Special Sub-Topic: The Importance of Knowing Your Lines Click Here To Play: The Importance of Knowing Your Lines

Who says, "I really don't see anything romantic in proposing. It is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal. Why, one may be accepted"?

Algernon. Algernon makes this observation to Jack when Jack says that he is planning to propose to Gwendolen.

Which character states, "On an occasion of this kind it becomes more than a moral duty to speak one's mind. It becomes a pleasure"?

Gwendolen. Gwendolen superiorly intones this to Cecily as they catfight over the misunderstanding that they are each engaged to the same man.

Who gives the opinion, "To speak frankly, I am not in favour of long engagements. They give people the opportunity of finding out each other's character before marriage, which I think is never advisable"?

Lady Bracknell. Lady Bracknell offers this sage advice when Algernon and Cecily (who have only just met that day) state that they want to get married.

Who says the following: "It is a very ungentlemanly thing to read a private cigarette case"?

Jack. Jack says this to the suspicious Algernon as he is trying to fish out information about the inscription on Jack's cigarette case.

Who muses, "Really, if the lower orders don't set us a good example, what on earth is the use of them"?

Algernon. Algernon wonders this aloud to himself after speaking with his manservant, Lane, about his personal life. This line encapsulates the entire message and tone of this satirical play about the upper classes.

Which character explains, "You see, it is simply a very young girl's record of her own thoughts and impressions, and consequently meant for publication"?

Cecily. Cecily says this to Algernon when speaking of her diary (which is full of completely fictitious events that Cecily has decided really happened.)

Who reasons, "Some aunts are tall, some aunts are not tall. That is a matter that surely an aunt may be allowed to decide for herself"?

Jack. Jack says this to Algernon when trying to convince him that "little Cecily" is his aunt. To which Algernon replies, "Yes. But why does your aunt call you her uncle?" Obviously, Jack hasn't quite yet learned the importance of being earnest.

Which character boasts, "I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train"?

Gwendolen. This is occurs during the scene where Gwendolen and Cecily are fighting over which of them is really engaged to Ernest. With this line Wilde satirizes the inflated sense of self-importance that the upper classes had; to them, their own lives are the most interesting things to read about.

This character asks, "And, speaking of the science of Life, have you got the cucumber sandwiches cut for Lady Bracknell?"?

Algernon. This is Algernon speaking to his manservant, Lane. This is one example of numerous instances in the play when humor is based on non-sequitur.

"I hadn't been there since her poor husband's death. I never saw a woman so altered; she looks quite twenty years younger," is noted by whom?

Lady Bracknell. Lady Bracknell says this to Algernon to explain why she's late for tea and cucumber sandwiches. This type of humor is an example of inversion: when the quip ends in a direction opposite than everyone expected.

Who confides, "I don't think I would care to catch a sensible man. I shouldn't know what to talk to him about"?

Cecily. Cecily says this in response to Algernon when he declares all girls' pretty looks "are a snare that every sensible man would like to be caught in."

Which character proclaims, "I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. . . . Touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately, in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever"?

Lady Bracknell. Lady Bracknell says this to Jack when interrogating him to decide whether or not he is a suitable match for her daughter, Gwendolen.

Which character speculates, "Were I fortunate enough to be Miss Prism's pupil, I would hang upon her lips. I spoke metaphorically.--My metaphor was drawn from bees"?

Dr. Chasuble. Dr. Chasuble says this to Cecily when interrupting her lesson with Miss Prism. This illogical statement makes ridiculous the "educated" clergy who ministered to and guided the upper classes.

Who says, "What a lesson for him! I trust he will profit by it"?

Miss Prism. Miss Prism makes this unsympathetic and illogical statement after Jack declares that his wicked brother Ernest has died.

Which character declares, "Oh! It is absurd to have a hard and fast rule about what one should read and what one shouldn't. More than half of modern culture depends on what one shouldn't read"?

Algernon. Algernon says this in response to Jack's comment that "it is a very ungentlemanly thing to read a private cigarette case." What makes lines like these particularly amusing is that the characters are constantly criticizing what is absurd in their society without realizing the absurdity of their own actions and statements.

Who comments, "We live, I regret to say, in an age of surfaces"?

Lady Bracknell. Lady Bracknell makes this statement without realizing how superficial she herself is. She says this after learning that Cecily is an heiress, which is when Lady Bracknell for the first time is at all interested in getting to know Cecily.

Who cautions, "None of us are perfect. I myself am peculiarly susceptible to draughts"?

Dr. Chasuble. Dr. Chasuble says this to Miss Prism after her lack of sympathy for the death of Jack's brother Ernest, who is supposed to have died from "a severe chill." Dr. Chasuble is, of course, missing the point of the entire conversation by pointing out that he is susceptible to draughts.

"No doubt you have many other calls of a similar character to make in the neighborhood," is said by whom?

Cecily. This is a truly great insult from Cecily to Gwendolen. Gwendolen has called on Jack, and instead met Cecily. They both fall under the misapprehension that they are each engaged to the same man, and engage in a catfight, trading digs at each other. This line from Cecily implies that Gwendolen is an unscrupulous woman who tries to break up couples because she is either loose or unable to get a man for herself.

Who admits, "I hope you will always look at me just like that, especially when there are other people present"?

Gwendolen. Gwendolen says this to Jack as he looks adoringly at her. Of course, this comment is one more satirical zing pointing out how superficial the lives of the upper class are.

And finally, who states, "On the contrary, Aunt Augusta, I've now realized for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest"?

Jack. This is the last line of the play. Ironically, Jack has learned how valuable it is to be Ernest, but nothing about being earnest. In fact, none of the characters have, for they are rewarded for being superficial and foolish.