It is interesting to me to see the pairs that have been formed within Act 2. We obviously see the blossoming relationship between Jack and Algernon and we are introduced to the relationship between Cecily and Gwendolen. Through all of the bunburying and talks of marriage, these relationships are put to the test.
First, let us examine how females react to certain situations. We see Cecily and Gwendolen introduced and Gwendolen talks about how fondly she thinks of Cecily and that her first impressions are always correct. She adores Cecily and it seems that the same feelings are exchanged. Through the confusion of bunburying, Cecily and Gwendolen both figure out that they are engaged to "Earnest Worthing". When they both realize this, the female claws come out. Cecily purposely puts sugar in Gwendolen's tea even though it isn't "fashionable" anymore and continues to provide her with cake instead of bread and butter. Gwendolen immediately changes her mind about Cecily and seems to think that she is conniving and manipulative. It really made me laugh at how much of a change the girls made. It's all a part of the female persona and protecting their ground.
On the other hand, the men rationally sort out their issues. They think quickly and just run with the consequences as they are thrown at them. For instance, when Jack was speaking about how his brother Earnest Worthing had passed on and then suddenly found himself face to face with Earnest Worthing (aka Algernon), he just kind of went with it. He was angry for an intant but then continued on with his business. It was completely interesting to me how the male confrontation varies from female confrontation.
Along with that, I am confused on Algernon's views of marriage. In Act I, we found him despising marriage and saying that married couples were annoying and boring. In Act II, he is courting this Cecily and wanting to marry her! It is amazing to me the lengths that a man will go to in order to pursue a woman. The marriage card has completely changed in Act II. It really was full of surprises I suppose!
2 comments:
You have an interesting view on Men vs. Women in the play. In my opinion, I believe that this how men and women behave in real life. You can see it all on Facebook with women calling other women "snakes" and such. Men usually just fight and keep it moving. There are always exceptions but this is one of the times that Wilde stuck with some sort of social norms.
I also laughed really hard at the switch Gwendolyn and Cecily made when they found out that the men had been lying to them. They went immediately from competing and putting each other down to linking arms and calling each other pet names. In addition I think that the switch of Algernon's view on marriage might be a dig at the aestheticism movement we discussed in class on Monday. Wilde may be bringing up the notion that the artists and people who consider themselves part of the aesthetic movement quickly change their views and are generally frivolous and flighty.
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