Oscar Wilde 
An Ideal Husband 

mrs. marchmont. Going on to the Hartlocks’ tonight, Margaret?
lady basildon. I suppose so. Are you?
mrs. marchmont. Yes. Horribly tedious parties they give, don’t they?
lady basildon. Horribly tedious! Never know why I go. Never know why I go anywhere.
mrs. marchmont. I come here to be educated.
lady basildon. Ah! I hate being educated!
mrs. marchmont. So do I. It puts one almost on a level with the commercial classes, doesn’t it? But dear Gertrude Chiltern is always telling me that I should have some serious purpose in life. So I come here to try to find one.
lady basildon. [Looking round through her lorgnette.] I don’t see anybody here tonight whom one could possibly call a serious purpose. The man who took me in to dinner talked to me about his wife the whole time.