![]() When Gwendolen requests no sugar, Cecily adds four lumps to her cup. Both women, thinking they are engaged to the same person, wage a civilized "war" over the tea service while the servants silently watch. The guise of correctness is the framework for war. ![]() The tea ceremony in Act II is a hilarious example of Wilde's contention that manners and appearance are everything. ![]() Gwendolen's aristocratic attitude is "In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity is the vital thing." The trivial is important the serious is overlooked. Her marriage proposal must be performed correctly, and her brother even practices correct proposals. For this reason, Wilde questions whether the more important or serious issues of the day are overlooked in favor of trivial concerns about appearance. So, while a person could lead a secret life, carry on affairs within marriage or have children outside of wedlock, society would look the other way as long as the appearance of propriety was maintained. Appearance was everything, and style was much more important than substance. ![]() Earnestness - a determined and serious desire to do the correct thing - was at the top of the code of conduct. The aristocratic Victorians valued duty and respectability above all else. ![]()
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