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HAHA!!!

I came on to do that!!!

I am so struggling with it. It's just too denotative. I can't draw any connotations from it what so ever.

The contextual side of it however, seems to be slightly easier.

I will start by saying:

Lord Illingworth views Gerald as a possession. This is exemplified by the way he offers Mrs A property in return for his company for 6 months of the year.

Anyone else? put forward ideas!!!
Good start! There's also the balance of power and how it shifts from men to women as the play progresses. At the beginning Lord Illingworth dominates over Mrs Arbuthnot, but at then end when she refuses to marry him, and even refuses to let him in her house, it shows that she's stronger, and what Wilde would call a "modern woman."
Did you notice that both Father and Son went for the same thing

(Hester)

But the one who was right and honourable was the one who 'got' her (trying not to soud sexist).

This, I think, says a lot about Illingworth
Reply 4
I’ve only started doing it, ( here goes nothing )

There is a contrast of personalities between Lady Caroline and Hester which enables Oscar Wilde to illustrate different ideas, customs and perception of society from both the American and British points of view.
lol, i like the one above.

i got that on page 7, Lady Caroline refers to people earning as 'not being a member of society'.

This obviously suggests that the poor are excluded, and continues social stigma.
Yes, and Lady Caroline also embodies the Xenophobic ideas that were present at the time. Despite the fact that Hester is from a good American family, she is treated like an outsider, (which can be compared to Mrs Arbuthnot), because she has different ideas on life. So she's treated as inferior, even though she's got a lot more sense than the rest of the characters - she can admit the error of her wys: like when she admits she was wrong about the sins of the mother being revisited on the children. A great example of how she is undermined in the play is in Act 2, where she gives that big long speech about the faults in English society, then Lady Caroline, instead of responding, asks her to pick up some wool (I can't remember the quote, but I will edit later).
Reply 7
Yeh im the same i dont have a clue about it! HELPPPP lol theres no notes on d net either bout it
Reply 8
Our teacher said to us that she thinks Lord Illingworth will cum up this year. We've just finished d play in school now ist still hard to grasp though. Lets just say at the end hes not as u expect him to be
It wont be just about Lord Illingworth,

it's a context based essay.

So there's not so much emphasis on character analysis
if you go on www.teachit.co.uk there is a great resource for A woman of no importance, provides character ananlyses, plot, themes, motifs and symbols etc.

Oh, and although the exam question won't be on a character themselves, it might be something on how a particular character shows a stereotype of the context it was written, so it might be useful to do sufficient character analysis.
lily_of_the_valley
Yes, and Lady Caroline also embodies the Xenophobic ideas that were present at the time. .


no offence, but personally I wouldn't agree that she embodies xenophobic ideas, because if she was simply racist, why would she interact with Hester the way she does?

I think it's more about ignorance, self-importance of the upper classes and age.

well that's my 2 cents anyway!
Summed-up: Wilde revealing the hypocrisy of the upper classes in the Victorian era.
GlitteryFairy
no offence, but personally I wouldn't agree that she embodies xenophobic ideas, because if she was simply racist, why would she interact with Hester the way she does?

I think it's more about ignorance, self-importance of the upper classes and age.

well that's my 2 cents anyway!



i'm not saying she's racist, im saying she's Xenophobic..... at the time there was a difference. (Remember it's a contextual based essay). The aristocracy in Britain at the time genuinely thought that they were the best thing since sliced bread, and "foreigners" were simply inferior because they weren't British. that's all i meant.
well personally I think it's a lot more about age

I don't agree with you but I guess two totally different ideas can still do well as long as there's evidence to support it
I'm sorry Glittery Faity, but Lily of the Valley is correct.

Britain believed they were the best thing since sliced bread. They had conquered and owned most of the world and desperately believed thet their upper class society was second to none.
well that's fair enough because as far as I am aware, for English there are no right or wrong answers, that's what last post was trying to say. I just persoanlly wouldn't write what she was saying and maybe she also wouldn't write what I was saying

I didn't want to get in an argument about it, I was simply offering my opinion
i don't want to get into a debate either, i completely respect your opinion, i think we just happen to differ on this point.
yep, fair enough, and for what its worth, most of your ideas on this post seem very interesting and things that me and my english class have never discussed
lol,

i do respect ur opinion! and i'm not argueing.

Alternate interpretations get grade As, so debates are good