Three glossy face-shaped masks in blue, silver and red, standing in a row.

Original artwork, not a still

The Importance of Being Earnest

Oscar Wilde

CECILY. I have never met any really wicked person before. I feel rather frightened. I am so afraid he will look just like every one else.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

Cecily admits that meeting someone truly wicked is a new experience, and the prospect is frightening. The fear is comic and naive: that the wicked man will turn out to look perfectly ordinary, no different from anyone else in the room.

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