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Augustus
Cecil Graham is a young gentleman who attends the party and seems to be a friend of Lord Windermere and the other men. Cecil is also the nephew of Lady Jedburgh, to whom he introduces Mrs. Erlynne at the party. He is portrayed as a lighthearted troublemaker; he frequently teases Augustus and unhesitatingly calls Lord Darlington out for hiding a woman in his rooms. Cecil also seems to be somewhat cynical; he makes light of the distinction between good and evil and implies that it doesn’t much matter which side a person ends up on.
Cecil Graham Quotes in Lady Windermere’s Fan
The Lady Windermere’s Fan quotes below are all either spoken by Cecil Graham or refer to Cecil Graham. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act III
Quotes
LORD AUGUSTUS: You want to make her out a wicked woman. She is not!
CECIL GRAHAM: Oh! Wicked women bother one. Good women bore one. That is the only difference between them.
LORD AUGUSTUS: (puffing a cigar) Mrs. Erlynne has a future before her.
DUMBY: Mrs. Erlynne has a past before her.
LORD AUGUSTUS: I prefer women with a past. They’re always so demmed amusing to talk to.
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CECIL GRAHAM: Now, my dear Tuppy, don’t be led astray into the paths of virtue. Reformed, you would be perfectly tedious. That is the worst of women. They always want one to be good. And if we are good, when they meet us, they don’t love us at all. They like to find us quite irretrievably bad, and to leave us quite unattractively good.
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CECIL GRAHAM: That is a great error. Experience is a question of instinct about life. I have got it. Tuppy hasn’t. Experience is the name Tuppy gives to his mistakes. That is all. (Lord Augustus looks around indignantly)
DUMBY: Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.
CECIL GRAHAM: (standing with his back to the fireplace) One shouldn’t commit any.
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Cecil Graham Quotes in Lady Windermere’s Fan
The Lady Windermere’s Fan quotes below are all either spoken by Cecil Graham or refer to Cecil Graham. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act III
Quotes
LORD AUGUSTUS: You want to make her out a wicked woman. She is not!
CECIL GRAHAM: Oh! Wicked women bother one. Good women bore one. That is the only difference between them.
LORD AUGUSTUS: (puffing a cigar) Mrs. Erlynne has a future before her.
DUMBY: Mrs. Erlynne has a past before her.
LORD AUGUSTUS: I prefer women with a past. They’re always so demmed amusing to talk to.
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Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
CECIL GRAHAM: Now, my dear Tuppy, don’t be led astray into the paths of virtue. Reformed, you would be perfectly tedious. That is the worst of women. They always want one to be good. And if we are good, when they meet us, they don’t love us at all. They like to find us quite irretrievably bad, and to leave us quite unattractively good.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
CECIL GRAHAM: That is a great error. Experience is a question of instinct about life. I have got it. Tuppy hasn’t. Experience is the name Tuppy gives to his mistakes. That is all. (Lord Augustus looks around indignantly)
DUMBY: Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.
CECIL GRAHAM: (standing with his back to the fireplace) One shouldn’t commit any.
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