Social conventions are those arbitrary rules and norms

Social conventions are those arbitrary rules and norms governing the countless behaviors all of us engage in every day without necessarily thinking about them, from shaking hands when greeting someone to driving on the right side of the road. 1

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What are some other social conventions? In high school? In Hingham? 3

Some Unique Conventions • At Walmart, you can buy 24 rolls of toilet paper and. . . a 12 gauge shotgun. • Americans spent over 6. 9 billion dollars on. . . Halloween. • On Thanksgiving, the President pardons a. . . turkey • At the movies, I order a large soda even though there are. . . free refills 4

Price at the store. . . 5

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2015 “The Year of the Outsider” 8

The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde

• Irish author, playwright and poet • Known for flamboyant style and biting wit • He wrote about society, decadence, and beauty. He often played with themes of social norms. • Was convicted of “gross indecency with other men” and he went to prison for this. He spent almost 2 years in jail, and doing labor and when released immediately moved to France. He published one last piece which was more of a philosophical reflection of his time in prison, but died destitute in Paris at 46. – C--Did you ever kiss him? – W--Oh, dear no. He was a peculiarly plain boy. He was, unfortunately, extremely ugly. I pitied him for it.

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The Importance of Being Earnest • • Ambiguity of the word, earnest Social Satire Horatian Satire Parody! • Aestheticism Let’s take a second and close read this image

Aestheticism and Social Satire • Aestheticism: a literary and art movement that valued beauty for beauty’s sake and sought to separate itself from social or political themes. This evolved over time, and while Wilde was involved in this movement as a young man, as he matured as a writer he combined this style with a growing focus on pointing out the absurdities in society. What results is a lighter, more good natured, charmingly-written form of social satire.

Victorian Age • “Once the Victorian middle classes had defined normality as thrift, prudence, patience, chastity, meekness, self-discipline and industriousness, the devil was clearly going to have all the best tunes. In such a situation, aberration is plainly the option to go for. Hence the postmodern obsession with vampires and Gothic horrors, the perverse and peripheral, which has become as much an orthodoxy as thrift and chastity once were” (Eagleton) 16

Big questions to ask as we get through the play… • To what extent do you think that Wilde is upholding the gender stereotypes of the time? Through his comedy, are his female characters actually given more agency, or do his gender jokes limit them as characters? • Does he hate marriage and society? If not, why is he undercutting these institutions?