Segundo Curso Textos Literarios Ingleses I Grupos 2 y 4 Profesor: Brian Crews Oscar Wilde and Victorian Theatre The theatre of the Victorian Age is marked by convention. It is the era of Society Drama which builds its plays around a few easily recognisable themes and situations. Problem Plays are made popular by George Bernard Shaw. He often deals seriously with the unpleasant facts of life underlying the respectable appearance of Victorian Society. This kind of play is sometimes known as the theatre of ideas which depends a good deal on dialogues in which serious issues are discussed. Some of these playwrights are influenced by the Norwegian dramatist, Henrik Ibsen. A theme which Ibsen handles is the tyranny of social convention which, it might be suggested, is treated comically in The Importance of Being Earnest. Comedies of Manners are very popular too: these often depict parvenus or déclassés and their attempts to enter society through marriage, success or trickery. We often find the woman with a past theme. The well-made play is a term applied to problem plays, comedies of manners and farces (farces depend on exaggerated, improbable situations) which derives from la pièce bien faite of 19 th century French drama. In this kind of play, the plot is based on a withheld secret which, when revealed at the climax, produces a favourable reversal of fortune for the protagonist; there is mounting suspense in the rising action which involve exactly timed entrances and exits, mistaken identity, the withholding of information from characters, misplaced documents (objects, etc.); there is usually a battle of wits between the hero and the villain; the climax leads to an obligatory scène à faire in which the secret is revealed and the reversal of fortunes is achieved; the logical denouement involves (usually) an engagement or marriage, but may mean that long lost relatives are found or reunited. The comedy of manners in the Victorian Age derives from the same kind of play in the 18 th century. It is a realistic form of the well-made play, is often satirical and concerned with the morality, manners and conventions of an artificial and sophisticated society. The characters tend to be types. Stock situations and stock characters abound (the battle of wits, the seduction, the proposal, the refusal, etc.; wits, dandies, dowagers, rogues or rakes, innocent young girls). The Importance of Being Earnest is a well-made play and comedy of manners, although it would be more precise to say that it is a parody of typical, derivative plays, even of Wilde s own earlier plays. It deals typically with melodramatic situations of lost children, opposition to marriage, a shameful secret, mistaken and false identities, etc. It exaggerates the use of theatrical conventions through parody and thereby draws attention to their artificial nature.
At this time, Shaw, explicitly, and Wilde, implicitly, draw attention to the equivalence between theatrical convention and social decorum. Both are artificial, both are thought to be based on accepted values, both are blindly followed by society. Wilde s play suggests that these conventions which purport to be realistic are not so. Earnest communicates serious thought through jokes and paradoxes and often exploits a kind of ludicrous (absurd) logic: false appearances are often taken at face value in order to justify characters behaviour; or (literary or theatrical) convention is allowed to justify the unlikely situations that take place. Social conventions are often invoked to cover up vices and are indicative of the hypocrisy of the characters in particular and society in general. The play formalises one basic joke: that all that is trivial should be treated seriously and viceversa; basically it involves an inversion of conventional ethics; even of the conventional roles of characters (e.g. between men and women). Characters are all appearance in this well-made play. They are empty, superficial and trivial; reality corresponds to appearance and even lies become true. Underneath the trivial surface, it is about the nature of truth and reality, about falseness and hypocrisy; it is an ironic play where the observance of unnatural and artificial decorum covers up the decadence and depravity underneath. Social conventions are blindly followed and have no basis on moral or any other grounds: the basic pun Ernest/earnest, draws attention to the idea that earnestness is a pose. For Wilde, to take everything seriously, is a sign of triviality. The play reflects the absurdity and emptiness of this kind of existence where characters worship appearance and blindly follow arbitrary rules of decorum for their own sake, without them having any ethical or moral basis. Without social convention the empty rituals and routines of these characters become meaningless. All the characters are acting, posing; they are all surface, there is nothing underneath appearance. They look everything, but they are nothing. The parody of romantic fiction and drama takes place at many levels: the absurdity of these conventions is also foregrounded. It would seem that reality is somehow transformed by these conventions, just as Cecily s fictitious diary becomes true. Some of the stock situations from romantic literature which are parodied are: the hero s marriage to the virtuous young woman is hindered by some obstacle (the prohibition by a parent, the opposition of the villain); to overcome the obstacles the hero must endure some ordeal (the test here is christening) and confront the villain (the battle of wits with Algy); the obstacles are overcome (some secret is uncovered), relatives are reunited and reconciliation takes place; the protagonists are married (engaged). Note also how Cecily s diary sums up typical situations: courtship, the proposal, breaking off, reconciliation; and that she succeeds in her desire to reform the rake/rogue, Algy/Ernest.
Characters have no depth; character itself is seen to be a fictitious construct; if you call yourself Ernest, you become earnest; if you have no name, your identity depends on your benefactor s railway ticket. Characters simply play a role and go through rituals and routines to create the illusion of significance in their lives, even in the face of meaninglessness. The play is about nothing in the metaphysical sense: they literally fill in their time; their lives are pointless (without convention to justify their behaviour) and are, therefore, absurd. The wit and elegance of the characters which are reflected in their clothes and witty conversation cover up the emptiness and often immoral nature of their lives. In the same way as triviality and seriousness are inverted in the play, their use of antithesis, paradox, parallelisms and other rhetorical devices makes them appear clever, or even serious, when they are not. The characters, however, take themselves and their conventions seriously; they are earnest but there are no real moral values underlying their earnestness. Even convention worships appearance and reality can be adapted to it. Society has lost its sense of an inner life, here there is no spirituality. Irony is usually involved, as some other meaning, contradiction or paradox is involved in almost everything that is said; there is always a gap between appearance (conventional and moral) and reality (depraved and decadent). There is dramatic irony throughout, which depends on the audience knowing more than some of the characters, or because of the exaggeratedly conventional nature of the play, knowing what is going to happen before the characters do. The plot is reminiscent of traditional melodrama and farce as it is unlikely and might even be considered as absurd at times when false appearances become reality. However, absurdity here also anticipates that of the later Theatre of the Absurd: it is about the emptiness of ritual and routine. However, characters are hollow and unaware of the absurdity of their existence; here there is no existential anguish; it is ironic, too, that the audience may also fail to see this absurdity. Here, style and appearance are more important than sincerity. There is no truth; we only know conventions and appearances. Reality does not exist. The basic inversion which is possible and is accepted in the play shows up the falseness of everything. On a more straightforward level, the play deals with marriage and different visions of it, one more romantic, the other more cynical. The romantic vision conventionally triumphs although Wilde clearly shows that this is ironic. The play is also about the relation between appearance and reality. It deals lightheartedly with the theme of the double life which had been handled more seriously in The Picture of Dorian Gray. In both cases, however, characters vices are hidden by their appearance. So, in the modern, but not essentially modernist, theatre at the beginning of the twentieth century there are changes and innovations involving a new attitude towards theatrical convention and sometimes a desire for greater realism, but it really would not
be until the nineteen fifties that the revolution in English theatre would take place. Even so, playwrights begin to put the old forms of dramatic representation to a new use; the conventions of the well-made-play and comedy of manners are no longer simply followed but are parodied to show to what extent there is a correspondence between theatrical decorum and social convention and that ultimately both are artificial. Theatre continues to draw attention to the hypocrisies of society, but there was to be a movement towards a different kind of society drama: comedies of bad manners where social values are not necessarily upheld (e.g. Noel Coward); later, theatre gradually adopts a different posture towards the respectable upper and middle classes which would by the 1950s give way to the description of different social classes (Wesker, Osborne, etc.)
Segundo Curso Textos Literarios Ingleses I Grupos 3 y 4 Comentario: Wilde [the commentary refers to only the description of the setting and the first six utterances of Act Two] From the beginning of Act Two of The Importance of Being Earnest, the text follows the exposition and rising action of the First Act where the basic complication of the play has been made clear and particular expectations have been created: specifically, we are aware of the double-lives of the characters and their respective intentions towards the young women in the play, as well as of the impediments that exist in order to prevent the characters from marrying or seducing either of them: Jack has no parents and therefore does not have Lady Bracknell's consent; and Algernon, as a Bunburyist, would not have Jack's. Of course, the double-lives the charcacters lead, allow us to expect a series of mistaken identities, which will, in fact, occur. At this point, the scene has shifted from London to the country (the garden of Jack's country house), which is significant because of the traditional function of the movement from town to country in the theatre, as well as providing an ideal setting for the further complication which we have been prepared for, which is for Algernon (who has just told his servant to prepare for him to go Bunburying) to appear to "seduce" young Cecily. These expectations will be fulfilled as the opening scene, here, contrives to leave Cecily alone in the garden ( a stock situation) to allow the "unexpected" appearance of Algernon. This scene belongs, therefore, to the rising action, leading to a further complication in the play which precedes the climax when the truth about everyone's identity is discovered. The typical setting of the country house with a garden emphasises a deliberate contrast with the first act which took place in the city. The traditional nature of this movement anticipates the restoration of order when false appearances will dissipate and the truth will become apparent; when reconciliation and regeneration, typical of comedy, are achieved. Wilde will allow all this to take place in a melodramatic, or if you prefer, farcical and parodic manner. The natural setting of a garden in full bloom in high summer is ideal for a seduction scene as there are many connotations of fertility so that, once more, Wilde is giving the audience what they want. The fact that Cecily lives in the country might conventionally be meant to suppose her naturalness and innocence, although the irony which abounds in this scene becomes apparent when we discover that it is she who is about to trap Algernon. So, we have a text which is suggestive of the antithetical nature of the play, with a movement from town to country, from the unnatural, urbane falseness of London, to nature, and we suppose, innocence. There is also a suggestion that we will move from appearance to reality, although, ironically, in this play, appearance becomes reality. Hence, throughout the scene, once we are aware of the way in which Wilde plays with audience expectation, we also appreciate the dramatic irony, which is that the information provided in the first act allows us to anticipate what is going to happen and understand the nature of events before the characters do.
The way in which the setting is laid out suggests that Miss Prism is anxious to begin a lesson, while Cecily is putting it off, with her back to the governess. This is ironic as the role that Miss Prism plays, of the serious governess, is only appearance, as she, like Cecily, has no real interest in the lesson. Let us say, that what the scene suggests is that appearances can be deceptive. Basically, the theme of this is doubleness and hypocrisy, although this is not only true of Jack, but of all the characters. What appear to be duty and responsibility are in fact merriment and triviality, which is representative of the basic inversion of values and of appearance and reality in the play. We gradually become more and more aware of the dramatic irony of the scene as the audience knows more than the characters do, who believe that Jack is a serious or earnest character. Therefore, every reference to this is ironic. Miss Prism is essentially a caricature, a stock character taken straight from romantic fiction and drama who is being parodied in an exaggerated manner. The first clue to the nature of the character is in her name, which suggests that she is a transparent character. This is, in fact, the case, as we gradually become aware of her true nature as the scene develops (she is not interested in teaching, she would rather do something else, and she is not very intelligent or knowledgeable as a teacher ought to be). There is also some word play involved in her name: she seems to be prim, prudish, very proper, serious and so on, but she turns out to be rather irresponsible with regard to the lesson and is clearly a superficial character as the references to German suggest: German is a respectable language for Lady Bracknell and society in general, simply because it is fashionable to believe so, so that, by teaching it, Miss Prism is also seen to be one who superficially follows decorum in her teaching. In fact, she, as an educator, may indicate some slight criticism of the criteria which were followed for education at the time. Her superficial nature becomes even clearer later in the scene when she leaves Cecily alone to go with Doctor Chasuble. From the outset, there is a suggestion of the lack of utility of the lesson when Miss Prism describes watering flowers as a utilitarian occupation. The implicit comparison between the two activities suggests that the lesson will be of little use. An oxymoron which creates irony follows when Miss Prism speaks of intellectual pleasures: Cecily has obviously no interest in the lesson and it becomes clear that she is a frivolous young woman who is bored by German (this contradicts our expectations regarding her innocence). As we suggested, to teach German here refers back to Act One, when Lady Bracknell shows her admiration for it for being respectable. Thus the shallowness of the governess is suggested as she blindly follows decorum. Her prudish nature is reflected in her use of the archaism pray although there is a suggestion that she is not a very well prepared teacher when she says she intends to repeat the previous day's lesson. The idea of repeating the grammar lesson also belies the idea of pleasure suggested by Miss Prism, underlines the boredom involved, and is thus a source of irony. When Cecily speaks of German as not being a "becoming" language, it can be interpreted in two ways: becoming may refer to decorous or correct on the one hand; on the other it refers to her own personal appearance. She clearly disagrees with the tenets set down by Lady Bracknell in Act One, which sets her up as a bit of a non-conformist (perhaps even a female wit), which we later discover she is. However, the ironic fact that she really refers to her physical appearance is made clear when we are told that she looks quite plain after the lesson. The true motive becomes apparent and her interest in, or even
worship of appearance, like all the other characters in the play, is made known. Later, as this anticipates, Lady Bracknell will refer to the "possibilities of her profile." It is then through Miss Prism that we appreciate most of the dramatic irony. She descibes Jack as "anxious" about Cecily's improvement. As he abandons his responsibilities by going off, this is clearly ironic. Jack's blind observance of decorum is made manifest also by the way he stesses her German (like everyone else), for the same reasons suggested earlier. This is even more ironic as she repeats with emphasis the fact that he has left for town. The dramatic irony is achieved as the audience knows what Jack does there and the double-life and double-standards he has, while they, for the moment, are in ignorance. It is made clear that Jack is serious in the country, but that this is unnatural in a young man is suggested by Cecily when she sarcastically suggests that he appears to be unwell for this reason. Miss Prism's stupidity is made clear when she does not appreciate Cecily's irony and takes her comment seriously. However, the emphasis is on the fact that it is his demeanour (appearance again) only which is "grave", which must again suggest irony to us (we know is far from being grave in London). The reference to his youth again draws attention to the unnaturalness of observing the false convention of earnestness or seriousness in society. Of course, the use of hyperble by Miss Prism to describe his duty and responsibility, increasy the irony, and of course the humour, for the audience. Cecily, then, makes fun of his seriousness by suggesting what is ironically true, that he is bored in these situations. Up to this point, the text simply plays with appearance and reality to suggest to us that the conventions which are followed among the upper classes are unnatural and false, something which Cecily draws attention to, and the the dramatic irony of the text continually reminds us of.
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Small, Ian. Oscar Wilde Revalued: An Essay on New Materials & Methods of Research. Greensboro, NC: ELT Press, 1993. Stanley, Michael. Famous Dubliners: W.B. Yeats, James Joyce, Jonathan Swift, Wolfe Tone, Oscar Wilde, Edward Carson. Dublin: Wolfhound Press, 1996. Stokes, John. Oscar Wilde: Myths, Miracles, and Imitations. New York: CUP, 1996. Sturgis, Matthew. Passionate Attitudes: The English Decadence of the 1890s. London: Macmillan, 1995. Tydeman, William, ed. Wilde: Comedies: Lady Windermere s Fan, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband, and The Importance of Being Earnest. A Casebook London: The Macmillan Press Ltd., 1982. CI/1827 Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest. A Trivial Play for Serious People. Comm. & Chron. Patricia Hern. Notes Glenda Leeming. London: Methuen, 1997.. The Importance of Being Earnest. and Related Writings. Ed. Joseph Bristow. London: Routledge, 1992.. The Importance of Being Earnest. Ed. Trevor Millum. London: Longman (Longman Literature), 1991. Websites of interest: www.cmgww.com/historic/wilde www.planetmonk.com/wilde/pdfs/earnest.pdf www.oscarwildecollection.com www.online-literature.com/wilde The Victorian web: http://65.107.211.206/index.html