French maid produces a really marvellous result in a very brief

space of time. I remember recommending one to young Lady Lancing,



and after three months her own husband did not know her.

JACK. And after six months nobody knew her.



LADY BRACKNELL. [Glares at JACK for a few moments. Then bends,

with a practised smile, to CECILY.] Kindly turn round, sweet



child. [CECILY turns completely round.] No, the side view is what

I want. [CECILY presents her profile.] Yes, quite as I expected.



There are distinct social possibilities in your profile. The two

weak points in our age are its want of principle and its want of



profile. The chin a little higher, dear. Style largely depends on

the way the chin is worn. They are worn very high, just at



present. Algernon!

ALGERNON. Yes, Aunt Augusta!



LADY BRACKNELL. There are distinct social possibilities in Miss

Cardew's profile.



ALGERNON. Cecily is the sweetest, dearest, prettiest girl in the

whole world. And I don't care twopence about social possibilities.



LADY BRACKNELL. Never speak disrespectfully of Society, Algernon.

Only people who can't get into it do that. [To CECILY.] Dear



child, of course you know that Algernon has nothing but his debts

to depend upon. But I do not approve of mercenary marriages. When



I married Lord Bracknell I had no fortune of any kind. But I never

dreamed for a moment of allowing that to stand in my way. Well, I



suppose I must give my consent.

ALGERNON. Thank you, Aunt Augusta.



LADY BRACKNELL. Cecily, you may kiss me!

CECILY. [Kisses her.] Thank you, Lady Bracknell.



LADY BRACKNELL. You may also address me as Aunt Augusta for the

future.



CECILY. Thank you, Aunt Augusta.

LADY BRACKNELL. The marriage, I think, had better take place quite



soon.

ALGERNON. Thank you, Aunt Augusta.



CECILY. Thank you, Aunt Augusta.

LADY BRACKNELL. To speak frankly, I am not in favour of long



engagements. They give people the opportunity of finding out each

other's character before marriage, which I think is never



advisable.

JACK. I beg your pardon for interrupting you, Lady Bracknell, but



this engagement is quite out of the question. I am Miss Cardew's

guardian, and she cannot marry without my consent until she comes



of age. That consent I absolutely decline to give.

LADY BRACKNELL. Upon what grounds may I ask? Algernon is an



extremely, I may almost say an ostentatiously, eligible young man.

He has nothing, but he looks everything. What more can one desire?



JACK. It pains me very much to have to speak frankly to you, Lady

Bracknell, about your nephew, but the fact is that I do not approve



at all of his moral character. I suspect him of being untruthful.

[ALGERNON and CECILY look at him in indignant amazement.]



LADY BRACKNELL. Untruthful! My nephew Algernon? Impossible! He

is an Oxonian.



JACK. I fear there can be no possible doubt about the matter.

This afternoon during my temporaryabsence in London on an



important question of romance, he obtained admission to my house by

means of the false pretence of being my brother. Under an assumed



name he drank, I've just been informed by my butler, an entire pint

bottle of my Perrier-Jouet, Brut, '89; wine I was specially



reserving for myself. Continuing his disgracefuldeception, he

succeeded in the course of the afternoon in alienating the



affections of my only ward. He subsequently stayed to tea, and

devoured every single muffin. And what makes his conduct all the



more heartless is, that he was perfectly well aware from the first

that I have no brother, that I never had a brother, and that I



don't intend to have a brother, not even of any kind. I distinctly

told him so myself yesterday afternoon.



LADY BRACKNELL. Ahem! Mr. Worthing, after careful consideration I

have decided entirely to overlook my nephew's conduct to you.



JACK. That is very generous of you, Lady Bracknell. My own

decision, however, is unalterable. I decline to give my consent.



LADY BRACKNELL. [To CECILY.] Come here, sweet child. [CECILY

goes over.] How old are you, dear?



CECILY. Well, I am really only eighteen, but I always admit to

twenty when I go to evening parties.



LADY BRACKNELL. You are perfectly right in making some slight

• absurd [əb´sə:d] a.荒谬的，可笑的 (初中英语单词)


• physical [´fizikəl] a.物质的；有形的 (初中英语单词)


• absolutely [´æbsəlu:tli] ad.绝对地；确实 (初中英语单词)


• mental [´mentl] a.精神的；心理的 (初中英语单词)


• weakness [´wi:knis] n.虚弱；弱点，缺点 (初中英语单词)


• flight [flait] n.逃走；飞行；班机 (初中英语单词)


• unhappy [ʌn´hæpi] a.不幸的；不快乐的 (初中英语单词)


• scheme [ski:m] n.计划；阴谋，诡计 (初中英语单词)


• income [´inkʌm] n.收入，所得 (初中英语单词)


• communication [kə,mju:ni´keiʃən] n.通信；通讯联系 (初中英语单词)


• extremely [ik´stri:mli] ad.极端地；非常地 (初中英语单词)


• victim [´viktim] n.牺牲者；受害者 (初中英语单词)


• definite [´definit] a.确定的，明确的 (初中英语单词)


• medical [´medikəl] a.医学的；医疗的 (初中英语单词)


• nephew [´nevju:, ´nɛfju] n.侄子；外甥 (初中英语单词)


• coldly [´kəuldli] ad.冷淡地 (初中英语单词)


• shiver [´ʃivə] v.&n.(使)颤抖；碎片 (初中英语单词)


• inquiry [in´kwaiəri] n.询问；质询；调查 (初中英语单词)


• origin [´ɔridʒin] n.起源；由来；出身 (初中英语单词)


• furious [´fjuəriəs] a.狂怒的；猛烈的 (初中英语单词)


• inspire [in´spaiə] v.鼓舞；使感悟；吸入 (初中英语单词)


• profession [prə´feʃən] n.职业；声明；表白 (初中英语单词)


• occasionally [ə´keiʒənəli] ad.偶然地；非经常地 (初中英语单词)


• incident [´insidənt] n.小事件；事变 (初中英语单词)


• departure [di´pɑ:tʃə] n.离开，出发 (初中英语单词)


• attractive [ə´træktiv] a.有吸引力；诱人的 (初中英语单词)


• thoroughly [´θʌrəli] ad.完全地，彻底地 (初中英语单词)


• distinct [di´stiŋkt] a.清楚的；独特的 (初中英语单词)


• approve [ə´pru:v] v.赞成；同意；批准 (初中英语单词)


• frankly [´fræŋkli] ad.直率地；慷慨地 (初中英语单词)


• character [´kæriktə] n.特性；性质；人物；字 (初中英语单词)


• pardon [´pɑ:dən] n.&vt.原谅；饶恕；赦免 (初中英语单词)


• engagement [in´geidʒmənt] n.婚约；雇用；受聘 (初中英语单词)


• suspect [´sʌspekt, sə´spekt] v.怀疑；觉得 n.嫌疑犯 (初中英语单词)


• absence [´æbsəns] n.不在，缺席；缺乏 (初中英语单词)


• romance [rəu´mæns] n.中世纪骑士小说 (初中英语单词)


• admission [əd´miʃən] n.接纳；承认 (初中英语单词)


• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)


• consideration [kən,sidə´reiʃən] n.考虑；原因；体谅 (初中英语单词)


• overlook [,əuvə´luk] vt.&n.俯瞰；忽略；观察 (初中英语单词)


• generous [´dʒenərəs] a.慷慨的；丰盛的 (初中英语单词)


• barrier [´bæriə] n.栅栏；屏障；障碍 (高中英语单词)


• equality [i´kwɔliti] n.同等，平等 (高中英语单词)


• concerned [kən´sə:nd] a.有关的；担心的 (高中英语单词)


• seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)


• extension [ik´stenʃən] n.延长；扩展；延期 (高中英语单词)


• undeceive [,ʌndi´si:v] vt.使不再受骗；使醒悟 (高中英语单词)


• considerably [kən´sidərəbli] ad.显著地；十分 (高中英语单词)


• preliminary [pri´liminəri] a.初步的 n.预赛 (高中英语单词)


• perfectly [´pə:fiktli] ad.理想地；完美地 (高中英语单词)


• inspection [in´spekʃən] n.检查；视察；参观 (高中英语单词)


• crowded [´kraudid] a.充(拥)满了的 (高中英语单词)


• finding [´faindiŋ] n.发现物；判断；结果 (高中英语单词)


• temporary [´tempərəri] a.暂时的 n.临时工 (高中英语单词)


• pretence [pri´tens] n.假装；托词；无理要求 (高中英语单词)


• butler [´bʌtlə] n.(男)管家 (高中英语单词)


• subsequently [´sʌbsikwəntli] a.其次，接着 (高中英语单词)


• decided [di´saidid] a.明显的；决定的 (高中英语单词)


• trusty [´trʌsti] a.可靠的 n.可信任的 (英语四级单词)


• peculiarly [pi´kju:liəli] ad.特有地；古怪地 (英语四级单词)


• statistics [stə´tistiks] n.统计学；统计 (英语四级单词)


• guidance [´gaidəns] n.向导，指导，领导 (英语四级单词)


• baptism [´bæptizəm] n.洗礼 (英语四级单词)


• confirmation [,kɔnfə´meiʃən] n.证实；证据；确认 (英语四级单词)


• indignant [in´dignənt] a.义愤的，愤慨的 (英语四级单词)


• muffin [´mʌfin] n.松饼 (英语四级单词)


• holding [´həuldiŋ] n.保持，固定，存储 (英语六级单词)


• unsatisfactory [,ʌnsætis´fæktəri] a.不能令人满意的 (英语六级单词)


• profile [´prəufail] n.侧面 vt.画…侧面 (英语六级单词)


• mercenary [´mə:sinəri] a.唯利是图的；雇佣的 (英语六级单词)


• disgraceful [dis´greisful] a.可耻的；不光彩的 (英语六级单词)


• deception [di´sepʃən] n.欺骗，诈骗；骗术 (英语六级单词)