The Importance of Being Earnest

1
The Importance of Being Earnest

• A look at Victorian ideals.

2
Oscar Wilde

• Born October 16, 1854 in Dublin
• Educated at Trinity College and Oxford
• Famous for flamboyant dress, contempt of
  conventional values and belief in aestheticism
• Married Constance Lloyd in 1884
• Did not hide his homosexuality

3
Aestheticism

• Embraced the idea of art for the sake of beauty
  and beauty alone.
• Characterised by the attitude of making "art for
  art's sake.
• Belongs to the anti-Victorian reaction and had
  post-Romantic roots.
• Took place in the late Victorian period from
  around 1868 to 1901, and is generally considered
  to have ended with the trial of Oscar Wilde.

4
Wildes Downfall

• The end began when Wilde met Lord Alfred Douglas
  (Bosie)
• Had a homosexual affair from 1891 his death in
  1900.
• Was put on trial for homosexual acts. Being gay
  was not a crime, the sexual act itself was.
• Trial brought by Bosies homophobic father
  (Queensberry).

5
The Court Case

• Bosie (protected by his powerful family) was
  never charged.
• Only names mentioned were those of working class.
  Names of upper class were written if necessary
  but never revealed.
• Case allegedly was partly to redirected attention
  away from Queensberrys older brother who was
  having an affair with Philip Primrose who would
  later become Prime Minister.
• Government punished Wilde to appease Queensberry.

6
The Punishment

• Wilde sentenced to two years imprisonment in
  Pentonville Prison.
• Spent 23 hours a day in a poorly ventilated cell
  and 1 hour exercising. Had very little human
  contact.
• Allowed no photos, could only read The Bible and
  prayer books.
• Food was unspeakable, bed was wooden boards.

7
The Rest of His Punishment

• Left this prison 30 lbs lighter and in poor
  health.
• Transferred to Wandsworth Prison.
• Released in May 19, 1897. Was in falirly good
  health.
• Immediately went to France and never returned to
  England.

8
The Final Years

• Did not write again.
• Drank heavily and begged money from friends.
• Lived the rest of his life with Bosie.
• Died on Nov 30th, 1900 at age 46. Believed that
  he died of meningoencephalitis complicated by
  chronic middle ear infection.
• Left behind two sons Vyvyan and Cyril.

9
The Dandy

• Introduced a new character to Victorian melodrama
  - the dandy (a man who pays excessive attention
  to his appearance).
• This figure added a moral texture the form had
  never before possessed.
• The dandy was heavily autobiographical and often
  a stand-in for Wilde himself, a witty,
  overdressed, self-styled philosopher who speaks
  in epigrams and paradoxes, ridicules the cant and
  hypocrisy of societys moral arbiters, and
  self-deprecatingly presents himself as trivial,
  shallow, and ineffectual.

10
Importance of Being Earnest

• Part satire - human or individual vices, follies,
  abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by
  means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or
  other methods, ideally with an intent to bring
  about improvement
• Part comedy of manners - satirizes the manners
  and affectations of a social class, often
  represented by stock characters
• Part intellectual farce - unlikely, extravagant
  and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken
  identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of
  sophistication, which may include sexual innuendo
  and word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed
  usually increases.

11
The Victorian Era

• Queen Victoria had the longest reign in British
  history.
• Cultural, political, economic, industrial and
  scientific changes that occurred during her reign
  were remarkable.
• When Victoria ascended to the throne, England was
  essentially agrarian and rural upon her death,
  the country was highly industrialized and
  connected by an expansive railway network.

12
Queen Victoria

• Born 1819
• Became queen at 18
• Reigned from 1837-1901
• Husbands name was Albert. He died in 1861 and
  she mourned him for the rest of her life.

13
Victorian Prudery

• It was improper to say "leg" in mixed company
  instead, the preferred euphemism limb was used.
  
• Verbal or written communication of emotion or
  sexual feelings was not acceptable so people
  instead used the language of flowers or food.
• Alleged that tableclothes and bedskirts were
  created to cover legs of tables and beds.
• More likely they were created to cover the
  shabbiness of the furniture.

14
Repression

• Characterised by sexual repression.
• Men's clothing is formal and stiff, women's is
  fussy and over-done.
• Ankles are scandalous