Cecily is a bunburyist because her freedom of mind is expressed through her secret diary, and Dr. Chasuble has secret romantic feelings that are suppressed for the most part. How is the conflict between Gwendolen and Cecily resolved? Cecily reveals that the man Gwendolen is engaged to is really her guardian, Jack Worthing. When Cecily and Gwendolen leave, the two men argue while eating muffins. Algernon tells Lady Bracknell of his engagement to Cecily, prompting her to inspect Cecily and inquire into her social connections, which she does in a routine and patronizing manner that infuriates Jack.
As soon as she consents to his marriage to Gwendolen, Cecily can have his consent to marry Algernon. Cecily and Gwendolen are on the verge of forgiving Algernon and Jack when they remember that neither of them is any longer engaged to a man called Ernest. Oscar Wilde uses food as a symbol as a social commentary in this play by showing the characters as uncivilized, impolite, greedy and out of place in their supposed upper social classes.
Issues related to food permeate the life and works of Oscar Wilde. Wilde made in the lucrative sugar trade. What do you think would have happened if she had not allowed the marriage? Besides, I am particularly fond of muffins. I wish you would have tea-cake instead. However, by the time they return from their walk, Chasuble is explaining that he will never marry because it would be contrary to the beliefs of the church. Jack mistakenly thinks Miss Prism is his mother, but is corrected by Lady Bracknell, who tells him that a Mrs.
Moncrieff is his mother. Lady Bracknell is now happy to agree to the marriage of Gwendolen and Jack, although Gwendolen insists that she still could not marry someone who is not called Ernest. His name, Worthing, is related to worthiness, allowing Wilde to humorously consider the correct manners of Victorian society.
It has put him in a position to know the rules of behavior of polite society. Jack's proposal itself is ludicrous. Gwendolen is only concerned that the form is correct. In fact, she fully intends to say yes only if his name is Ernest. When Jack mentions the word marriage, she protests that he has not even discussed it with her yet, and he must do so in the correct style. She asserts that her brother even practices proposing to get the form correct. Wilde is taking a subject — love and marriage — that should be filled with passion and depth and turning it into an exercise in form.
This scene is a parody of love and romance, capturing the emptiness of Victorian values that rely on style, not substance. Throughout Act I, Wilde's characters worship the trivial at the expense of the profound. He seems to be saying that the audience should take a long look at what their society deems valuable. Society is described in multiple contexts as clever people talking nonsense and triviality.
In a dialogue between Jack and Algernon, Jack says, "I am sick to death of cleverness. Everybody is clever nowadays. You can't go anywhere without meeting clever people. The thing has become an absolute public nuisance. I wish to goodness we had a few fools left. Algernon replies, "about the clever people, of course. Each of these conversations reprimands British society's concern for the superficial at the expense of deeper values. What subjects should a society take seriously? Wilde obviously thought society should revere sympathy and compassion for others.
But Lady Bracknell treats the very human concerns of death and illness with irreverence and flippancy. She tells Algernon, "It is high time that Mr. Bunbury made up his mind whether he was going to live or to die. This shilly-shallying with the question is absurd.
Rather than being sympathetic, she hopes Mr. Bunbury will not have a relapse on Saturday, thus throwing a wrench in her party plans.
Again, by having the farcical Lady Bracknell express these thoughts, Wilde conveys his desire for his audience to question their tendency to value social calendars at the expense of sympathy for others. The subject of Cecily introduces a new kind of woman to the play. When Algy expresses some interest in Jack's ward, Jack explains that she is not at all like the usual young woman in society. In general, the older generation thinks of marriage as a means to an end, a way of maintaining or bettering your social position.
If you want to get married, you submit to an interrogation: "State your name, rank, and serial number. You also need to have an acceptable title, along with the parents to prove it. The hot-blooded youngsters think they are interested in love. One of the huge ironies in the play—and what makes it a satire of Victorian society—is that, in the end, nobody really breaks the rules. They color within the lines, and marry exactly the type of person their society expects them to.
Chasuble challenge the social order by ultimately yielding to marriage based on love instead of marrying for social rank or wealth, as most of the older generation espouses.
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