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Setting
Definition of Simile
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often use the connecting words "like" or "as," but can also... read full definition
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often use the connecting words "like... read full definition
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often... read full definition
Act 1, Part 2
Explanation and Analysis—A Pink Rose:
In order to express thoughts and feelings that could not be spoken aloud in polite society, many Victorians became adept at a form of clandestine communication called floriography, or the language of flowers. In floriography, different plants have specific meanings associated with them, and carefully arranged bouquets can be used to send elaborate messages.
Wilde alludes to the practice of floriography during Algernon's first encounter with Cecily in Act 2, Part 1:
Algernon: Might I have a button-hole first? I never have any appetite unless I have a button-hole first.
Cecily: A Maréchal Niel? [Picks up scissors]
Algernon: No, I'd sooner have a pink rose.
Cecily: Why? [Cuts a flower]
Algernon: Because you are like a pink rose, cousin Cecily.
Algernon and Cecily, as well-educated and wealthy Victorians, are likely familiar with the language of flowers. Cecily offers Algernon a Maréchal Niel, which is a variety of yellow climbing rose. While yellow roses are used today to symbolize friendship, during the Victorian Era they could also represent jealousy. Algernon, who desires neither a platonic nor a jealous relationship with Cecily, declines the offer and compares her to a pink rose. With this simile, he emphasizes Cecily's beauty as well as her perceived innocence. While red roses are associated with intense passion and desire, pink roses symbolize femininity, grace, and the chaste affection of a budding romance.
This simile turns out to be rather ironic. In Act 1, Part 2, Jack makes it clear that he does not trust Algernon's intentions when it comes to his ward:
Algernon: I would rather like to see Cecily.
Jack: I will take very good care that you never do. She is excessively pretty, and she is only just eighteen.
Like Jack, the audience expects that Algernon will end up seducing (or indeed, "deflowering") the young, naive Cecily. But in Act 2, Part 1, Cecily turns this assumption on its head by encouraging and even returning Algernon's flirtatious advances:
Cecily: Miss Prism says all good looks are a snare.
Algernon: They are a snare that every sensible man would like to be caught in.
Cecily: Oh! I don't think I would care to catch a sensible man. I shouldn't know what to talk to him about.
Although Cecily may not be as innocent or as delicate as she initially appears, Algernon's simile is somewhat accurate. The roses in the garden at Jack's country estate create a rustic, unspoiled atmosphere, but they are actually carefully cultivated and decorative. Similarly, Cecily's façade of girlish naiveté hides the "thornier" aspects of her personality: her obsession with her guardian's "wicked" younger brother, her stubbornness in regard to Algernon's name, and her capacity to behave in a spiteful and passive-aggressive manner toward Gwendolen.
Related Themes:
Act 2, Part 1
Explanation and Analysis—A Pink Rose:
In order to express thoughts and feelings that could not be spoken aloud in polite society, many Victorians became adept at a form of clandestine communication called floriography, or the language of flowers. In floriography, different plants have specific meanings associated with them, and carefully arranged bouquets can be used to send elaborate messages.
Wilde alludes to the practice of floriography during Algernon's first encounter with Cecily in Act 2, Part 1:
Algernon: Might I have a button-hole first? I never have any appetite unless I have a button-hole first.
Cecily: A Maréchal Niel? [Picks up scissors]
Algernon: No, I'd sooner have a pink rose.
Cecily: Why? [Cuts a flower]
Algernon: Because you are like a pink rose, cousin Cecily.
Algernon and Cecily, as well-educated and wealthy Victorians, are likely familiar with the language of flowers. Cecily offers Algernon a Maréchal Niel, which is a variety of yellow climbing rose. While yellow roses are used today to symbolize friendship, during the Victorian Era they could also represent jealousy. Algernon, who desires neither a platonic nor a jealous relationship with Cecily, declines the offer and compares her to a pink rose. With this simile, he emphasizes Cecily's beauty as well as her perceived innocence. While red roses are associated with intense passion and desire, pink roses symbolize femininity, grace, and the chaste affection of a budding romance.
This simile turns out to be rather ironic. In Act 1, Part 2, Jack makes it clear that he does not trust Algernon's intentions when it comes to his ward:
Algernon: I would rather like to see Cecily.
Jack: I will take very good care that you never do. She is excessively pretty, and she is only just eighteen.
Like Jack, the audience expects that Algernon will end up seducing (or indeed, "deflowering") the young, naive Cecily. But in Act 2, Part 1, Cecily turns this assumption on its head by encouraging and even returning Algernon's flirtatious advances:
Cecily: Miss Prism says all good looks are a snare.
Algernon: They are a snare that every sensible man would like to be caught in.
Cecily: Oh! I don't think I would care to catch a sensible man. I shouldn't know what to talk to him about.
Although Cecily may not be as innocent or as delicate as she initially appears, Algernon's simile is somewhat accurate. The roses in the garden at Jack's country estate create a rustic, unspoiled atmosphere, but they are actually carefully cultivated and decorative. Similarly, Cecily's façade of girlish naiveté hides the "thornier" aspects of her personality: her obsession with her guardian's "wicked" younger brother, her stubbornness in regard to Algernon's name, and her capacity to behave in a spiteful and passive-aggressive manner toward Gwendolen.
Related Themes:
