Themes - created from Mind Map

Page 1

Status (leisure)/Class (money)

Etiquette/Convention

Lane: "I didn't think it polite to listen, sir" (Act1. p253) - Role of a servant is simply to do their job, not to be involved with the lives of their master/marks social distinction

Algernon's morning room is "luxuriously and artistically furnished" with a "piano" (Act 1.p53) - Rich setting marks his wealth

Lady B: "I'll have a cup of tea, and on of those nice cucumber sandwiches you promised me" (Act1.p60)

Algernon: "Really, if the lower orders don't set us a good example, what on earth is the use of them?" (Act1. p254) - An inversion of conventional thinking

Jack's home is in the "unfashionable side" of Belgrave Sqaure

Hierarchy of age/authority of elders - Lady Bracknell holds dominance over Jack when she questions him (Act3.298/299)

Lady Bracknell: "He has nothing, but he looks everything" (Act3.p300) - indictment of upper class Victorian society/fixation on appearance & social stance over substance

Lady Bracknell: "Miss Cardew seems to me a most attractive young lady, now that I look at her" (Act3.p299) - After hearing of her wealth only does Lady B decide that she is a suitable match for Algy

Upper class socialising revolves around food

Childlike treatment towards Cecily and Jack - "You are nothing of the kind, sir" (after hearing that he is engaged to Gwendolen) - ("glares at Jack for a few moments. Then bends with a practised smile, to Cecily")

Lady Bracknell orders Gwendolen to "sit down immediately" (Act3.p297)

"To marry into a cloakroom, and form an alliance with a parcel" - A woman should only marry to improve her social status/husband must have noble connections

"The presence of the servants exercises a restraining influence" (Act2. p289). The servants force Gwendolen and Cecily into polite conversation - the upper class cannot argue in front of servants due to social standards.

Algernon: "I don't give my consent" (Act1. p255) - Women cannot make decisions in marriage and are expected to be granted consent by a male figure.

Algernon: "The way you flirt with Gwendolen is perfectly disgraceful. It is almost as bad as the way Gwendolen flirts with you" (Act1.p254) - It is dishonourable for a women to be seen publicly flirting with men due to strict moral codes. Unmarried men and women shouldn't even be left in the same room unattended.

Intimacy between Algernon and Cecily (Stage directions - Act2. p284)

Jack thinks that reading a private cigarette case is "ungentlemanly" (Act1)

Lane: "I didn't think it polite to listen, Sir"

When Gwendolen and Cecily first meet, they must ask each other if they can address the other by the first name before breaking the formal boundaries. (Act2.p286)

Mocks the stuffiness and hypocrisy of dating amongst the upper classes