Oscar Wilde: A Life of Wit and Scandal - Prof. Martínez Luciano, Apuntes de Teatro

¡Descarga Oscar Wilde: A Life of Wit and Scandal - Prof. Martínez Luciano y más Apuntes en PDF de Teatro solo en Docsity! THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST ABOUT THE AUTHOR Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin in1854 within a wealthy family. He studied at Portora Royal School of Euniskillen , Trinity College of Dublin and then at Magdalen College, Oxford. Wilde combined his studies with trips, while published in several newspapers and magazines his first poems. In 1882, he went to the US, where he gave a series of lectures about his theory of aesthetic philosophy, which defended the idea of “art for art” and which laid the bases of what later became known as “dandysm”. On his return, Oscar Wilde did the same in British universities and cultural centers, where was exceptionally well received. Also he was in France, where he knew some authors of the time. In 1884 he married Constance Lloyd , who bore him two sons, who rejected the father's surname after the events of 1895 . Between 1887 and 1889 he edited a women's magazine, Woman 's World, and in 1888 published a book of short stories, “The Happy Prince”, whose good reception led to the publication, in 1891, several of his work , including “The Crime of Lord Arthur Saville”. Wilde's success was based in his sharp and epigrammatic wit, that appeared in his plays, devoted mostly to ridicule the hypocrisy of his contemporaries. Also, he published, grouping fascicles, his book “The Picture of Dorian Grey”, which was hardly criticized by the puritan and conservatives sectors. However, his popularity increased as a playwright, writing works as “Salome” (1891) or “The Importance of Being Earnest” (1895), works filled of irony. Despite this, his success was cut in 1895, when the Marquis of Queenberry began a smear campaign in newspapers and magazines accusing him of being homosexual. Wilde, meanwhile, tried to defend himself against Queenberry defamatory process, but gave no result, and despite pleas for clemency from many of his followers and friends, was sentenced to two years in prison and hard labor. The ruling meant the loss of all that he had achieved during his glory years. After gaining his freedom, he changed his name (adopted Sebastian Melmoth) and emigrated to Paris, where he remained until his death. His later years were marked by economic fragility, his fragile health, the problems of his fondness for drink and a last minute approach to Catholicism. Wilde lived during the contemporary age. These ages were changing times: the emergence of communist movements in defense of the people, the supremacy of industrialization and colonialism, the nationalist unifications of Italy and Germany, the scientific, technological and social progress, the abolition of slavery, the first feminist revolution, the emergence of capitalism... A lot of facts that would change completely our world. As regards the literary ages that Wilde lived, we can say that he experimented between the last years of romanticism and the whole realism and naturalism. Wilde, in his plays wants to tell us plausible stories, with his own style. ABOUT THE PLAY The book tell us the story of Algernon Moncrieff, a young gentleman, receiving his friend, John (Jack) Worthing, who he knows as Earnest. Earnest has come from the country to propose Algernon's cousin, Gwendolen Fairfax. Algernon, refuses his consent until Ernest explains why his cigarette case bears the inscription, "From little Cecily, with her fondest love to her dear Uncle Jack." 'Ernest' is forced to admit to living a double life. In the country, he assumes a serious attitude for the benefit of his young ward, Cecily Cardew, and uses the name of John, while pretending that he must worry about a younger brother named Ernest in London. In the city, meanwhile, he assumes the identity of Ernest. Algernon confesses a similar deception: he pretends to have an invalid friend named Bunbury in the country, who he can "visit" whenever he wishes to avoid his social obligations. Jack refuses to tell Algernon the location of his country estate. Gwendolen and her mother, Lady Bracknell, went to the house. While Algernon distracts Lady Bracknell in another room, Jack proposes to Gwendolen. She accepts, but she loves him because of his name, Earnest. Jack thinks to be rechristened "Earnest". Lady Bracknell interviews Jack. She, horrified to learn that he was adopted after being discovered as a baby in a handbag at Victoria Station, refuses him and forbids the contact with her daughter. Gwendolen manages covertly to promise to him her undying love. As Jack gives her his address in the country, Algernon notes it quickly. Algernon arrives at John's house, pretending to be Ernest Worthing, and soon charms Cecily. Fascinated by the absent of uncle jack until now, she falls in love of Algernon in his role of Earnest.. Therefore, Algernon plans to be rechristened as "Earnest" too. Jack, meanwhile, has decided to abandon his double life. He arrives and announces his brother's death in Paris of a severe chill, a story undermined by Algernon's presence, in the role of Ernest. Gwendolen meets Cecily, each woman indignantly declaring that she is the one engaged to "Ernest". When Jack and Algernon reappear, their deceptions are exposed. Arriving in pursuit of her daughter, Lady Bracknell is astonished to be told that Algernon and Cecily are engaged, but any engagement is forbidden by her guardian Jack: he will consent only if Lady Bracknell agrees to his own union with Gwendolen. The impasse is broken by the return of Miss Prism, who Lady Bracknell recognises as the person who, twenty-eight years earlier, had taken a baby boy for a walk in a baby carriage and never returned. Challenged, Miss Prism explains that she put the baby in a handbag, which she had left at Victoria Station. Jack produces the very same handbag, showing that he is the lost baby, the elder son of Lady Bracknell's late sister, and indeed Algernon's older brother. Having acquired such respectable relations, he is accepted as husband for Gwendolen but she still insists that she can only love a man named Earnest. So, Lady Bracknell informs Jack that, as the first-born, he would have been named after his father, General Moncrieff. Jack examines the army lists and discovers that his father's name was in fact Ernest. The work is organized in three acts. The first act take place in the house of Algernon, the second act takes place in the garden of Jack's house and the third act takes place in the morning-room of Jack's House. Regarding characters, in this work we have nine characters, each one has his function in the developement of the play. Then, we are going to show a brief summary of characters: – John Worthing: One of the main characters. Young, rogue, clever and thorough. He begins the lie of Earnest and the whole problem in the story. Algernon and he are brothers but they don't know it until the end of the story. – Algernon Moncrieff: The other main character in the play. Cautious, relaxed and friendly. He impersonates “Earnest” and creates a false friend called “Bunbury” to avoid his social commitments. – Lady Bracknell: Aunt of Algernon and mother of Gwendolen. She is the eldest in the play, represents the Victorian society values. As the work progresses, she softens a bit her strong temperament.