Discussion Topic
Analyzing the evolution and dynamics of Cecily and Gwendolen's relationship in The Importance of Being Earnest
Summary:
In The Importance of Being Earnest, Cecily and Gwendolen's relationship evolves from rivalry to friendship. Initially, they are antagonistic due to a misunderstanding about their engagements to "Ernest." However, once the confusion is cleared, they bond over their mutual frustrations with their suitors' deceptions and become allies, demonstrating the play's comedic exploration of social relationships and identity.
How do Cecily and Gwendolen from The Importance of Being Earnest compare and contrast?
Cecily and Gwendolen are presented as character foils in this satirical play by Oscar Wilde. Both are supposedly engaged to a man named Ernest, a girlhood dream of them both, and both are victims of two men's deception.
However, the two women are also quite different. Cecily is a younger woman, still girlish in many ways, who lives a rather isolated life. As a result, she has created a vast romantic and imaginative world for herself in which she has been wooed through a series of love letters, received a proposal, accepted a ring, broken off the engagement, and then reconciled with her man. Of course, all of this has happened in her own mind and diary, without Algernon's knowledge. Cecily does not feel the need to hide this fact from him, for when he protests that he has not written any letters, she announces, "You hardly need to...
Unlock
This Answer NowStart your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
remind me of that, Ernest. I remember only too well that I was forced to write my letters for you."
In contrast, Gwendolen has been raised in a more social environment under the tutelage of her pretentious mother. Polite society does not intimidate her, and she goes more directly for what she wants. She knows the societal expectations and navigates them well. She has known Jack for quite some time and is obvious about her feelings for him. She also is thrilled to be marrying a man named Ernest; as the reader knows, both men are pretending their names are Ernest. Despite her mother's disapproval, she is able to reunite herself with her man in the country.
After a rather humorous moment when both girls believe they are engaged to the same man named Ernest, Gwendolen and Cecily bond through their strength to stand against the men who have lied to them—at least for a few seconds. In true comedic style, the two couples are happy in the end.
Compare and contrast Cecily and Gwendolyn in The Importance of Being Earnest.
Cecily Cardew is Jack Worthing's ward. She is young, has inherited a fortune from her deceased parents, and she was left to the care of Jack and her governess, Ms. Prism. Although she has money, she is far from "fashionable" since she lives in her country estate rather than in the city,where her ward Jack goes into as Ernest to cause all sorts of havoc. Hence, her character is meant to be a bit provincial, slightly ever more innocent and much simpler in character than Gwendolyn.
Cecily is described by Jack (Ernest) as exceedingly pretty, and with a massive appetite. These very qualities attracted Algernon to her and made her curious to meet her.
Gwendolyn is the daughter of Lord and Lady Bracknell. She lives in London, and her style of dress and language are those usually attached to the upper classes. Gwendolyn is (in the play) slightly older than Cecily, and looks down on her for living in the country.
As different as they are, they also share a lot of similarities:
They are both obsessed about the name Ernest because it is, according to both, the only name a man should have. They also fantasize about love and what relationships should be like. They both write nonsense on their diaries and fantasy stories which they truly believe to be their life stories. They also are scathing and capable of insult as they have a showdown in the garden the moment they meet and accidentally believe that both are engaged to the same man.
Their characters are mirrors of each other, and they represent the views of women on marriage, and how disrupted they are.
In The Importance of Being Earnest, how are Gwendolyn and Cecily alike and different?
Gwendolyn and Cecily are alike in Oscar Wilde's play, The Importance of Being Earnest, in that both are romantic female leads. In many ways they appear on the surface to be similar to the stock character of the young girl, or "puella," in Roman comedy, who functions primarily as a love interest for the young man (the "puer"). They are both members of the upper or upper middle classes, sufficiently well off that they do not need to work. Both, over the course of the play, fall in love, and end up accepting proposals of marriage from the men they love. They are both more intelligent and more interesting than they might appear on the surface. Their conversation shows evidence of wide reading and astute wit.
In many ways, Gwendolyn appears a younger version of her mother Lady Bracknell (one of the great comic characters of the English stage). She has much of her mother's bossiness and concern with social propriety and standing. Both Gwendolyn and her mother though, despite being intelligent and having many qualities that might make them effective businesswomen or political leaders, are constrained by the social standards of their period to roles where their energy and intelligence has no outlet beyond managing the affairs of their social circle.
Cecily appears somewhat less concerned with appearances and perhaps better educated, as evidenced by the references to German. She also is less given to artifice than Gwendolyn, and although her diary is mainly introduced for comic effect, we get a sense that she is more imaginative and less pragmatic than Gwendolyn.
In Oscar Wilde's role as an editor of The Lady’s World he actually wanted to include more of substance and less of fashion in the magazine, and in his portraits of these two young women, we get a sense that his advocacy of equality for women shows through in the portrait of how the limited scope for action of women in their social position leads to a diminution of their lives.
References
Gwendolen and Cecily are alike in that they are well loved young women who
are pampered with wealth, though Gwendolen is the daughter in a wealthy family
and Cecily is impoverished in her own right but the charge of a benevolent,
generous and wealthy guardian. Both young women admire fashion and uphold the
value of appearance, though Gwendolen, being from the city, is more
fashionable, while Cecily is more caught up in Romantic notions, actions and
daydreams.
Both girls are affectionate and deeply fond, irrationally fond, of the name of
Earnest, insisting that they will only love a man named Earnest because of the
heart-felt sincerity it implies. Both Gwendolen and Cecily exhibit independence
and strength of will and initiative in matters of the heart. The former rebels
slightly against her mother in accepting an engagement and the latter concocts
Romantic fantasies and rebels slightly against her governess and her guardian
in matters of the heart.
Cecily is also a bit rebellious toward her governess in other matters as well
and doesn't hesitate to connive to arrange things to her own advantage.
Gwendolen shares this general touch of rebellion as she also will connive and
manipulate circumstances for her own advantage. Although both share a sincere
respect for parents, in Gwendolen's case, and guardian, in Cecily's case. They
differ significantly in that while Gwendolen falls in love after adequate
acquaintance with the man, although with an irrational attachment to a name,
Cecily falls in love based on hearsay, though with an irrational attachment to
the same name.
How does Gwendolen and Cecily's relationship in The Importance of Being Earnest change?
When they first meet, Gwendolen and Cecily get on very well together. Gwendolen immediately announces her certainty that they are "going to be great friends" and Cecily replies:
How nice of you to like me so much after we have known each other such a comparatively short time.
They continue in this amicable vein until it emerges that they are both engaged to marry Ernest Worthing. It is at this point that they become rivals and antagonists. The tone of both becomes notably frosty as they argue over which of them has the best claim to him. They attempt to restrain their rancor while Merriman is serving tea, but even then their comments to one another continue to be barbed.
When Jack and Algernon enter, it is quickly established that the two men to whom they are engaged are, in fact, different people and that neither of them is called Ernest. Shocked by this betrayal, Gwendolen and Cecily return to being on good terms with one another, and this time they remain so since they are not, in fact, in competition with one another for a husband.
In Act 3, they are briefly united in their stand against Jack and Algernon then forgive them at the same time. Their views on every subject, particularly that of the desirability of a man being named Ernest, unite them and seem to cement their friendship very quickly.