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Dramatic Irony
Definition of Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved directly or indirectly, by making... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the... read full definition
Act 1, Part 2
Explanation and Analysis—Earnest vs. Ernest:
An ongoing source of irony in The Importance of Being Earnest is the relationship between the name "Ernest" and its homophone, the word "earnest." Throughout the play, both Gwendolen and Cecily express their desire to marry a man named Ernest, and in Act 1, Part 2, Gwendolen explains to Jack why Ernest is the only "safe" name for a husband:
Gwendolen: We live, as I hope you know, Mr. Worthing, in an age of ideals... and my ideal has always been to love someone of the name of Ernest. There is something in that name that inspires absolute confidence.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Sisters:
In Act 1, Part 2, there's an instance of foreshadowing when Jack dismisses Algernon's suggestion that Gwendolen will be displeased to discover that Jack has a young and beautiful girl as his ward:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Jack: Cecily and Gwendolen are perfectly certain to be extremely great friends. I'll bet you anything you like that half an hour after they have met, they will be calling each other sister.
Algernon: Women only do that when they have called each other a lot of other things first.
Act 2, Part 1
Explanation and Analysis—The Novel and the Handbag:
A conversation between Cecily and Miss Prism in Act 2, Part 1 foreshadows the revelation that occurs at the end of the play:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Miss Prism: Do not speak slightingly of the three-volume novel, Cecily. I wrote one myself in earlier days.
Cecily: Did you really, Miss Prism? How wonderfully clever you are! I hope it did not end happily? I don't like novels that end happily. They depress me so much.
Miss Prism: The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means.
Cecily: I suppose so. But it seems very unfair. And was your novel ever published?
Miss Prism: Alas! no. The manuscript unfortunately was abandoned. I use the word in the sense of lost or mislaid.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—My Unfortunate Brother:
In Act 2, Part 1, there's an instance of foreshadowing when Miss Prism and Dr. Chasuble question Jack about Ernest:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Miss Prism: More shameful debts and extravagance?
Chasuble: Still leading his life of pleasure?
Related Themes:
Act 2, Part 2
Explanation and Analysis—Earnest vs. Ernest:
An ongoing source of irony in The Importance of Being Earnest is the relationship between the name "Ernest" and its homophone, the word "earnest." Throughout the play, both Gwendolen and Cecily express their desire to marry a man named Ernest, and in Act 1, Part 2, Gwendolen explains to Jack why Ernest is the only "safe" name for a husband:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Gwendolen: We live, as I hope you know, Mr. Worthing, in an age of ideals... and my ideal has always been to love someone of the name of Ernest. There is something in that name that inspires absolute confidence.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Sisters:
In Act 1, Part 2, there's an instance of foreshadowing when Jack dismisses Algernon's suggestion that Gwendolen will be displeased to discover that Jack has a young and beautiful girl as his ward:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Jack: Cecily and Gwendolen are perfectly certain to be extremely great friends. I'll bet you anything you like that half an hour after they have met, they will be calling each other sister.
Algernon: Women only do that when they have called each other a lot of other things first.
Act 3, Part 2
Explanation and Analysis—The Novel and the Handbag:
A conversation between Cecily and Miss Prism in Act 2, Part 1 foreshadows the revelation that occurs at the end of the play:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Miss Prism: Do not speak slightingly of the three-volume novel, Cecily. I wrote one myself in earlier days.
Cecily: Did you really, Miss Prism? How wonderfully clever you are! I hope it did not end happily? I don't like novels that end happily. They depress me so much.
Miss Prism: The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means.
Cecily: I suppose so. But it seems very unfair. And was your novel ever published?
Miss Prism: Alas! no. The manuscript unfortunately was abandoned. I use the word in the sense of lost or mislaid.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—My Unfortunate Brother:
In Act 2, Part 1, there's an instance of foreshadowing when Miss Prism and Dr. Chasuble question Jack about Ernest:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Miss Prism: More shameful debts and extravagance?
Chasuble: Still leading his life of pleasure?
Related Themes:
