“I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and being good all the time. That would be hypocrisy.”
Analysis: Cecily says this to Algernon as she suspects something is going on with his identity. This quote is ironic because she talks about a double life about different behavior, like trying to have a reputation but being a completely different person. She's talking about a person having one identity and acting different around people than the person acts alone. But in the story, Algy literally has a double life. This shows the naivety of people in Victorian society.
Analysis: Cecily says this to Algernon as she suspects something is going on with his identity. This quote is ironic because she talks about a double life about different behavior, like trying to have a reputation but being a completely different person. She's talking about a person having one identity and acting different around people than the person acts alone. But in the story, Algy literally has a double life. This shows the naivety of people in Victorian society.