Question 2 06sample Essays

8/10/2019 Question 2 06sample Essays

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2006—Essay #2—Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan

Sample I

Legendary author Oscar Wilde’s farce of 19th century society criticizes a society where people say everything

and mean nothing. The main characters restrict their conversation to harmless flirtation and trivial, though

somewhat cruel, gossip. Their society is one where a title of noility is rewarded more than intelligence, and

wealth and material possessions are considered more important than interesting personalities or !indness. OscarWilde e"pertly crafts his characters to reveal the values held y high society in the late 1#$$’s.

The %uchess of &erwic! always has some gossip to share, a name to drop, or a party to tal! aout. Wildegives the %uchess a tone of over'confidence and authority that reflects the importance that wealthy, nole women

felt aout themselves. (he descries women as )good,* ut +uic!ly adds that only )some* are actually good.

This reflects her tendency to glorify her friends and criticize those who are not part of her e"clusive cli+ue. The

%uchess has very strong opinions and e"pects everyone to agree with her. These values reflect the e"pectation

that everyone who is part of their society should ehave, act and thin! in a certain way.

Lady Windemere represents the part of society that never leads, ut follows estalished practices rigorously so

that they will not lose their social standing. er character agrees with everything the %uchess says and does not

propogate any original, let alone controversial, opinions. This reflects the idea that people especially women,

should conform to very trivial and unoriginal standards.

Wilde’s portrayal of the two women conveys important commentary aout the role of women in society.Their dialogue is restricted to parties and gossip- although they po!e fun at Lord %arlington for eing trivial, they

never address any serious suect matter themselves. This suggests that women were e"pected to remain ignorant

aout politics and usiness and e e"perts aout tea parties and alls.

Lord %arlington is a foil to the two women and allows the reader to see a man’s role in this society. isinnocent flirtations and harmless self'deprecating comments are fodder for the women’s frivolous conversations.

/nderneath %arlington’s dialogue, there is an air of condescension and sarcasm. %arlington conforms to his

society’s view of males y patronizing the women and encouraging them to continue with their ignorance rather

than encouraging original thought or individualism. Oscar Wilde uses humor to point out the flaws of 19 th century society. This passage emphasizes the disparity

etween the roles of women and men. is vivid characters and interesting dialogue show the imalance etween

genders and ridicules the frivolity and triviality that is a fundamental part of this society.

Sample M

0n the passage from Lady Windermere’s an* Oscar Wilde reveals the characters through conversations.

%uchess of &erwic!, Lord %arlington, and Lady Windermere are all sitting together discussing the all for Lady

Windermere. 2s these characters tal! to each other aout this matter, we are ale to see what they thin! their

society is aout and we see the values that each one of them have.

%uchess of &erwic! is the first character introduced. (he starts of y introducing her daughter, 2gatha, then

states who can and can’t meet her. (he states to Lord %arlington, )0 won’t let you !now my daughter, you are far

too wic!ed.* &y doing this, we see that &erwic! isn’t afraid to e"press her opinions. (he also says, )We have

ust had tea at Lady 3ar!y’s. (huch ad tea, too.* &erwic! is prideful. (he is constantly puting others down soshe can rise aove the rest. 2lthough she is prideful, she cares for her daughter y e"pressing her concerns aout

the )most dreadful people.*

Lady Windermere is completely opposite from %uchess of &erwic!. 4ather puting herself aove others, she

wants the attention to e on everyone else rather than her. (he says, )5ou musn’t thin! it is going to e a all,%uchess. 0t is only a dance in honor of my irthday. 2 small and early.* &ut doing this she imediately turns the

attention away from her. (he e"presses her concern for the society when she says, )0 will have no one in my

house aout whom there is any scandal.* Windermere wants to e safe and protected from the outside world. (he

seems scared of society.

Lord %arlington tal!s highly of himself, ut everyone else put him down. )Why, there are lots of people who

say 0 have never really done anything wrong in the whole course of my life.* e is wrong. 6eople say right to his

face that you can’t trust anything he says. 5ou can tell he is a foolish man y what others say aout him. )5ou

are not to say foolish, insincere things to people.* When this is said to him he ta!es it as a o!e and lows it off.



Oscar Wilde is ale to show us the values of each of the characters y how they respond to +uestions and y

the way others tal! aout them. 2ll these characters are different, ut they all agree that the outsid world is ad.

They thin! this ecause they are all Lords, ladies, or duchess’ and they put themselves aove the rest. We can

learn from these characters that we shouldn’t set ourselves aove the rest ecause pride has the power to ruin us.

Sample P

0n the e"cerpt from )Lady Windermere’s an*, the three characters revealed are very different. 2lthough allof them are from a high society, the values of each of them are opposite from the other one.

The %uchess of &erwic! is revealed as woman who values money and eing proper. This is shown from the

eginning when she won’t let Lord %arlington !now her daughter ecause he is )far too wic!ed.* 0t is also shown

when she is complaining aout parties and how they let )the most dreadful people* in. This is significant ecause

it shows that the %uchess values class and does not agree with the way people in her society are changing.

Lord %arlington is the mischievious one of the three characters. e is viewed as eing wic!ed and trivial.

is values are more rela"ed than the %uchess. e seems li!e the !ind of person who doesn’t care aout status,

unli!e the %uchess who does. This is significant ecause it was unusual for a man during that time to not care

aout eing proper or respected.The last character is Lady Windermere. (he is portrayed as the !ind and gentle figure. (he also is the humle

one out of the group. 2n e"ample is when she is tal!ing to the %uchess and tells her that it’s going to e small

party, not a all. This is significant ecause most women during that time would have e"aggerated and made the party seem e"travagant, ut instead Lady Windermere was humle and told the truth.

The three characters have different values and that is clearly shown. 2lthough they are form the same society,

each one values totally different things. The %uchess values money, Lord %arlington values mischief, and Lady

Windermere values !indness..

Sample R

0n this e"cerpt from Lady Windermere’s an Oscar Wilde illustrated the attitudes of the people as well as the

standards of their society. e showed the snoishness of the people and their views of others as inferior. They

act very proper ut ehind that one can see the attitudes ehind their words.

The characters in this play all have an attitude that they’re etter than others. They insult each other and rag

aout themselves. They insult a woman for where she gets her tea. They get mad that certain people go to their alls. They then go on to insult men in general. They value a person social status more than their character. This

attitude reveals a lot aout their own character.

0t also shows a it aout the character of society. These are the upper class people. These people are the onesthat others admire. 0f this is the upper crust, then what is important to this society7

0n a society that values propriety and atti+uette, many of the upper class does ecome snoish. 6eople are

told that they’re good ecause of certain reasons, and it gets to them. These people don’t realize what’s important,

or at least what should e.

Sample U

The era of du!es and lords ended long ago ut memories of their time live on in history and literature.

istory focuses on the oppression of the peasants and succession of the royal family while literature +uestions the

practices and culture of the time. 0n Lady Windermere’s an, Oscar Wilde reveals the upper class mindset

through dialogue and a normal social situation.

The est hostess could alance propriety and entertainment perfectly at any event. The %uchess of &erwic!

manages ust that. er guests are e+ually concerned with social order. 0t is clear that this society is consumed y

propriety. The %uchess of &erwic! greets her guests ut ma!es sure to introduce her daughter in hopes of getting

2gatha into good social standing. &erwic! is entirely consumed y other people’s opinions and y her opinions

of others as evidenced y her conversation. &erwic! deflates Lady 3ar!y and her tea then procedes to puff

Lady Windermere’s ego y e"pressing 2gatha’s e"citement aout the all. This continues throughout the passage

notifying the reader that this ehavior is typical and almost e"pected in this society. Wilde also uses dialogue toshow the shallowness of his characters’ world. To alance the complements and gossip, all three characters



engage in a volley of lighthearted insults similar to modern day sarcasm and putdown o!es. Their words do not

cut deep or even offend any character. The characters do not stay on one topic for long soon move to marriage.

8ven this monumental institute is not ta!en seriously for long. (oon Lord %arlington is lightly ridiculed for his

commentary on the suect and then departs.

One gathers that this situation is normal and e"pected ecause no character is surprised or disgruntled y it.

The shallowness of the conversation may e due in part to the revity of the meeting or the lac! of a deep

relationship etween the characters- however, words and topics of conversation are good indicators of a person’s

true values. &erwic! is entirely osessed with social status and pleasing others to get in their good graces asevidenced y her gossip aout Lady 3ar!y and complementing of Lady Windermere. Lady Windermere is also

engrossed in the fancies of her culture ut is not as manipulative as her hostess. Lord %arlington on the other had

is a ham who wishes to please and entertain. owever his movies are different than the %uchess of &eriwc!’s

motives- he enoys teasing the ladies and eing in their company.

Oscar Wilde presents these three as normal specimens of their society- thus it can e assumed that propriety

and light humor consume the world in which they live.

Sample V

0n a short conversation etween three characters, the %uchess of &erwic!, Lady Windermere, and Lord

%arlington, Oscar Wilde reveals the entertaining arrogance of the memers of upper class society. The lunt,

cynical insults toward the lower class and sardonic language etween the three illuminates the attitudes of thecharacters and the structure of their society including gaps etween lower class and high class and men and

women.

Wilde’s language is continuous +uic! witted and sardonic. /pon introducing her daughter, The %uchess of

&erwic! sates that she will not let Lord %arlington meet her daughter ecause he is )far too wic!ed.* learly, she

does not mean this literally ecause she continues to have an engaged conversation with Lord %arlington, she

therefore uses the insult sardonically and playfully. urthermore, Lord %arlington’s +uic! response includes that

he has )failed* at wic!edness and that men and women say he has not )done anything wrong* in his entire life:a

humorous hyperole. The characters seem to enoy slightly insulting one another, ut the dialogue turns rather

more disgusting and unadmirale than humorous when the women egin to insult those that are not similar to

them, particularly the poor and scandalous. The %uchess of &erwic! comments that the )most dreadful people

seem to go everywhere* and Lady Windmere encourages the preudice y assuring her there will e no such

scandalous people at her party. These insults reveal the women’s arrogant attitude. They seem to feel superior toothers and Wilde gives no reason for why they should e. Thus their superiority comple" is unadmirale and

unappealing.

Lord %arlington, with his humor, seems to illuminate these preudiced attitudes. e does not indignantlyspea! against them, ut Wilde uses this characters to provo!e the arrogance of the women in regards to the lower

classes and to reveal other inustices of society:such as the women’s lac! of power. 0n response to the women’s

insults toward the scandalous, Lord % humorously replies )0 should never e admitted.* This comment ends the

serious prolem of the poor with a glaringly, insulting light note and then serves as a transition to tal! of women’s

roles.

Oscar Wilde uses the %uchess of &erwic! to discuss the small roles women play in society, which from the

conversation, seem to e limited to throwing parties. The %uchess of &erwic! insists )we are positively getting

elowed into the corner.* This statement of passion and indignation throws the first positive light on her

characters, and reveals women’s inferior position to men. 2lso to e noted, 2gatha her daughter who was

introduced does not spea! a word throughout the conversation and this could attest to the disregard of women,

especially younger women. 0n addition, ecause the women sincerely tal! of teas and parties, Wilde gives the

impression that these are women’s main activities and that they are !ept out of the political sphere and pushed into

the domestic one. This situation is much li!e the one of 3rs. %alloway in ;irginia Woolf’s novel which similarly

comments disapprovingly on women’s inferior roles.

0t is Oscar Wilde’s wit, engaging < lunt language, and disapproving tone that reveals the values of his

characters and their society. The characters spea! honestly and luntly, and as a result, a clear character

description can e gain of them merely y analyzing their dialogue. The women are arrogant < disregard the

lower class, yet they desire themselves to e disregarded y men no longer. Oscar Wilde’s placing of these twotopics side y side reveals its situational irony, and only adds his own disapproval of the social situation. 2t times



Wilde seems to spea! through Lord %arlington, especially as L% moc!s Lady Windermere aout her party =)very

small, very early, very select*>. Thus Wilde creates a scenario which is used as a microcosm of the macrocosm of

society and integrates his own social commentary.

Sample JJ

0n the e"cerpt of his play Lady Windermere’s an, Oscar Wilde creates two opposing values in the characters

%uchess of &erwic! and Lord %arlington. 2long with Lady Windermere, these three characters represent a highclass society and convey the triviality of their time. Wilde employs diction, dialogue and irony to suggest the

pettiness of the scene.

We !now right away that we are reading aout wealthy people due to their titles. The %uchess of &erwic! is a

well of woman who places high importance on money and reputation. (he gives in to the gossipy nature of

society and elieves everything she hears =)you are far too wic!ed*>. (he values the material things in life, such

as the )all* and )tea* parties she regularly attends. er assumption of the ad tea at Lady 3ar!y’s is one of

udgement and slight cruelty. (he e"pects only the est and when its not given to her she has something to say

aout it. The duchess e"ceeds the acceptale rules of tal!ing aout others- she is a gossip. (he claims that )men

don’t matter* and only some women are good. (he is too trivial to realize that she is rea!ing her own rules ofnoility.

Lord %arlington, on the other hand, is a man full of life. e too participates in the society which he moc!s,

ut he sees right through it. e lives as he wants and doesn’t care what others thin! or say aout him. e is veryoservant and values a good intelectual conversation, which unfortunately cannot e attained while tal!ing to the

%uchess. e elieves that the all is )very small, very early, and very select.* This is somewhat satirical as he

latanly moc!s the womens efore him. Lord %arlington wants to e accepted into the high society while still

maintaining his intellect and uni+ue mind =)nowadays to e intelligile is to e found out*>.

This high class society places values on reputation and wealth. Through Wilde’s diction of the preceeding

characters, we see however interprets and lives out the values they maintain. One is a phony, while the other

pretends to e, a phony way to live life anyway.

Sample VV

)Lady Windermere’s an* analyzes the conversation of three ladies and one lord. The conversation carries on

aout what type of values the ladies and lord have, and what !ind of society they live in.The type of values all the characters have, and the !ind of society the characters live in is a high class value

and society. The author e"plains this y, having the characters argue aout how &erwic! doesn’t want 2gatha to

associate with the lord. (he says that he is a rude person.Later on the three ladies start tal!ing aout how 2gatha can’t wait to go to the all, the characters are very

pic!y with little saying form the other characters. They will go at it over simple suggestions and ideas.

The high class high value society is shown in this play on the tal! of the characters conversations. They are

very pic!y and rude, to a certain amount of people. (ome characters pretend to li!e others. 0n which they really

despise them.

Sample XX

Lady Windermere’s fan, y Oscar Wilde, conveys the characters high class attitudes towards each other and

shows the values of morals and money in their society.

The shortness and the contradictory statements mar! the satire that Wilde wished to convey. The argument

etween %uchess and Lord give insight in this satire also.

Sample XXX

0n the play )Lady Windermere’s an,* y Oscar Wilde the playwright reveals the values of the characters and

the nature of their society.



Sample N

One of the great ways for authors to reproach their audience while simultaneously !eeping them interested

and entertained is satire. 0n Oscar Wilde’s 1#9? play Lady Windermere’s an, Wilde successfully portrays the

;ictorian upper class as completely ridiculous without ecoming offensive.

The %uchess of &erwic! has the most dominating personality. 2s a duchess, she is more highly ran!ed in

society than a lord or lady, and clearly ta!es her role very seriously. (he is so conceited she presumes to tell the

lord and lady aout their companions:oth specifically and generally:in society as if they are half'wits andcould not draw their own conclusions. The duchess has all of the long lines with Lord %arlington and Lady

Windmere only ale to fit a word in when she pauses for reath. 6erhaps if she did not love to hear herself tal! so

much, the audience could e introduced to a fourth character in the seen, 2gatha. The duchess refers to and

addresses her daughter numerous times without ever allowing her a moment to formulate a response. er

snoery is apparent when she tells not only how her )friend* Lady 3ar!y’s tea was )+uite undrin!ale,* ut

goes on to anish any thoughts of loyalty y commenting that she wasn’t surprised ecause she disapproves of her

supplier. The duchess then goes on to ma!e her class loo! very elitest and condescending toward the rest of the

people when she remar!s that there are no more good houses in London and that the society is ecoming to

common and uncivilized.0f the %uchess of &erwic! ma!es the patronizing upper'class loo! awful, Lady Windermere does nothing to

salvage the picture. 2ctually ta!ing the duchess’s self'important attitudes seriously, she represents the ladies of

London as simpering sycophants, ready to do the ec! and call of their etters to e approved y and invitedamong the )right people.* Lady Windermere not only reforms herself to fit the duchess’s standards, she ends up

imitating her attitude toward men, specifically Lord %arlington, and society. (he immediately humles herself

efore the duchess, ma!ing her all seem smaller to ecome a mere dance and vowing that she will only invite the

proper company of which the duchess approves. Towards the end she teases Lord %arlington in a similar manner

to the duchess’s, calling him trivial, and lightly reprimanding him aout his )foolish insincerity* in a playful tone.

Lord %arlington is e"actly what his name denotes:a darling. e is the character that would e favored y

the audience. Oviously more intelligent than any of the present company, the audience would smile in sympathy

as oth he and they are forced to listen to the duchess’s diatries aout the current society. They would laugh,

pleased and amused, at his clever remar!s when comparing husands and wives to card games and at his careful

flattery of the duchess when informing her the all would e )very select.* They would thoroughly appreciate his

discreet moc!ery of the women’s intelligence with his parado" on the importance of life eing too serious for

discussion. The audience would also understand why, despite his amused moc!ery and slight contempt for thewomen, he appeals to their egos in the end to stay in their and society’s good graces.

To conclude, Oscar Wile effectively uses ironic humor and moc!ery to reproach the ;ictorian upper'class

aout their elitest attitudes in his play Lady Windermere’s an. e manages to ma!e fun of them and entertainthem at the same time with his enoyale wit.

Sample

0n the e"cerpt from the play Lady Windermere’s an y Oscar Wilde, three characters are introduced, %uchess

of &erwic!, Lord %arlington, and Lady Windermere. The values of all three characters and the nature of their

society is revealed y their conversation and how they say it.

The %uchess of &erwic! is the first character that is introduced in the e"cerpt. 0mmediately the reader can tell

what type of person she is. (he comes to very harsh conclusion of people as seen in the line )0 won’t let you

!now my daughter, you are far too wic!ed.* 8ven though she may !now %arlington well, she doesn’t allow her

daughter to come to her own conclusions. 0t is prevelant that the %uchess values wealth and status in society with

the saying of the lines )0 don’t !now what society is comming to. The most dreadful people seem to go

everywhere.* The %uchess oviously does not li!e poorer people and thin!s very highly of herself. Lady

Windermere is not as self'rightious as the %uchess. Lady Windermere values her friends and isn’t as snoy as

the %uchess is. Lady Windermere values her friends as seen in the line )0 will, %uchess. 0 will have no one in my

house aout whom there any scandal.* ecause she is complaiant with the %uchess to ma!e her happy. Lady

Windermere also does not thin! of herself as or put herself on a pedestal as the %uchess does as seen in the lines

)Oh, you musn’t thin! it is going to e a all, %uchess, it is only a dance in honor of my irthday. 2 small andearly.* Lady Windermere doesn’t value her wealth as much as the %uchess.



Lord %arlington values how he is viewed y others. This is prevelent in the lines )@lots of people who say 0

have never really done anything wrong in the whole course of my life of course they only say it ehind my ac!.*

This shows that Lord %arlington is proud of how he is viewed y others for eing a wic!ed man. e values how

other people see him to e.

The second half of the e"cerpt reveals the nature of the three characters society. The women of the society are

pushed ac! while the men are always in the foreground. )&ut we are positively getting elowed into the corner.*

2lso, it seems as if they elieve that divorce is getting popular y the statement, ):Athe wives hold all the

honours and invariale lose the old tric!.’ AThe old tric!7 0s that the husand. Lord %arlington7’* 0t is percievedthat the socities women are the ones who cause the divorce.

The e"cerpt from Lady Windermere’s an reveals the values of the %uchess, Lay Windermere, and Lord

%arlington. The %uchess valued wealth and status ecause of how she tal!ed aout others as well as herself.

Lady Windermere valued her friends ecause of how she agreed with them to ma!e them happy. Lord %arlington

valued how others percieved him ecause he ecame happy when thought aout it. Women eing under men and

divorce was a ig part of the nature of their society. rom this e"cerpt Oscar Wilde reveals the characters’ values

and the nature of their society.

Question 2 06sample Essays

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