How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Gwendolen felt a contradictory desire to be hastened: hurry would save her from deliberate choice.
"I did not mean him to wait long enough for that needlework to be finished," she said, lifting her hands to stroke the backward curves of her hair, while she rose from her seat and stood still.
"But if you don't feel able to decide?" said Mrs. Davilow, sympathisingly.
"I must decide," said Gwendolen, walking to the writing-table and seating herself. All the while there was a busy undercurrent in her, like the thought of a man who keeps up a dialogue while he is considering how he can slip away. (26.30-33)
Gwendolen knows she has a choice to make – whether or not to accept Grandcourt's proposal and save her family from poverty. Here, she shows us a side of decision-making that we can totally relate to: sometimes it's harder to make a choice when you have time to think about it. Gwendolen would prefer to be rushed just so she can get the process over with.
Quote #8
Since the early days when [Daniel] had tried to construct the hidden story of his own birth, his mind had perhaps never been so active in weaving probabilities about any private affair as it had now begun to be about Gwendolen's marriage. This unavowed relation of Grandcourt's—could she have gained some knowledge of it, which caused her to shrink from the match—a shrinking finally overcome by the urgence of poverty? He could recall almost every word she had said to him, and in certain of these words he seemed to discern that she was conscious of having done some wrong—inflicted some injury. (36.24)
Daniel wonders if Gwendolen knew about Lydia Glasher – Grandcourt's "unavowed relation" – before deciding to marry him. If so, her choice to go ahead and marry him could definitely be responsible for her visible feelings of guilt.
Quote #9
"I hope you don't expect that I am going to be rich and grand, mamma," said Gwendolen, not long after the Rector's communication; "perhaps I shall have nothing at all."
She was drest, and had been sitting long in quiet meditation. Mrs. Davilow was startled, but said, after a moment's reflection—
"Oh yes, dear, you will have something. Sir Hugo knows all about the will."
"That will not decide," said Gwendolen, abruptly.
"Surely, dear: Sir Hugo says you are to have two thousand a-year and the house at Gadsmere."
"What I have will depend on what I accept," said Gwendolen. (64.26-31)
After Grandcourt dies, we find out that he has left the bulk of his estate to his son by Lydia Glasher, but he has also left some money and a house to Gwendolen. What is interesting here is that she views this inheritance as another choice for her to make: she can choose whether or not to even accept it. As usual, she finds it necessary to think about it long and hard.