Motif Of Food In The Importance Of Being Earnest

The Motif of Food Many different motifs are used in literature. In Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest (rpt. In Greg Johnson and Thomas R. Arp, Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, 12th ed. [Boston: Wadsworth, 2015], 1407-1457) there are many different literary elements used including that of a motif. The motif of food is used throughout the play as a stand in for many different feeling and emotions that characters feel throughout the play. The first scene where food is a scene between Algernon and Jack. They are talking about Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen going to Algernon’s house for tea. In the scene there are cucumber sandwiches made for Lady Bracknell but Algernon eats them all before she can even arrive. In the scene Jack also starts to scarf down some bread and butter as it is Gwendolen’s favorite. For Algernon, eating the sandwiches seems to be almost just a habit as he just eats them until they are gone but he does not realize it. This shows that Algernon has no problem with self-indulgence and has no self-control. Jack eating the bread and butter seems to have a

In the scene Gwendolen and Cecily have just recently discovered that they are both in an engagement with a man named Earnest. In the scene Cecily is serving Gwendolen tea and something to eat. Gwendolen says she wants no sugar in her tea because “sugar is not fashionable anymore” (1441) and that she wants bread and butter because “cake is rarely seen at the best houses nowadays.” (1441) Despite hearing this Cecily proceeds to put many lumps of sugar in the tea and serve her cake. This seems to take place of any actually fighting and serious insults. While they have been insulting each other in different ways, Cecily serving Gwendolen the wrong food is the last straw. The food just represents actual fighting without there being any physical fighting at