The Importance of Being Earnest By Oscar Wilde
The Importance of Being Earnest By Oscar Wilde
Wilde • • Father was a surgeon and archaeologist Mother was a writer No dependable source of income Sought after by rich, upper-class
Wilde cont. • Thrived on public attention • Famous for outrageous outfits • Even known to appear carrying and sniffing a flower • Gilbert (of Gilbert and Sullivan) said, “I wish I could talk like you. I’d keep my mouth shut and claim it as a virtue. ” • Wilde replied, “Ah, that would be selfish! I could deny myself the pleasure of talking but not to others the pleasure of listening.
Wilde cont. • Sued the Marquis of Queensberry for criminal libel when he tried to get him to end a relationship with his son • Marquis acquitted • Arrested and forced to forfeit everything • Sentenced to two years hard labor
Nineteenth Century Upper-Class England • Affection for their queen • Interest in appearing respectable and cultivating the good opinion of others (to protect the queen) • Society dictated what they could or could not do • Artists were obligated only to cultivate their own individual impressions of the world • Aesthetic movement (appreciate beauty)
Nineteenth Century Upper-Class England cont. • Many middle-class women remained unmarried because men often postponed marriage until they achieved financial security. • The Victorian emphasis on decorum grew from the conviction that life would be improved if it steadily became more refined, more rationally organized, better policed, and therefore safer.
Nineteenth Century Upper-Class England cont. • Victorian writers asked whether material comfort fully satisfied human needs and wishes. They questioned the cost of exploiting the earth and human beings to achieve such comfort. They protested or mocked codes of decorum and authority. • Population moved from rural areas to rapidly growing cities • Expanded educational opportunities increased literacy; flourishing lending libraries and cheap periodicals created a mass reading public
Victorian Writers • The materialism, secularism, vulgarity, and sheer waste that accompanied Victorian progress led some writers to wonder if their culture was really advancing by any measure. • Late-Victorian writers turned to a pessimistic exploration of the human struggle against indifferent natural forces. • Literature entertained, informed, warned, and reassured
Pre-Raphaelite Movement • Mid-Victorian period • Less restrained, more romantic tone • “embraced the ordinary while rejecting ‘conventionalities and feeble reminiscences from the Old Masters. ’” • Influenced by Arthurian legends and descriptions from medieval times
Comedy • Usually has a happy resolution • Depends upon the use of language to achieve humor • Tends to deal with more contemporary issues • Evokes deeper level of thought within the viewer
Comedy • • • Lies between satire and romance Delineates human weakness Points up human limitations Function is partly critical and corrective Antidotes for human folly Put protagonists in the midst of a group to emphasize their commonness
Farce • Achieves humor through quick shifts of action to keep the characters from discovering each other or finding out about each other. • Plot intended primarily to make people laugh
Burlesque • Depends upon physical action and buffoonery.
Tragicomedy • The main plot is serious and might lead to catastrophe but ends happily for the protagonist
Satirical Comedy • A plot intended primarily to ridicule the foibles and vices of society
Sentimental Comedy • A plot in which the protagonist, no matter how dissolute, reforms in the end
Comedy of Humours • A play in which an excess of one of the Humours (blood, choler, melancholy, etc. ) governs the protagonist, with caricature rather than character portrayal as the result
Comedy of Manners • A contrived plot in which the artificialities of a sophisticated society are exposed and satirized. • Characters are more important than plot. • Dialogue is light, witty, cynical
Fantasy • A play in which reality is disregarded and a fanciful world and situations predominate
Burlesque • A play which depends upon physical action and buffoonery
- Slides: 20