Fwd: 4372

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Subject: 4372
To: seth weidenaar <sethweidenaar@gmail.com>

                             In Lady Windermere's fan, by Oscar Wilde, Wilde portrays three Characters as snobby, arrogant, and Judgmental. In this particular passage The Duchess of Berwick, Lord Darlington, and Lady Windermere are discussing the Lady's party that will take place later that evening. The Duchess and Lord have issues with one another from the start due to their very similar personalities conflicting with one another. Both characters are very proud, high society, arrogant people and having them come together bring out those particular character traits even more so. All the while Lady Windermere is sitting in the room agreeing to whatever the Duchess and Lord say or ask.

The Duchess seems to be a very judgmental person right from the start. In lines 4 and 5 she tells the Lord that he is far too wicked to even know her daughter and then in lines 14-16 she is speaking ill of Lady Markby's tea and how she was not surprised that it was undrinkable due to the fact that her son in law supplies her tea. She goes on to tell Lady Windermere that she must control who comes to her party because "The most dreadful people seem to be everywhere" (lines 29,30). She also tells the Lady that her house is one of the only places she can take Agatha, her daughter, and she feels secure having her there. The Duchess, throughout this passage, is constantly arguing back and forth with the Lord about his own character traits, marriage, and the trivial way he speaks.

Lord Darlington comes off as very arrogant and witty. He jokes with the Lady about how she shall have no one at the party whom there is any scandal and says in lines 37 and 38 "Oh, don't say that Lady Windermere. I should never be admitted." Throughout the passage the Lord is never fully serious in the way he talks. In lines 61-63 he says that he thinks life is a far to important thing to take seriously, saying that he wishes for no one to understand him because then he would be found out. At the end of the passage he goes back to his arrogant and witty personality and asks the Lady if he may come to her party.

Lady Windermere is an older woman that is hosting a small, early celebration of her birthday, or a "ball" as the Duchess constantly refers to it. The Lady is a very odd character to me because even though it is her party and she is the older woman in the passage she basically agrees with whatever the Duchess and Lord say to her. Part of her agreeing contradicts itself in lines 34-36 and lines 72, 73. In lines 34-36 she agrees to watch who comes to her party and says no one with whom there is any scandal will be allowed and then in lines 72 and 73 she tells the Lord that he is certainly allowed to come he is only not allowed to say foolish things.

In conclusion, these three characters fit the bill for being in the society they live in. They are arrogant, snobby, and selfish which is how the royal and wealthy were in this time period.