Food In The Importance Of Being Earnest Food Essay

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Food plays a large part in the play, “The Importance of being Earnest”. It is used to frequently express appetites and emotions that are not respectable or polite to air openly. In Act 1, Algernon orders a plate of cucumber sandwiches and bread and butter for his guests that he is expecting, Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen. He proceeds unknowingley to devour all the sandwiches before the guests arrive. Jack then joins in,and begins eating the bread and butter so greedily that Algernon accuses him of behaving “like you are married to her already.” (“Her” being Gwendolen). In these happenings, the act of eating seems to symbolically stand for gratification of the sexual appetite, which is then later reinforced by Algernon’s comment about marriage.

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