Why does gwendolen want to marry jack

However, no cucumber sandwiches are in sight—Algernon, without realizing what he was doing, has devoured every last one. He gazes at the empty plate in horror and asks Lane sharply why there are no cucumber sandwiches.

Algernon dismisses Lane with obvious, and feigned, displeasure. To appease her, and to give Jack a chance to propose to Gwendolen, Algernon offers to go over the musical program for an upcoming reception with her and takes her into the music room. Alone with Gwendolen, Jack awkwardly stammers out his admiration, and Gwendolen takes charge.

She lets Jack know right away that she shares his feelings, and Jack is delighted. Lady Bracknell returns to the room, and Gwendolen tells her she is engaged to Jack. Jack seems to be giving all the right answers, until Lady Bracknell inquires into his family background. Jack explains that he has no idea who his parents were, and that he was found, by the man who adopted him, in a handbag in the cloakroom at Victoria Station.

Since Algernon is the cousin of Gwendolen and the brother of Jack , it is then true that Gwendolen and Jack are, indeed, cousins. As an alter ego of Wilde, Jack represents the idea of leading a life of respectability on the surface in the country and a life of deception for pleasure in the city.

His name, Worthing, is related to worthiness, allowing Wilde to humorously consider the correct manners of Victorian society. Jack and Algernon vie to be christened Ernest. Eventually, Jack discovers that his parents were Lady Bracknell's sister and brother -in-law and that he is, in fact, Algernon's older brother , called Ernest.

Algernon and Cecily are engaged. But Cecily thinks his name is Ernest and so Algernon has rushed off to change his name. Meanwhile, Gwendolen has arrived and is about to meet Cecily for the first time. Like Jack , Algernon has invented a fictional character, a chronic invalid named Bunbury , to give him a reprieve from his real life.

Like Jack's fictional brother Ernest , Bunbury provides Algernon with a way of indulging himself while also suggesting great seriousness and sense of duty.

Why does Gwendolen want to marry an Ernest? Category: business and finance human resources. For both women, appearances and style are important. Gwendolen must have the perfect proposal performed in the correct manner and must marry a man named Ernest simply because of the name's connotations.

Jack would like to know his true identity, and Gwendolen would like to break away from her mother's conservative opinions. Wilde seems to foresee the phrase, dysfunctional families. Gwendolen's middle name could be "absurdity.

Strangely, she chooses a husband based on his name. Wilde is asking if marrying for a person's name is any more intelligent, or absurd, than marrying based on wealth and parents. Wilde presents Gwendolen as a character who accepts the social order simply because it is defined from pulpits and popular magazines.

Once again, Wilde is being critical of people who mouth the public sentiments and do not think for themselves. Gwendolen is also constantly saying words that are the opposite of what is known to be true, illustrating Wilde's idea that upper-class conversation is trivial and meaningless. She tells Jack, "the simplicity of your character makes you exquisitely incomprehensible to me.

The old-fashioned respect for the young is fast dying out. 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? Does jack marry gwendolen? Asked by: Prof. Lukas Corkery. What is Jack Worthing's real name? Is Jack Worthing rich? What does Gwendolen like most about Jack in Act I?

What was Jack found in as a baby? Why might Gwendolyn not want to marry Jack? How are Jack and Algernon different? What is Miss Prism's first name? Why does Lady Bracknell disapprove of Jack? What is Jack's father's first name? Why is Jack's last name Worthing?

What is a Bunburyist? Why does Jack invent a fake younger brother?