Extract analysis on the importance of being earnest
...ties. Well, it will not be very long before you are of age and free from the restraints of tutelage. So I don't think your guardian's consent is, after all, a matter of any importance. JACK: Pray excuse me, Lady Bracknell, for interrupting you again, but it is only fair to tell you that according to the terms of her grandfather's will Miss Cardew does not come legally of age till she is thirty-five. LADY BRACKNELL: That does not seem to me to be a grave objection. Thirty-five is a very attractive age. London society is full of women of the very highest birth who have, of their own free choice, remained thirty-five for years. Lady Dumbleton is an instance in point. To my own knowledge has been thirty-five ever since she arrived at the age of forty, which was many years ago now. I see no reason why our dear Cecily should not be even still more attractive at the age you mention than she is at present. There will be a large accumulation of property. In the passage above, we see a great example of the master at work. Cecily admits to Lady Bracknell that she is only eighteen, yet frequently lies to her peers, telling them that she is twenty. Now, normally, a blatant lie like this would be frowned upon in the society in which they live, yet Lady Bracknell commends this behaviour, saying it is the proper way for a lady of their time to behave, since all of them do it. Her guardian’s consent is also made out to be a matter of little importance, seeing as she is almost of age. Jack points out the slight flaw in this reasoning, stating that her guardian specifically required her to reach the age if thirty-five before legally coming of age. This parodies the over-protectiveness that men showed to women, and criticises the lack of empowerment of women in this era. The wit of the writing distracts the audience from the immediate message, yet subconsciously they laugh because they recognise themselves and their own follies. So, yet again, social critique triumphs. Lady Bracknell takes the comment in her stride, retorting with an amazingly calm demeanour that this doesn’t concern her at all, and that thirty-five is a very attractive age. She bases this statement on the fact that a lot of very important ladies frequently lie about their age and that they remain thirty-five of age for years by their own count. This sly take on the age-old tradition that women are always trying to look either younger or older is very applicable even today. Lady Bracknell then tells of a friend who has remained a steady thirty-five since she has turned forty, many tears ago. Once again the higher classes get the mocking finger pointed at them, without them realising. She points out that Cecily may even become even more attractive at the true age of thirty-five, with her large amounts of property she will inherit. The materialism of the age is insinuated, since a lot of marriages relied solely on the wealth of one (or both) of the partners. She later on judges Algernon by the same criteria, to hilarious effect. Extract 2: ALGERNON: Oh! . . . by the way, Lane, I see from your book that on Thursday night, when Lord Shoreman and Mr. Worthing were dining with me, eight bottles of champagne are entered as having been consumed. LANE: Yes, sir, eight bottles and a pint. ALGERNON: Why is it that at a bachelor's establishment the servants invariably drink the champagne? I ask merely for information. LANE: I attribute it to the superior quality of the wine, sir. I have often observed that in married households the champagne is rarely of a first-rate brand. ALGERNON: Good heavens! Is marriage so demoralising as that? LANE: I believe it IS a very pleasant state, sir. I have had very little experience of it myself up to the present. I have only been married once. That was in consequence of a misunderstanding between myself and a young person. ALGERNON: (Languidly.) I don't know that I am much interested in your family life, Lane. LANE: No, sir, it is not a very interesting subject. I never think of it myself. In this extract, the issue of the lower “servant” classes is discussed. Lane is the sly and witty butler, who realises his employers wealth and his apparent disdain for it, and exploits it. The issue of the champagne, where eight bottles and a pint could not possibly have been consumed by three people, is treated as a minor thing, even though champagne is an expensive item. The fact that the servants stole it is of no concern to Algernon, who treats this as one of the laws of bachelordom, and merely inquires out of curiosity. Lane quickly turns the discussion to that of marriage, explaining that the reason servants steal wine is that the quality is excellent, unlike that in most married households. The crux here is that in marriage, the man’s income has to be divided, since married women weren’t allowed to work. Wilde both parodies women’s rights, and insinuates that a single (or gay) lifestyle would be preferable to bringing a woman into the equation. This is commentary on the strict Victorian view that marriage is necessary. Lane retorts to Algernon’s question on the demoralising effect of marriage with the quip that he has very little knowledge on the subject, yet he believes that it is a pleasant state. His experience comes from a “...