Franklin Dean
In Oscar Wilde's satirical play, The Importance of Being Earnest, Gwendolen Fairfax and Cecily Cardew are the romantic female leads and objects of affection. Both women are intent on marrying a man named Ernest, and this desire leads them to fall in love with Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, who pretend to be named Ernest. The two women compare wedding rings, as they believe they are engaged to the same man. This results in humorous conflicts, as they bond over their shared experience of being deceived by the well-meaning male characters. Despite their differences, they share many similarities, including their quick forgiveness and persistence in pursuing their goals.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Social class | Gwendolen is from the upper class in London, while Cecily is from a more sheltered, natural, and less sophisticated environment in the country. |
| Personality | Gwendolen is artificial, complex, sophisticated, confident, and self-absorbed. Cecily is simple, straightforward, modest, down-to-earth, and passionate about her desires and goals. |
| Views on love | Gwendolen has a superficial obsession with the name Ernest and is in love with the idea of being in love. Cecily is more realistic but also dreams wildly, and she craves the appearance and style of a romantic proposal. |
| Engagement status | Both women believe they are engaged to the same man, Ernest, and briefly bond over their shared experience of being deceived. |
| Relationship with male leads | Gwendolen is in love with Jack Worthing, who pretends to be named Ernest. Cecily pursues Algernon Moncrieff, Jack's cousin, who also pretends to be named Ernest. |
| Persistence | Both women are persistent in pursuing their goals and are capable of outwitting their male counterparts. |
| Forgiveness | Both women are quick to forgive, with Gwendolen absolving Jack despite his deception, and Cecily forgiving Algernon and welcoming him back. |
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What You'll Learn
Differences in upbringing and social status
In Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest", Gwendolen Fairfax and Cecily Cardew are the two female leads. Despite sharing many similarities, the two women have distinct differences in their upbringing and social status, which contribute to their contrasting personalities and outlooks on life.
Gwendolen is from a traditional family, the only such family in the play. She is the daughter of the pompous Lady Bracknell, who dominates her and brings her up to be shortsighted and obsessed with appearances, upper-class snobbery, and correct behaviour. Gwendolen is confident, worldly, and at home in the big city of London, where she is accustomed to the high life and sophisticated social circles. She is also more experienced and mature than Cecily, as described by Algernon.
On the other hand, Cecily is introduced in a garden setting, indicating her connection to nature and her sheltered, less sophisticated upbringing. She has no mother figure and is raised by a guardian, Miss Prism, who is described as grim. Cecily is more innocent, simple, and straightforward than Gwendolen. She is also more emotional and passionate, pursuing her desires with vigour.
The differences in their upbringings and social statuses are reflected in their personalities and outlooks on life. Gwendolen is artificial, conforming to her surroundings and the expectations of her social class, while Cecily is more true to herself, unspoiled, and down-to-earth. Gwendolen's focus on appearances and social status leads her to be obsessed with the name "Ernest" for her husband, while Cecily, though sharing a similar desire for a husband with a respectable name, is more realistic and dreams wildly.
Despite their differences, both women are smart, persistent, and capable of taking initiative. They are also quick to forgive and form a sisterly bond, even as they become rivals for their beloved Ernest.
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Similarities in personality and behaviour
In Oscar Wilde's play "The Importance of Being Earnest", Gwendolen Fairfax and Cecily Cardew are the two female leads. Despite their differences, the two women share many similarities in personality and behaviour.
Both women are smart, persistent, and in pursuit of goals in which they take the initiative. Gwendolen follows Jack to the country, while Cecily pursues Algernon from the moment she lays eyes on him. They are both capable of outwitting their jailers: Gwendolen escapes from her dominating mother, Lady Bracknell, while Cecily outwits Jack by arranging for Algernon to stay, and she also manages to escape Miss Prism to carry on a tryst with her future fiancé. They are both quick to forgive and become rivals pitted against each other.
Gwendolen and Cecily are also alike in their obsession with the name Ernest and their desire to marry a man with that name. They are both victims of deception by the male characters, Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, who both pretend to be named Ernest. The women bond over their strength to stand against the men who have lied to them.
Both women are products of a world in which how something is done is more important than why. They are also connected by dialogue that is repetitive and parallel, with Wilde cleverly linking them by using parallel conversations and repeating bits and pieces of sentences. They both discuss liking and disliking each other and marrying Ernest with the same phrases.
Gwendolen and Cecily are also similar in their views on love and marriage. They are both intent on marrying a man with the respectable name of Ernest, and they are willing to embrace each other as sisters. They are both guided by passion and immediate gratification, pursuing their desires with a vengeance and oblivious to the consequences.
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Their views on love and marriage
In Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest", Gwendolen Fairfax and Cecily Cardew are the two female leads and the objects of affection. Both women are smart, persistent, and in pursuit of goals in which they take the initiative. They are also curiously similar in many ways, but as the writer's tools, they have their differences.
Gwendolen is a brilliant, clever, and thoroughly experienced lady. She is confident, worldly, and at home in the big city of London. She is self-absorbed, and her thoughts generally consist of observations about herself. She is also artificial, living a life that conforms to her surroundings instead of being herself. She is so caught up in finding a husband to fix her mother's criteria that she gets fixated on the name Ernest as well as the perfect proposal performed in the correct manner. Gwendolen's artificial personality is like her love, which is fake. She is also more sophisticated than Cecily, and she carries the upper-class status. She is described as a spoiled sassy brat who thinks she can get whatever she wants.
Cecily, on the other hand, is a sweet, simple, and innocent girl. She is more realistic, but she also dreams wildly just like the others in the play. She is passionate about her desires and goals but is also overly protected in the country setting, far away from the temptations and social life of the city. She is guided by passion and immediate gratification and pursues life with a vengeance, aiming for what she desires and oblivious to the consequences. She is unspoiled, modest, and down-to-earth. She has a solid, true personality. She is in love with the idea of reforming a wicked man to the correct and appropriate appearance. She also has a disdain for the tedious socio-academic expectations of society.
Both women are intent on marrying a man named Ernest and are eager to embrace each other as sisters. They are also quick to become rivals pitted against each other. They are connected by dialogue that is repetitive and parallel, and they both discuss marrying Ernest with the same phrases. They both discuss liking and disliking each other with exactly the same words. They are also both capable of outwitting their jailers.
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Their pursuit of a man named Ernest
In Oscar Wilde's satirical play, "The Importance of Being Earnest", Gwendolen Fairfax and Cecily Cardew are the two female leads. They are both intent on marrying a man named Ernest, a girlhood dream of theirs, and this desire leads them to immediately "fall in love" with Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, who both pretend to be named Ernest.
Gwendolen is a brilliant, clever, and thoroughly experienced lady who lives in London and is the cousin of Algernon. She is also the daughter of the pompous Lady Bracknell, who has taught her to be shortsighted and to live a life that conforms to her surroundings. Gwendolen is so caught up in finding a husband to fix her mother's criteria that she gets fixated on the name Ernest, as she believes it "inspires absolute confidence". She is also very self-absorbed, and her thoughts generally consist of observations about herself.
Cecily, on the other hand, is a sweet, simple, and innocent girl who has been raised in the country and has a guardian instead of a parent. She is more realistic, but she also dreams wildly, and she has a romantic and imaginative world in which she has received a proposal, accepted a ring, and even broken off an engagement—all in her own mind. She believes that Jack's brother is a wicked man and that she can reform him to the correct and appropriate appearance. She is also persistent and passionate about her desires and goals, and she delights in bringing people together.
When Gwendolen and Cecily meet, they bond over their shared strength to stand against the men who have lied to them. They compare diaries and decide that Gwendolen was asked to marry first, but Cecily says that Ernest has obviously changed his mind and proposed to her. They discuss geography and flowers in a civilized manner while the servants are present, but Cecily deliberately gives Gwendolen sugar in her tea when she knows she doesn't want any, and tea cake when she asked for bread and butter.
Despite their differences, Gwendolen and Cecily are curiously similar and are both products of a world in which how something is done is more important than why. They are both smart, persistent, and capable of outwitting their jailers. They are also both guided by passion and immediate gratification, pursuing life with a vengeance and aiming for what they desire, oblivious to the consequences.
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Their engagement to the same man
In Oscar Wilde's satirical play, "The Importance of Being Earnest", Gwendolen Fairfax and Cecily Cardew are the two female leads and objects of affection. They are both in love with the same man, who they believe to be called Ernest. This is a result of their deception by the well-meaning male characters, Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff. Jack has invented the name Ernest, which he uses whenever he sneaks away from his country estate. Algernon is Jack's cousin and uses the name Ernest to woo Cecily.
Gwendolen and Cecily are character foils, with different personalities and backgrounds. Gwendolen is a sophisticated and experienced lady from London, with a dominant personality and an artificial personality. She is the daughter of the pompous Lady Bracknell, who has taught her to be shortsighted and traditional. Gwendolen is self-absorbed and superficial, with a fixation on the name Ernest and a desire to find a husband who meets her mother's criteria.
On the other hand, Cecily is a sweet, simple, and innocent girl who has been raised in the country. She is more straightforward and passionate about her desires and goals. She has a guardian instead of parents and has created a romantic and imaginative world for herself, in which she has received a proposal and a ring from Ernest, without his knowledge. She believes that Jack's brother, Ernest, is a wicked man and intends to reform him.
When Gwendolen and Cecily first meet, they believe they are engaged to the same man, leading to humorous conflicts. They compare diaries and decide that Gwendolen was asked first, but Cecily claims that Ernest has since changed his mind and proposed to her. Despite their differences, they bond over their shared experience of being deceived by the men and put aside their rivalry. In the end, they both get their happy endings with their respective partners.
Throughout the play, Wilde uses Gwendolen and Cecily to explore the themes of love and marriage, questioning whether marriage is for personal pleasure or an undeclared social responsibility. He satirizes Victorian ideals of courtship and marriage, highlighting the absurdities and contradictions of the time.
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Frequently asked questions
No, they do not. They do, however, compare diaries after realising they are both engaged to a man named Ernest.
The two women bond over their shared experience of being deceived by the men they love. They also decide that Gwendolen was asked first, but that Ernest has since changed his mind and proposed to Cecily.
Gwendolen is a sophisticated, city woman from a high social class in London. She is also described as confident, worldly, and straightforward. Cecily, on the other hand, is more straightforward, simple, and modest. She is from the country and has led a sheltered life.
