Sunday, 11 December 2011

Explore the differences and similarities between Algernon and Cecily and the role of imagination


Oscar Wilde presents us with two characters that are different from one another however the only form of understanding they have is the undying love they have for one another. Cecily is a creative, modest young woman whereas Algernon is quite vain and clever. Both these characters put together enable the play to be humorous, trivial and almost ironic.

In Act two Cecily is portrayed as naïve and childish, as she talks about her engagement with Earnest. She has fallen in love with Earnest even though she has never met him, this allows the play to take a light hearted turn in the play. She bought herself the ring to symbolise the engagement. “Yes, you’ve wonderfully good taste earnest”. This suggests she likes to control things and likes to do things her way almost like a child does. She has a creative imagination which allows her to focus less on her studies and more on writing in her diary about her “absolute perfection”. It also reflects her wealth as well as high status, many women at that era would be financially dependent on their husbands and most couldn’t afford luxury items such as jewellery. In addition to that it suggests that she is a romantic and values love. She likes to do it traditionally and properly. However that is the complete opposite from Earnest and this is the clear difference between them. “Oh, there is no use speculating on that subject, divorces are made in heaven” He says this when Jack mentions proposing to Gwendolen , suggesting that he doesn’t believe in love and that marriage will end up in a divorce anyway. The phrase is a play on words, he has twisted the saying around from marriages are made in heaven to divorces.
“I really don’t see anything romantic in proposing”. This also suggests that before he met Cecily he wasn’t too keen on the whole idea of love and marriage. This allows the audience to see a change of character- when he fell in love with Cecily his views changed.

However Cecily and Algernon are similar, they both come from a wealthy background and a high status but they have respect for their servants and are able to converse with them. This is not usually portrayed in employer/ employee relationships due to the difference in class. “Lane’s views on marriage seem somewhat lax” Algernon seems to respect what his servant says and respect his views. This clearly shows that Algernon sees beyond class difference and is able to hold his servants opinion.
Similarly Cecily also respects Miss Prism, her governess “I don’t think it can be right for you to talk to me like that. Miss Prism never says such things to me” Miss Prism clearly has an influence over Cecily, it is almost as if she is voicing Miss Prisms opinions rather than her own. It suggests that she has respect for her and relies on her views before making her judgement. Cecily could have done this because Miss Prism is older than her so therefore she has experienced a lot more than she has.

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