I have a number of quotations which have various meanings which help us through the play.
In Act one when Algernon has met Jack, Jack declares his love for Gwendolen but Algernon does not seem amused and gives his view on marriage. 'Divorces are made in heaven.' This brings forth his personality and perspective of marriage. He somehow twists the definition of divorce and places it in the term for marriage, this could suggest how he feels about love in general, that it is like hell. However his opinion is not to be tested as in the book we find that later on he is betrothed to Cecily and is a very big difference to when he was teasing Jack about marrying. This might be an opinion Oscar would have felt; we cannot get away from marriage or love.
Throughout Act 1 , I find that both characters seem to favour each other's company, with Algernon teasing Jack the most, "I think it rather mean of you, Ernest, I must say." Clearly we have the evidence of a friend who delights in teasing another and of course in a friendly way. This helps to determine what kind of personality Algernon favours and how he is seen throughout the play. The fact that he refers to Jack as Ernest may clearly suggest the distant relationship they seem to have even though they both converese words in an understanding way.
As we go along, Jack also begins to relate to Algernon using a short name to address him with, "Algy" sometimes with "dear" before it. His words used may be a way to reflect his personality and relationship towards Algernon.
Throughout Act 2, Oscar Wilde begins to use sentences which appear to sound like proverbs, these also seem to have a great deal of meaning which many can be analysed and decipted. I find many that were related to the time of the era and including the life of Wilde. In the begining of act 2 Cecily and Miss Prism are introduced and they begin conversing a conversion about the education Cecily is doing. As I read through I realised a sentence which had many meanings to society and enviroment, I found this when Miss Prism answers Cecily's question. "As a man sows so let him reap," We can relate this to an extraxt from the bible where many use it for a particular teaching or understanding. The fact that Wilde uses this specfic sentence may suggest his intention on displaying his feelings through a statement which could relate to him somehow.
"You know German, and geology, and things of that kind influence a man
very much." Miss Prism's response to Cecily's statement above does also reflect her opinons saying that it is not easy for a man to becme influenced or to change. May revel the background of Miss Prism's history and how her past had affected her response to change in a man.
In Act 2, I also find the conversation between Cecily and Algernon interesting as one is alarmed by the other and the words used also hold various meanings. This especially appears through when Algernon answers about being hungary and Cecily replies, "I should have remembered that when one is going to lead an entirely new life, one requires regular and wholesome meals. Won't you come in?" This staement becomes a sentence of many meanings. I find that her reference of "wholesome meals" could not only literally mean the item but the necessary lifeline for living- love, family, faith, hope, health.
I also examined the text when she says, "When one is going to lead an entirely new life..." This may give light on the fact that when new life startes one needs to have the nesseacary equipment to live as I described above. This not only means when one's life is reformed but could also literally mean the beginning of life as a baby. This begins to create an image in the readers mind by the word, "new life." Futhermore, the author Oscar Wilde seems to bring across this particular message, giving the reader a thought to have afterwards about life.
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