Gwendolen: Outside the family circle, papa, I am glad to say, is entirely unknown. I think it is quite as it should be. The home seems to me to be the proper sphere for the man. And certainly once a man begins to neglect his domestic duties he becomes painfully effeminate, does he not? And I don't like that. It makes men so very attractive. Cecily, mamma, whose views on education are remarkably strict, has brought me up to be extremely short-sighted; it is part of her system; so do you mind my looking at you through my glasses?
Cecily: Oh! not at all, Gwendolen. I am very fond of being looked at.
Annotate showing K&U or language and literary features as well as context. Cross reference with rest of text to show wider K&U of play.
Gwendolen and Cecily's conversation in Act 2 is centered around family. Oscar Wilde places double meanings within the text that are not immediately noticed until analyzed further. He uses language, literary features and context to show the characters attitudes and ideas.
In the beginning of the quote Gwendolen starts with a sentence with a complex structure, 'Outside the family circle, papa, I am glad to say, is entirely unknown.' The reason why the sentence is structured this was is because Gwendolen wanted it to be dramatic and have a bigger impact. By but the word 'unknown' last it has become the punch line of the sentence, you don't expect that Lord Bracknell would be unknown. This gives humor to the sentence and refers back to the sub-title 'a trivial play for serious people'. In the Victorian era men are often the ones that are in the public eye whereas the woman stay at home. Oscar Wilde shows his distaste of the 'society rules' by reversing the gender roles.
Oscar Wilde continues this role reversal through Gwendolen by saying 'And certainly once a man neglects his domestic duties he becomes painfully effeminate, does he not? This suggests that a man loses his masculinity the moment he leaves the household. This is an inversion because people would think that by staying at home you would become 'effeminate' not by 'neglecting his domestic duties'. This could refer to Oscar Wilde's sexuality because he neglected his wife and kids which in this case make him effeminate or 'camp' which can be him subtly hinting to the audience that he was gay.
Gwendolen states 'has brought me up to be extremely short sighted; it is part of her system' this suggests that she is very narrow minded and in society with in the city being 'short-sighted' is a clue to whole is part of the aristocracy. The word 'short-sighted' is polysemic because it could mean short sighted or narrow minded. It shows that Gwendolen wants to be like her mother, she has been brought up like her mother 'it is part of her system'. Gwendolen isn't insulting her mother but rather idolizes her and her values. This shows us a lot about Gwendolen's character, she is both a model of elegant fashion and sophistication. Jacks fears are confirmed in this scene because the audience find out that she is almost exactly like her mother except she is more likeable.
Cecily seems to like her self quite a lot when she says 'Oh! not at all, Gwendolen. I am very fond of being looked at' this suggests that she doesn't mind what people think of her and likes the attention. Cecily's character is the polar opposite to Gwendolen, where she is sophisticated and a great representation of society, Cecily is unspoilt and childlike.
In Conclusion Oscar Wilde discreetly shows the characters personality and his personally views on society and aristocracy through various language and literary features. He uses all the characters to portray how he really feels on society and hierarchy. The way in which each sentence has been structured and each word chosen give us a further understanding into the mind of each character and Oscar Wilde.
