— Oscar WildeThe Importance of Being Earnest (1895), Act I
Commentary
Spoken by Algernon, the line is a joke about social pretence, but it also expresses a serious skepticism about neat moral categories. Wilde's comedy repeatedly exposes the gap between respectable appearance and reality.
Commentary
Spoken by Algernon, the line is a joke about social pretence, but it also expresses a serious skepticism about neat moral categories. Wilde's comedy repeatedly exposes the gap between respectable appearance and reality.