PINNACLE ACTING COMPANY

PINNACLE ACTING COMPANY Literary Guide The Importance of Being Earnest By Oscar Wilde Directed by L.L. West IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Introduction The nineteenth century saw increasingly rapid technological advances, changes to travel and communication, and the creation of a solid middle class. In contrast, and perhaps partially as a result, the Victorian Era clung ever more tightly to outward standards of behavior and morality. Stability clashed with exciting development. At the peak of the conflict The Importance of Being Earnest creates a world that inverts reality where serious themes, such as marriage and class struggle, are trivialized and the trivial aspects of life, such as the amount of sugar in one s tea, are treated as incredibly serious. (Lise Kloeppel, NC Asheville.) Usually categorized as a comedy of manners, the play also reflects Oscar Wilde s adherence to the Aesthetic principle of art for art s sake by elevating the simple act of speech to an Olympic sport (Kloeppel) and creating an idealized, ironic version of reality just removed enough from the audience s world that they can laugh at it. Ellis Hanson of Cornell U. said: This play is incredibly funny, but you have to be laughing really hard not to notice that it s also drop-dead cynical about things that are very important to us I think it s cynical and offensive in a good way; it doesn t resolve our problems for us, but it gives us a particular kind of view of how we use language to negotiate political and social problems as well as problems of identity to our advantage. (F. Nuruzzaman, Cornell Chronicle, 2011) Contents 2 Introduction Play Synopsis 3 First Production Today s Earnest 4 The Victorian Era Humor, Satire, Parody 5 Men s & Women s Roles 6 Societal Constraints Discussion 7 Tea & Edibles Oscar Wilde Timeline The Importance of Being Earnest Synopsis John ( Jack ) and Algernon ( Algy ) are two friends living dissolute lives in London. To cover for his behavior in the city, Jack has invented a brother named Ernest who takes the blame while Jack is seeing to his responsibilities in the country. Algy has a cousin, Gwendolen, and she and Jack - though she thinks his name is Ernest - wish to be married. Her mother, Lady Bracknell, won t allow the match when she discovers Jack was a foundling left in a handbag at Victoria Station. Her Ladyship insists that Jack produce at least one parent before the marriage will be allowed. Jack returns to the country home he shares with his ward, Cecily, and her governess, Miss Prism, in the hope of finding some clue to his parentage. He discovers that Algy has also arrived, but has taken the name (and reputation) of Ernest, to Cecily s great delight. She and Algy fall in love. Gwendolen follows Jack to the country, Lady Bracknell follows Gwendolen, and amidst the chaos it is discovered that Miss Prism had accidentally placed the baby son of Lady Bracknell s brother in a handbag years before. Mysteries are uncovered, the play ends with a pair of engagements, and everyone finally sees the true importance of being Ernest/Earnest. Also see: http://www.importanceofbeingearnest.co.uk/synopsis/

First Production The Importance of Being Earnest was Wilde s fourth West End (London) play in three years; An Ideal Husband had opened a month earlier and was still playing just around the corner. Even a snowstorm could not dissuade the crowds of fashionable people that attended the opening of Earnest on Feb. 14, 1895. The production was a smash success, though the reviews were moderately mixed. Poet W.H. Auden described the performance as pure verbal Opera. The show was something of a departure, with the relatively lighthearted tone contrasting with the more heavily dramatic pieces in production throughout the district. Playwright Oscar Wilde refused to take a bow at the final curtain, as there had been rumors that the Marquess of Queensbury, the father of Wilde s lover Lord Alfred Douglas, planned to pelt the author with rotten vegetables. Wilde had issued a libel charge to the Marquess, and the resulting legal issues forced the closure of the play after only 86 performances. Within seven months a touring company had opened its production of Earnest, and the play would be staged again in London in 1902. The first Broadway production opened in April 1895, but closed after only 16 performances as the author went to trial across the Atlantic. It returned to Broadway in 1902 and over several subsequent decades. In 1947 John Gielgud was in a NY production with Clifton Webb and Estelle Winwood, and one of the reviews called the play as insolently monocle in manner and as killingly high-toned in language as mischievous tomfoolery can make it. (Jacobus, Bedford.) Surely, Wilde would have been pleased. Above: The cast of the original 1895 production. Left: Brian Bedford as Lady Bracknell, 2011, New York Today s Earnest There have been at least nine productions of Earnest on Broadway; the first in April 1895, while the most recent opened in 2011. It was the first time the role of Lady Bracknell was played on Broadway by a man, performed by Brian Bedford (also the director). The production ran for nearly seven months and was nominated for three Tony Awards: Best Play Revival, Best Leading Actor in a Play, and Best Costumes. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjtgrzmvg24) A 2005 production in Dublin also featured a male Lady B as part of an allmale cast. The production included Oscar Wilde as a character, with a framing device that placed the author at a Parisian café dreaming of the play. Called the second most known and quoted play after Hamlet by journalist Mark Lawson, The Importance of Being Earnest is a staple of theatre programs worldwide.

When Girls Rule The Victorian Era is the historical period that covers the reign of Queen Victoria in England, from 1837 to 1901. The Industrial Revolution was underway. After the departure of the American colonies British expansion and imperialism were thriving. A growing middle class felt that emulating proper behavior and manners would give them entré to the upper class world of the traditional British aristocracy, leading to the perception of the Victorians as prudish, stuffy, hypocritical, [and] narrow-minded. (Bedford Glossary, 2003.) The generalization is inaccurate, but the stereotype has persisted. Due to the military power wielded throughout the world, as well as the stability and longevity of the Queen, Victorian fashion, literature, morality, and schools of thought were highly influential, affecting most aspects of life in the Western world and creating distinctive cultural pockets in colonized Eastern countries. Humor, Satire, Parody Oh My! The Importance of Being Earnest has been categorized in many different genres: it is a mark of Oscar Wilde s genius that the play both acknowledges and subverts the tropes and characteristics that determine these classifications. Comedy of Manners indicates that it is existing within a world of highly standardized society; the character exaggerations that result in behaviors that do not adhere to those standards introduce satire. The subtitle A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is both bitingly satirical and completely truthful; and the dramatic irony running throughout the play enables the parody of the Victorian era and defines the farcical nature of the piece. It s one of the finest examples of a sitcom the modern audience will ever see, and theatre-goers then and now laugh(ed) at it for much the same reasons. Earnest is full of elements that are familiar, but arranged in unexpected and interesting ways. (It s the same reason we appreciate people who use sarcasm cleverly Wilde would have been a master of the meme.) Every dramatic device and storytelling element in the play is copied from some other contemporary source What this proves is not just that Wilde was a good audience but that he was adept at taking the theater conventions his audience was most familiar with and using them to his own ends to entertain his audience, but at the same time to help him put an extra edge on his satire. (Jacobus, Bedford Introduction to Drama.) We ve seen and heard before everything the play presents but Wilde gives it all to us in ways that make it seem new. This surprise is one of the elements that make it so very entertaining.

Men s & Women s Roles Gwendolen (Act 2): Outside the family circle, papa, I am glad to say, is entirely unknown. I think that is quite as it should be. The home seems to me to be the proper sphere for the man. And certainly once a man begins to neglect his domestic duties he becomes painfully effeminate, does he not? [M]amma, whose views on education are remarkably strict, has brought me up to be extremely short-sighted; it is part of her system... Jack (Act 1): [In a very patronising manner] My dear fellow, the truth isn't quite the sort of thing one tells to a nice, sweet, refined girl. What extraordinary ideas you have about the way to behave to a woman! * * * * * The Importance of Being Earnest delights in turning perceptions of gender roles on their heads, both by matter-of-factly pronouncing an apparent opposite, as Gwendolen does above, and by satirizing other perceptions by exaggerating their truth (thank you, Jack). Victorians had very specific ideas about gender roles for men and women, many of which were more codified and separated than at any time before. Separate Spheres for the genders were based on the natural characteristics of males and females, and the belief that women were considered both physically weaker and morally superior. Men should go outside the home and provide for the family, while women were to remain inside the home, supervise the servants, and raise the children. Women Suited for domestic life Should not vote Educated in accomplishments Not troubled with sexual feeling Men Suited for public life Voted, held office Classical education Sexual beings visited prostitutes Even as polite society lived by these and other behavioral norms, the times were once again beginning to shift. A queen had ruled Britain for 60 years, after all Literature such as Jane Eyre, the plays of Oscar Wilde, and others were beginning to acknowledge that women had brains, feelings, drive and talent, and suffragettes would officially begin campaigning for women to get the vote in 1903. The creation of a middle class meant that men and women now had leisure time, and hobbies for both sexes included scientific and academic pursuits as well as recreational activities. The times, they were a changing; how much further do we still have to go?

Societal Constraints on Behavior Let s Discuss As a comedy of manners, much of the humor arises from either exaggerated character commitment to behavioral norms or their willingness to subvert those norms. - Jack uses two separate names in order to experience two different lives without consequences, and thinks it a very clever scheme. Do we see any parallels today? Is there any acceptable way to keep different aspects of life completely separate, or is Oscar Wilde trying to illustrate the folly of the idea? - Cecily becomes Cousin Ernest s biggest fan, in spite of his reputation for poor behavior. Do you think this is an inherent aspect of human nature, or is it learned behavior? We see similar hero-worshipping of musicians and movie stars today. How far is too far, and who draws the line for acceptable behavior? * * * * * Ellis Hanson, Cornell English Professor, thinks that lying makes a great deal of sense in this play, where reality follows from language instead of language following from reality. Obviously, there are extensive parallels to political and modern life today. Most of what we call social life is an ability to navigate certain hypocrisies and lies, and the people who are best at it are the ones who win in the end, said Hanson. - How is this evidenced in the play? Do you think the characters consider themselves to be lying in the social interactions that make up each scene? Are lies necessary for a functioning society in today s world? Hanson continued: Since we have to make up things to tell one another, and since we live social lives that are pure theater, it seems that people who have the most art are people who are going to have the best lives. And so we should have more faith in lying. - Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not? How does lying benefit society? Is a lie the same thing as making things up to tell one another? * * * * * The Importance of Being Earnest is based on certain rules of behavior that was standard for the time. - How do the ideas about men & women reflect the standards of the day, and how do they subvert them? Do any of the standards and ideals from Oscar Wilde s day (truthful or satirical) still exist today? The Trivial and the Serious Trivially Serious, or Seriously Trivial? The play s main theme revolves around one name, and [...i]n an instant, he ridicules the trick of revealing the hero to be marriageable because of his birth by emphasizing the triviality of a name. Yet names are of great importance (as Shakespeare tells us in Romeo and Juliet), and the earnestness implied in Ernest is one ingredient that helps Jack Worthing succeed. (Jacobus, Bedford) What to do you think? Was the pun on the word earnest just too good to resist, or did the author have something more important to say about integrity and intent? * * * * * Just for Fun: When Oscar Wilde said the play was A Trivial Comedy for Serious People was he talking about the very serious characters dealing with extremely trivial things, or was he referring to a very silly, trivial play for a serious audience?

Tea, Muffins, and Cucumber Sandwiches Tea as a meal was established in 1840, and credited as an invention to Anna, the Duchess of Bedford. Around the mid-nineteenth century, dinner for the upperand middle-classes shifted from mid-day to a long, complex meal in the evening. the Duchess began to invite friends to join her for a simple, light meal sometime between 3-5 p.m., and this afternoon break time quickly became a widespread tradition. The menu usually included tea, cake, scones, finger sandwiches, muffins, biscuits, pastries and cream. A Victorian-era teacup designed to protect a man s moustache during teatime. Nearly sixty years later Oscar Wilde consecrated the cucumber sandwich as the pre-eminent culinary symbol of the British upper class in The Importance of Being Earnest: In the first act of the play, with an ironic nudge to the seriousness of the late Victorian era, the formidable Lady Bracknell laments their absence. In fact, the very sandwiches that had been expressly ordered and prepared... were all voraciously eaten beforehand by her nephew and host, Algernon Moncrieff. To avoid his aunt s wrath, he is forced to tell a little lie, with his butler's connivance: namely that "there were no cucumbers in the market this morning... not even for ready money." Equally as seriously trivial are the muffins that are consumed in the second act. Rather than the cake-like treats we eat today, Victorian muffins were round, flattish bread rolls that were toasted and spread with butter and jam. And a whole mouthful makes it difficult for any actor to talk! Oscar Wilde would, no doubt, be delighted to discover just how serious his trivialities have become. Source: http://www.angelpig.net/victorian/teatime.html, http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodfaq2.html#muffins Oscar Wilde 1854 Born Oct 16 in Dublin, Ireland 1871 Attended Trinity College, Dublin 1874 Attended Magdalen College in Oxford, England; became a leader in the Aesthetics movement 1882 Toured the US as an Aesthetics lecturer; I have nothing to declare but my genius 1884 Married Constance Lloyd; had two sons 1887 Became editor of the Woman s World magazine 1890 Publishes only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray 1891 Begins a relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas 1892 Lady Windemere s Fan is produced in London 1895 Jan: An Ideal Husband opens in London Feb: The Importance of Being Earnest opens in London April: Charged and tried for gross indecency, sentenced to two year s hard labor 1897 Released from prison, writes The Ballad of Reading Gaol 1898 Constance dies 1900 After spending three years wandering Europe, living with friends and in cheap hotels, dies Nov 30 in Paris

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