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Usenet Posted 21 years ago
Usage

In "The Importance of Being Earnest"

In the middle of a conversation between Jack and his girlfriend Gwendolen,

"Jack is a notorious domesticity for John! And I pity any woman who is married to a man called John."
I really don't understand this sentence or the hidden meaning in terms of the names Jack and John.
What is the relationship between John and Jack?
Are there any hidden meanings related to John and Jack?

Thank you very much!
  

Top answer

[nq:1]In the middle of a conversation between Jack and his girlfriend Gwendolen, "Jack is a notorious domesticity for John! "... [/nq] Jack is simply a common nickname for John, as Bob is for Robert.

  • [nq:1]In the middle of a conversation between Jack and his girlfriend Gwendolen, "Jack is a notorious domesticity for John!
  • "...
  • [/nq] Jack is simply a common nickname for John, as Bob is for Robert.
  • For example, the real name of the actor Jack Nicholson is John Nicholson.
  • [/nq] I don't think there are any that relate to this bit of dialogue; it's just that Gwendolen has peculiar ideas about names.
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4 Answers
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[nq:1]In the middle of a conversation between Jack and his girlfriend Gwendolen, "Jack is a notorious domesticity for John! And I pity any woman who is married to a man called John."... What is the relationship between John and Jack?[/nq]
Jack is simply a common nickname for John, as Bob is for Robert. For example, the real name of the actor Jack Nicholson is John Nicholson.
[nq:1]Are ther
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[nq:1]In the middle of a conversation between Jack and his girlfriend Gwendolen, "Jack is a notorious domesticity for John! And ... the relationship between John and Jack? Are there any hidden meanings related to John and Jack? Thank you very much![/nq]
I don't know why the character speaking would say "I pity any woman who is married to a man called John" but "Jack" is a nickname for "John."
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[nq:2]In the middle of a conversation between Jack and his ... meanings related to John and Jack? Thank you very much![/nq]
[nq:1]I don't know why the character speaking would say "I pity any woman who is married to a man called John" but "Jack" is a nickname for "John." [/nq]
Oh, come on! It's meant to be funny . Oscar Wilde's characters are full of eccentricities: it's just another excus
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[nq:1]who[/nq]
[nq:2]I don't know why the character speaking would say "I ... called John" but "Jack" is a nickname for "John." [/nq]
[nq:1]Oh, come on! It's meant to be funny . Oscar Wilde's characters are full of eccentricities: it's just another ... no hidden meaning relating to "John" and "Jack" in this case, though both words do have other uses. Mike.[/nq]
Just as the Brighton Lin

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