Lady Windermere S Fan
Matthew Hernandez
January 7, 2015
Gango – 2
Practice AP Essay
In an excerpt from Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde, the playwright reveals the values and nature of his own society through the conduct of his characters. The author uses the lives of high-class people to demonstrate the underlying fancies and motivations of the elite society of his time. Wilde targets the society’s emphasis on an external show of good behavior, their scorning of the lower classes, and their vanity in living for the present.
The characters in the play, particularly the Duchess of Berwick, value people of proper conduct. The Duchess admires how good Lady Windermere’s parties are since they’re so “select” that no one “about whom there is any scandal” ever goes. The Duchess laments that people she deems improper “seem to go everywhere,” including to her own house parties. This detail shows how the characters see themselves as better than most people. The ladies’ proud nature is the source of their judgments, and people not privileged with wealth and the resulting demeanor must suffer their criticism. The characters also value intimacy and staying among their own rich selves, as demonstrated by the “small and early” nature of Lady Windermere’s party. Again, this is due to the fact that they see themselves as superior to the “dreadful people.” Lady Windermere’s parties are only for the special, select people she invites; of course, those she invites are her wealthy friends.
Lord Darlington values living in the moment. Lady Windermere calls him trivial for talking so nonchalantly and “trivially” about topics like marriage, which he calls a “game…that is going out of fashion.” He considers life “far too important a thing to ever talk seriously about.” Oscar Wilde reveals his own outlook on life through Lord Darlington. Notorious for his lavish tastes and dispositions, Wilde’s flamboyant persona imbues many of his character’s traits. Lord Darlington’s nature reveals the “live today, die
January 7, 2015
Gango – 2
Practice AP Essay
In an excerpt from Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde, the playwright reveals the values and nature of his own society through the conduct of his characters. The author uses the lives of high-class people to demonstrate the underlying fancies and motivations of the elite society of his time. Wilde targets the society’s emphasis on an external show of good behavior, their scorning of the lower classes, and their vanity in living for the present.
The characters in the play, particularly the Duchess of Berwick, value people of proper conduct. The Duchess admires how good Lady Windermere’s parties are since they’re so “select” that no one “about whom there is any scandal” ever goes. The Duchess laments that people she deems improper “seem to go everywhere,” including to her own house parties. This detail shows how the characters see themselves as better than most people. The ladies’ proud nature is the source of their judgments, and people not privileged with wealth and the resulting demeanor must suffer their criticism. The characters also value intimacy and staying among their own rich selves, as demonstrated by the “small and early” nature of Lady Windermere’s party. Again, this is due to the fact that they see themselves as superior to the “dreadful people.” Lady Windermere’s parties are only for the special, select people she invites; of course, those she invites are her wealthy friends.
Lord Darlington values living in the moment. Lady Windermere calls him trivial for talking so nonchalantly and “trivially” about topics like marriage, which he calls a “game…that is going out of fashion.” He considers life “far too important a thing to ever talk seriously about.” Oscar Wilde reveals his own outlook on life through Lord Darlington. Notorious for his lavish tastes and dispositions, Wilde’s flamboyant persona imbues many of his character’s traits. Lord Darlington’s nature reveals the “live today, die