Carly's Discussion Prompts for June 29th

1) Is Wilde being serious at any point here? Can you take the “serious” moments seriously?  What is he trying to accomplish – cheap humor, or an incisive commentary?

2) How exactly does Wilde employ humor and irony? What is his point?

3) Where’s Wilde in here? Are there any characters that seem to reflect his personality/opinions/quirks?

4) How does Wilde treat marriage, especially in comparison to his treatment of the subject in Lady Windermere’s Fan?

5) What do you make of the repeated comparisons between men and women throughout the passage? As we discussed yesterday in relation to Lady Windermere’s Fan, in comparison does this work appear to be progressive in any way?

6) Is there an ideal husband or wife in here? What about perfection in general?

7) What is Wilde saying about love, either within marriage or between friends or among family members?

8) How do the stage directions add or detract to the play? Imagine staging it (minus a meddlesome playwright).  How do the directions add to the understanding of the play as a whole?

9) Along with number 8, how do appearances function in the play, both the appearance of the characters and their discussions of appearances?