Read the excerpt from Act I of The Importance of Being Earnest.

[Algernon.] [Jack puts out his hand to take a sandwich. Algernon at once interferes.] Please don’t touch the cucumber sandwiches. They are ordered specially for Aunt Augusta. [Takes one and eats it.]

Jack. Well, you have been eating them all the time.

Algernon. That is quite a different matter. She is my aunt. [Takes plate from below.] Have some bread and butter. The bread and butter is for Gwendolen. Gwendolen is devoted to bread and butter.


How is humor used to critique the double standard of manners in society?

Jack attempts to take a sandwich.

Jack makes Algernon angry by eating bread and butter.

Algernon scolds Jack for eating sandwiches while eating them himself, satisfying his own needs.

Algernon offers Jack Gwendolen’s bread and butter because he knows that Jack loves Gwendolen.