GWENDOLEN

A fashionable young woman who has decided, on principle, to love a man named Ernest. She treats her own whims as immovable moral law and delivers absurdity with total conviction.

1:06Comic20s–30sIntermediate

The speech108 words · 3 beats

0:00 / 1:06

Off-book

We live, as I hope you know, Mr. Worthing, in an age of ideals. The fact is constantly mentioned in the more expensive monthly magazines, and has reached the provincial pulpits, I am told.

And my ideal has always been to love some one of the name of Ernest. There is something in that name that inspires absolute confidence. The moment Algernon first mentioned to me that he had a friend called Ernest, I knew I was destined to love you.turn

It is a divine name. It has a music of its own. It produces vibrations. Personally, darling, to speak quite candidly, I don't much care about the name of Ernest... I have known several Jacks, and they all, without exception, were more than usually plain.

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Speaking to: Jack, who has just tried to propose and is being managed through it.
What just happened: Jack has finally worked up to a proposal. Before he can finish, Gwendolen takes charge of the moment, informing him how the engagement will proceed and why his name is the whole point.
Objective: To accept his proposal on terms she alone dictates.
The turn: 'my ideal has always been to love some one of the name of Ernest' — affection is revealed to rest entirely on a syllable.
Watch out for: The trap is winking at the audience. Gwendolen must believe every word with dead sincerity; the comedy dies the instant she finds herself funny. Play the logic as airtight.

Full work: The Importance of Being Earnest New to the vocabulary? What’s a beat? →

More from The Importance of Being Earnest2

ALGERNON1:02A young man with no income and complete confidence.CECILY1:06Algernon, posing as the wicked "Ernest," has just proposed. Cecily informs him — with perfect composure — that she accepted him months ago, in her imagination, and has the diary, the ring, and the letters to prove it.

GWENDOLEN

The Importance of Being Earnest · Oscar Wilde · 1:06 · 108 words

We live, as I hope you know, Mr. Worthing, in an age of ideals. The fact is constantly mentioned in the more expensive monthly magazines, and has reached the provincial pulpits, I am told. And my ideal has always been to love some one of the name of Ernest. There is something in that name that inspires absolute confidence. The moment Algernon first mentioned to me that he had a friend called Ernest, I knew I was destined to love you. It is a divine name. It has a music of its own. It produces vibrations. Personally, darling, to speak quite candidly, I don't much care about the name of Ernest... I have known several Jacks, and they all, without exception, were more than usually plain.

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