Act 2 and Act 3: Questions and Explorations
What would the audience see at the beginning of Act Three?As the curtain for Act 3 open, the audience sees Gwendolen and Cecily in the morning room at the Manor House. A manor house is the mansion of a lord or wealthy person and the morning room is a sitting room used during the daytime hours. The manor house is in the country. The stage is designed to resemble the morning room. I picture the morning room to be above the ground floor for Gwendolen and Cecily are ‘looking out into the garden’ through the window. The two women are gazing out the window and examining the two men. The morning room will be quite similar to the ‘luxurious and artistically furnished’ room of Algernon’s flat located in the city. Knowing the Cecily is wealthy, evident on page 60 when Jack states Cecily has ‘hundred and thirty thousand pounds in the funds’, a number of assumption can be made of the morning room. Cecily’s father, the man who adopted Jack, must have been wealthy and prosperous. Upon his death, all his wealth might have been passed down to Jack and his daughter Cecily. Therefore the manor house, and the morning room, might be attractively designed, capacious, and well furnished. Since the morning room is a sitting room, there will be chairs and sofas. Sophisticated, historical showpieces might be seen on stage as the two women peer out the window. Elegant lamps and teapoys might be present. The window through which the two women are gazing through will be closed; light through the window might serve to illuminate the morning room. Books, paintings and various other luxurious objects might be present to indicate Cecily’s economic well-being.How easil…
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…amed ‘Ernest’ to Gwendolen, then enters the scene and ends the afternoon tea between the two women.The afternoon tea between Cecily and Gwendolen begins with a light mood. The mood becomes hostile when the two find out that they are engaged to the same man; however, due to the presence of Merriman, no one reacts indecorously. The afternoon tea turns into a verbal fight. The two women ‘respectfully’ insult each other. As soon as Merriman leaves, Gwendolen points out the four lumps of sugar in her tea. She also states that she had specifically asked for bread and butter but had gotten an oversized piece of cake. She warns Cecily not ‘to go too far’. Cecily replies by saying that she is willing to go to any extent to save her ‘Ernest’. The mood turns from hostile to harsh and vicious. Gwendolen is about to leave the stage but she catches a glimpse of Jack.
