MAWWIDGE is what brings us together
The play opens with Lane offering his insight into the quality of THIS ITEM in different households that spurs Algernon to describe marriage as “demoralizing” (295).
Champagne– “in married households the champagne is rarely of a first-rate brand” (295)
How many "seasons" did the typical Victorian young woman have to find herself a husband before spinsterhood became all but certain? BONUS: What months qualified as a season?
2-3 seasons (April-June of each year)
“You look as if your name was Ernest. You are the most earnest-looking person I ever saw in my life” (300).
What in the heck does Algernon’s comment indicate about Jack??
serious, sincere, dedicated
Though this author considers writing an “aggressive, even hostile act," the author believes "certain images do shimmer" if one adheres to the idea "Nota bene."
Who is the author and what does "nota bene" mean?
Joan Didion, "observe carefully"
"That IS the question: whether to float with the tide, or swim for a [_____]... The answer– and, in a sense, the tragedy of life– is that we seek to understand the [_____] and not the man"
Name the author and fill in the blank
Hunter S. Thompson, goal
How long was a widow expected to don full mourning dress?
A widow was expected to wear deep black for TWO YEARS; in the last six months, she could go into "half-mourning," which meant adding some white, gray or lavender colors alongside the black. Some widows, like Queen Victoria, wore mourning clothes for the rest of their lives.
A man should remain [____________] as long as there are any women [____________] in the room.
Standing
Our Queen of Directness Gwendolen informs Jack, “I often wish that in public, at any rate, you had been more DEMONSTRATIVE. For me, you have always had an irresistible fascination” (306).
What qualities does Gwen wish Jack would exude in public??
communicative, forthcoming, emotional, effusive
This author "wanted to write enormous naturalistic novels with unhappy endings, full of detailed descriptions and arresting similes, and also full of purple passages in which words were used partly for the sake of their [_______],” an idea reminiscent of Robert Pirosh’s cover letter.
Name the author and fill in the blank.
Orwell, for the sake of their SOUNDS
Have you appropriately researched context…?
“Was he born in what the Radical papers call the purple of commerce, or did he rise from the ranks of the arisocracy?” (310).
What is the origin tale for the phrase “purple of commerce?” What is Lady Bracknell asking of Jack in this moment?
Purple dye extracted from sea snails– lucrative trade. Purple came to represent wealth, power, royalty. Humble beginnings .vs. origins in high society
*Elizabeth I forbade all but close family from wearing purple*
Algernon, in asserting that a proposal is business, not pleasure, identifies the “very essence of romance is [______________]” (297).
uncertainty (295)
Jack: “My dear fellow, the [______________] isn’t quite the sort of thing one tells to a nice, sweet, refined girl. What extraordinary ideas you have about the way to behave to a woman!” (313).
The truth (313)
Jack describes Lady Bracknell as “perfectly unbearable. Never met such a Gorgon… She is a [_______] without being a [______]” (312).
“When the stars threw down their spears/And water’d heaven with their tears:/Did he smile his work to see?/Did he who made the [_____] make thee?”
Name the poet and fill in the blank
William Blake, the LAMB
We have a list of writing blunders to avoid in our formal writing. What is the name of that list, and what musical act is responsible for the utter BOP from which our list’s name was pulled?
Bonus points for each correctly ID’d blunder:
Bugaboo, Destiny's Child
Lady Bracknell and Algernon discuss Lady Harbury’s experience of becoming a widow. Algernon notes, “I hear her hair has turned quite gold from grief” (304).
What in the world does Algy mean?
Lady Harbury is THRIVING in the aftermath of her husband's death: She "seems to be living entirely for pleasure now" (304).
Algernon: “Women only do that when they have called each other a lot of other things first” (314).
What do women call each other after calling each other a lot of other things first? And what does Algernon’s comment indicate about his understanding of relationships among women??
Sister.
Jack: “Why all these cups? Why cucumber sandwiches? Why such reckless extravagance in one so young?” (297).
What does the phrase reckless extravagance mean?
careless, thoughtless luxury and indulgence
“Old Mr. Thomas Cardew, who adopted me when I was a little boy, made me in his will guardian to his grandaughter, [___________]. [She] addresses me as her [______________] from motives of [______________] that you could not possibly appreciate” (300).
Miss Cecily Cardew... uncle... respect
We jest about “remember that date,” but WHY is it that we remember that date? What joyous moment happened on that otherwise somber date?
"You're right" -Ray to O'Shea
Lady Bracknell prohibits Gwen from “marry[ing] into a cloak-room, and form[ing] an alliance with a [____]” (311).
PARCEL (311)
What does Lady Bracknell insist on being of the utmost importance for an engagement??
Come as “a surprise, pleasant or unpleasant” to a young girl (308).
“Bunbury is a perfectly invaluable” (301).
Who asserts this and what does he mean??
Algy... Bunbury is crucial/vital for his carefree, fun-seeking bachelor lifestyle
Jack warns Algy, “If you don’t take care, your friend Bunbury will get you into a serious [_____] some day” (316)
scrape
Get in O’Shea’s head:
“I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone” (309).
How does this Lady Bracknell’ism connect to the novel for which Mary Shelley selected her epigraph from Milton’s Paradise Lost???
Frankenstein-- talk to me about ignorance, and its loss