Read the excerpt from Act III of The Importance of Being
Earnest.
Based on this passage, Lady Bracknell most clearly
places value on the importance of
O morality.
background.
O manners.
appearances.
Lady Bracknell. (Sitting down again.] A moment, Mr.
Worthing. A hundred and thirty thousand pounds! And in
the Funds! Miss Cardew seems to me a most attractive
young lady, now that I look at her. Few girls of the
present day have any really solid qualities, any of the
qualities that last, and improve with time. We live, I regret
to say, in an age of surfaces. [To Cecily.] Come over
here, dear. (Cecily goes across.] Pretty child! your dress
is sadly simple, and your hair seems almost as Nature
might have left it. But we can soon alter all that. A
thoroughly experienced French maid produces a really
marvellous result in a very brief space of time. I
remember recommending one to young Lady Lancing,
and after three months her own husband did not know
her.