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English > The Importance of Being Earnest- Quotes > Flashcards

The Importance of Being Earnest- Quotes Flashcards

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Proverbs and Idioms flashcards
1
Q

Act 1- Jack scolds Algernon when he asks if Jack has told Gwendolen about his attractive ward Cecily

A

‘The truth isn’t quite the sort of thing one tells to a nice, sweet, refined girl.’

  • Gender
  • Morality- Victorian gentleman - Subversion
  • Dishonesty
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2
Q

Act 1- After speaking to Lane about Lane’s accidental marriage at the beginning of the play, Algernon says:

A

“They seem, as a class, to have absolutely no sense of moral responsibility.”

  • Morality- Victorian gentleman- subversion
  • Social class
  • Satire
  • Comedy of Manners
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3
Q

Act 1- Gwendolen explains how she wants Jack to show his love more

A

“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
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4
Q

Act 1- Lane replies to Algernon asking him why he didn’t listen to his playing; comes across as being subordinate to his master

A 
“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.
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5
Q

Act 1- First thing Lady Bracknell asks Jack when she interrogates him

A

“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
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6
Q

Act 1- Lady Bracknell’s sense of social responsibility

A

“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
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7
Q

Act 1- Algernon says this to Jack when giving advice on his relationship with Gwendolen

A

“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
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8
Q

Act 1- Algernon says this when talking to Jack about marriage and divorce

A

“Divorces are made in Heaven”

  • Marriage- subversion
  • Epigrammatic reversal
  • Religion
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9
Q

Act 1- Jack’s proposal to Gwendolyn

A

“…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
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10
Q

Algernon and Jack are discussing the possible location of Jack’s country house when Algernon says:

A

“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
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11
Q

Act 1- Random comedy features

A
  • Cigarette case debacle- well made play and farce

- Algernon and Lane’s cucumber convo- repartee

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12
Q

Act 2- Cecily talking to Miss Prism about her lessons

A

“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
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13
Q

Act 2- Dr. Chasuble flirts with Miss Prism

A

“[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.
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14
Q

Act 2- Algernon justifies his bold, flamboyant clothing choices to Jack

A

“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
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15
Q

Act 2- Gwendolyn thinks she has accurate intuition when introduced to Cecily for the first time

A

“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

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16
Q

Act 2- Miss Prism exclaims this when Jack’s ‘wicked’ brother is brought up in conversation with Jack and Dr. Chasuble

A

“As a man sows, let him reap”

  • Moralistic attitude
  • Gender- women seen as morally superior
  • Epigram
17
Q

Act 2- Gwendolyn says this when the boys reveal their deceit

A

“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
18
Q

Act 2- Gwendolyn and Cecily’s argument in the presence of Merriman versus alone

A

‘[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’

19
Q

Act 2- Jack refuses to deny his true name when revealing it to Gwendolen and Cecily

A

(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
20
Q

Act 2- Algernon requests a flower from Cecily when they meet in the garden

A

“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
21
Q

Act 2- Cecily informs Algernon that they’re already engaged when he tries to propose

A

“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.
22
Q

Act 2- When Cecily first meets Algernon she is fascinated by his wickedness

A

“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’
23
Q

Act 2- Gwendolen views ‘Ernest’ as an extremely reputable and moral character

A

“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
24
Q

Act 3 is a comic resolution because…

A
  • 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
25
Q

Act 2- Jack pretends that Algernon has been called home when he visits Jack’s estate in Hertfordshire, telling Algernon that:

A

‘your duty as a gentleman calls you back.’ Algernon replies that ‘my duty as a gentleman has never interfered with my pleasures’

  • Dramatic irony- we know he is not a gentleman
  • Subversion of Victorian gentleman
  • Repartee
26
Q

Act 3- Gwendolen says this when she and Cecily are beginning to unravel the truth

A

“In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity is the vital thing.”

  • Epigram
  • Aesthetic movement
  • Morality (or lack thereof) + gender- subverting idea that women are morally superior as she doesn’t care about the truth
27
Q

Act 3- Gwendolen compliments men as a whole when she and Cecily are forgiving them for their deceit

A

“How absurd to talk of the equality of the sexes! Where questions of self-sacrifice are concerned, men are infinitely beyond us.”

  • Gender
  • Subversion to the feminist movement of the 19th century
  • Hyperbole- Farce; Satire?
28
Q

Act 1- Lady Bracknell disses her husband- Part 1 (whilst talking to Algernon about the dinner)

A

“Your uncle would have to dine upstairs. Fortunately he is accustomed to that”

  • Subversion of gender roles
  • Comic villain- cold
  • Subversion of invalidism as it was typically women who participated in this
29
Q

Act 1- Lady Bracknell disses her husband- the Sequel, now with more Jack insults! (when interrogating Jack)

A

“You can hardly imagine that I and Lord Bracknell would dream of allowing our only daughter […] to marry into a cloak-room, and form an alliance with a parcel?”

  • Controls her daughter’s relationships- subverts gender roles + family roles
  • Wordplay- c.o.m
  • Comic villain- prevents protagonist (J.) from marrying G.
30
Q

Act 3- Lady Bracknell disses her husband once again

A

“I have never undeceived him on any ? . I would consider it wrong.”

  • Deceit
  • Subversion of morality
  • Comic villain
  • Gender
31
Q

Act 2- Jack arrives in the country to inform everyone that ‘Ernest’ is dead

A

‘[In mourning clothes]’

  • Dramatic irony- we know that ‘Ernest’ is currently in the house talking to Cecily
  • Farce
  • Victorian society
32
Q

Act 2- When she argues with Gwendolen about who ‘Ernest’ is truly engaged to, Cecily declares:

A

‘This is no time for wearing the shallow mask of manners’

  • Social class
  • Irony - C. continues to wear it as shown in the stage directions. C:‘Very politely, rising’ v. G: ‘quite politely, rising’
  • C.O.M - Merriman’s presence, must be seen to uphold public appearances; Satire/celebration as expected in C.O.M?
33
Q

Act 1- Lady Bracknell declares her opinion on the increasingly educated lower classes

A

“ignorance is like an exotic fruit. Touch it and the bloom is gone” + “the whole theory of modern education is radically unsound.”

  • Increasingly politicised lower classes
  • Shows L. Bracknell’s dislike of progress directly opposes reformist attitude and belief in education for all
  • Social satire - approves of ignorance - Comic reversal - we’d usually see ignorance as vice, not virtue
  • Comedy of Manners = verbal wit characteristic of C o M
34
Q

Act 2- Chasuble is willing to christen the two ‘Ernests’ no questions asked.

A

Christening is a sacrament, usually meaning “sacred,” but is flippant about it.

  • Subversion- undermines religion
  • Morality
35
Q

What is Jack’s ‘mistake?

A

“it is […] terrible […] for a man to find out suddenly that all his life he has been speaking nothing but the truth. Can you forgive me?”
(G.) “I can. For I feel that you are sure to change.”
- Gender roles
- Comic reversal of moralistic messages

English (11 decks)

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