Algernon and Cecily talk about names?

Answer 43

Algernon says "Half of the cahps who get into the Bankruptcy Court are called Algernon", showing that in Victoriain upper-class society cannot keep wealth.

Question 44

2.What satirical moment does Cecily remark about Dr Chasuble?

Answer 44

She says that he is "a most learned man", but hasn't wrote a single book, statements which Victorian and modern audiences may think contradict each other.

Question 45

2.What does Cecily ask of the Merriman to bring when Gwendolen arrives?

Answer 45

She asks him to bring tea, which is a symbol of British company and being polite and etiquette when people have guests.

Question 46

2.How does Wilde construct Gwendolen to subvert Victorian stereotypes?

Answer 46

As she is someone with a strong female igure in her life, Lady Bracknell, she automatically assumes everyone does, atpyical to Victorian society.

Question 47

2.When Gwendolen and Cecily begin to reach the climax of their argument, what changes?

Answer 47

They both rise to their feet, symbolising increasing tension and the beginning of a proper argument, but both do so staying polite, as to save face and keep their reputation, as arguing isn't something women do in Victorian upper-class society.

Question 48

2.When the climax of Gwendolen and Cecily's argument arrives, what else does to disrupt this tension?

Answer 48

The Merrimen arrives with the tea, and they both calm down, symbolising how even if they do both bicker in private with each other, they cannot in front of anyone else, even if they are Merrimen, as this would dissolve their reputation and is frowned upon, as this is something not acceptable for women to do in Victorian upper-class society. It is also used as a metaphor, and as a prop for society disrupting their argument.

Question 49

2.What does Gwendolen say to Cecily at the end of their argument?

Answer 49

"From the moment saw you I distrusted you."

Question 50

2.What happens at the end of Gwendolen and Cecily's argument?

Answer 50

Jack enters, shortly followed by Algernon, in which both women figure out they have been decieved by the pair of them.

Question 51

2.What satirical moment happens after Gwendolen and Cecily figures out they have been lied to?

Answer 51

They immediately become friends again, which Wilde uses to emphasise the transcient nature of firendships and relationships in the Victorian era.

Question 52

2.What do Jack and Algernon talk about at the end of Act 2 after Gwendolen and Cecily retreat into the house?

Answer 52

They discuss what has happened, and Jack seemingly blames Algernon, saying he has no right to Bunbury on his estate. Wilde then uses the leftover tea as a prop yet again to show the gluttony in the Victorian times, and how food is used as a comedic tool in the play.

Question 53

3.What structual features are used for Act 3?

Answer 53

It is the shortest of the act, which satirises the 'long-novel' idea, and encapsulates the idea of a 'farse'.

Question 54

3.What comedic line does Gwendolen open Act 3 with?

Answer 54

Stating her displeasement at the fact that Jack and Algernon didn't immediately follow them in.

Question 55

3.What do Gwendolen and Cecily agree to do just before the men come into the manor house?

Answer 55

Agree to stay silent, then immediately begin to talk, which Wilde does to satirise and ridicule Victorian society

Question 56

3.What happens when the men go into the manor house?

Answer 56

Algernon and Jack both give compelling stories to Cecily and Gwendolen respectively as to account for their actions. Both women forgive their men respectively, which Wilde does to satirise the gender trope of a 'passive woman'.

Question 57

3.What physical comedy is used in Act 3?

Answer 57

Straight after the men apologise to the women and they accept, they each fall into each others arms, using choreography as a form of physical comedy.

Question 58

3.What then interupts this seemingly new-found equilibrim of Gwendolen and Jack and Algernon and Cecily all made up?

Answer 58

Lady Bracknell enters, and she is used by Wilde to be the antogonist of the play, as she is portrayed to be interferring, and is used as a stock character.

Question 59

3.What comedic effect does Wilde use when Lady Bracknell first addresses the group when she arrives at the manor house?

Answer 59

She tells them that her husband is under the impression that Gwendolen is otherwised engaged, effectively lying to him, which is a role reversal for stereotypically who has the knowledge in the household, which has been used for comedic effect.

Question 60

3.How does Wilde create a comedic effect when Lady Bracknell and Algernon talk about his fake personality, Mr Bunbury?

Answer 60

He tells Lady Bracknell thagt Bun bury has died, after correcting to that statement after saying he killed him. He also say he exploded, again adding comedic effect to a situation Wilde constructs the characters to be so serious about.

Question 61

3.How does Lady Bracknell react to Algernon's and Cecily's engagement?

Answer 61

She seems somewhat neutral until Jack recounts her medical history, making her disinterested, until she discovers that she has around £130,000 in Funds

Question 62

3.What happens after Lady Bracknell becomes pleased with Cecily?

Answer 62

She accepts that her and Algernon can get married, and she seems to want it done quickly, however, Jack says he refuses to give her hand, as Lady Bracknell has refuses to give Gwendolen away to him. She responds by saying that they will just have to wait until she is of age.

Question 63

3. What age does Jack say that Cecily will become of age?

Answer 63

35

Question 64

3.What does Jack propose to Lady Bracknell?

Answer 64

That she allows him to marry Gwendolen, and he will permit Algernon to marry Cecily

Question 65

3. Do the proposed christenings take place, and how does Dr. Chausble?

Answer 65

No, they don't. Dr Chausble says "I am grieved to hear such sentiments from you, Mr. Worthing. They savour of the heretical views of the Anabaptists, views that I have completely refuted in four of my unpublished sermons."

Question 66

3.What turn of events occurs when Dr Chausble speaks in Act 3?

Answer 66

Dr. Chausble metions Miss Prism, which is a name that Lady Bracknell recognises, and she asks that she be brought to her immediately. When she gets there, she immediately knows who Lady Bracknell is. Lady Bracknell asks her what she did with the baby when she walked out with them years ago, which shocks the others. She seems guilty about this decision, and admits she swapped the bab y with her man sucript, and put the baby in a han dbag in a cloakroom at victoria station. This deeply upsets Jack, who recognises the brith and childhood story as his own, and goes to find the handbag he was discovered in. Miss Prism then identifies the handbag as hers, meaning that Jack is actually Algernon's elder brother. Lady Bracknell then reveals Jack is actually called Earnest, causing him to state "it is a terrible thing for a man to find out suddenly that all his life he has been speaking nothing but the truth." Thnis causes a fantastic comedic ending to the play.