二、结题报告
Realistic Concern in The Importance of Being Earnest
外国语言文学院 张源
指导教师 张琼
Abstract： Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde is a world-renowned master of aestheticism,
whose masterpiece The Importance of Being Earnest was regarded as a great success in the field
of aestheticism. From my point of view, in this work, Wilde not only explains his philosophy of
aestheticism: art is above life, but also shows his critically realistic concern for the Victorian
British society.
The main method of this research is textual analysis. Chapter One shall give a brief introduction
for the theoretical study while Chapter Two and Chapter Three will focus on the textual study of
twelve examples in The Importance of Being Earnest. Finally a conclusion will be drawn.
Keyword：realism aestheticism beauty amoral
Introduction
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) is a renowned Irish playwright, novelist and poet,
who is famous for his masterpieces including The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady
Windermere's Fan, A Woman of No Importance and An Ideal Husband, and so on. The
Importance of Being Earnest debuted on February 14, 1895 at the St. James' Theatre
in London and became an instant hit in England, running for eighty-six performances.
The play has remained its popularity ever since, vying with Wilde’s 1890 novel The
Portrait of Dorian Gray as his most recognized work. The play proves vexing to
critics, though, for it resists categorization, seeming to some merely a flimsy plot
which serves as an excuse for Wilde’s witty epigrams. To others it is a “penetratingly
humorous and insightful social comedy”1. In 2002, a namesake movie adaptation was
launched in the United States and was again warmly welcomed by the audience.
As a drama favored by the readers and audience, The Importance of Being
Earnest has covered almost every aspect of the English society in Victorian age, such
as lovers and partners, relatives and brothers, hosts and servants, men and women, old
virgin and idling priest, so on and so forth. Owing to Wilde’s reputation, this
masterpiece has received various comments. There are many hot discussions on the
1 <http:// www.answers.com/topic/the-importance-of-being-earnest>
sexuality, language, the aesthetic elements and the dandyism of the character, etc.
Some critics speak highly of the work while others express their doubts.
The Importance of Being Earnest, is generally a drama about the idle life of two
young brothers living in the country and the town respectively. The story is filled with
humor and satire, thus offering its readers and audience a laughable view of the
hypocrisy in the English upper-class society of the Victoria age. While having enjoyed
high renown in the bourgeois society, this drama has also become the target of attack.
Some even criticize it for its lack of meaning; while others highly praise it for its witty
and satirical expression.
On the one hand, a majority of the critics highly appreciate The Importance of
Being Earnest. In the Pall Mall Gazette, H.G. Wells, who criticizes An Ideal Husband
as “fairly bad”, congratulates Wilde “unreservedly on a delightful revival of theatrical
satire” 2right after the debut of The Importance of Being Earnest. Besides, Archer
writes in the World that this drama is “an absolutely willful expression of an
irrepressibly witty personality”3.
On the other hand, some critics have different opinions. For instance, in the
Speaker, Walkley writes that Wilde is “an artist in sheer nonsense….It is of nonsense
all compact, and better nonsense, I think our stage has not seen.”4 Besides, the Daily
Telegraph condemns Wilde for, in essence, his lack of earnestness in The Importance
of Being Earnest:
“Mr. Oscar Wilde, in his usual perverse way, insists upon styling his play, “a
trivial comedy for serious people”; but, as a matter of fact, the “serious people”
might have been left out of the question. The Importance of Being Earnest is
“trivial comedy” if you will; for ourselves we prefer to term it extravagant farce.
With all his leaning towards paradoxical dialogue, and the flippant inversion of
commonplace phrase, Mr. Wilde has in his previous essays written for the stage
devoted a certain portion of his theme to serious incident, and worked–faultily it
may be, but with some approach to sincerity–in the direction of a definite
dramatic end. But in the play that Mr. George Alexander offered his patrons last
evening there is no trace of solemn theatrical intention. The dramatist has given
himself a holiday, as it were, and rested content with putting forth, with all his
2
3
4
Karl Beckson. A Critical Heritage, 1970
Sarah Wallace. The Importance of Subversive
<http://archive.salon.com/books/today/2003/02/14/feb14/index.html>
characteristic volubility, a story whose extravagance is fairly matched by the
tone of the dialogue which serves to tell it.…”5
What’s more, another group of critics hold relatively neutral opinions. For
example, Hermann Bahr, a contemporary Viennese critic, “refused to consider Wilde
as frivolous, maintaining that his paradoxes rest upon a profound insight into
humanity. ‘Wilde says serious and often sad things that convulse us with merriment,
not because he is not ‘deep’, but precisely because he is deeper than seriousness and
sadness, and has recognized their nullity.’”6
As Wilde’s contemporary and best friend, George Bernard Shaw severely
criticizes Wilde on his “irresponsible attitude in not taking a stronger stance on the
social perplexity”. As Shaw has said,
“I had no idea that Oscar was going to the dogs, and that his represented areal
degeneracy produced by his debaucheries….I cannot say that I greatly card for
[The Importance of Being Earnest]. It amused me, of course; but unless comedy
touches me as well as amuses me, it leaves me with a sense of having wasted my
evening.”
7
Ironically, scholars later become interested in comparing the work of Shaw and
Wilde. Critics after the turn of the century disagree on Shaw’s evaluation of Wilde’s
work and argue that the two playwrights actually share something in common in their
subtexts. Archibald Henderson remarks that “there is no term which so perfectly
expresses the tone of Wilde’s comedies as nonchalance. The astounding thing is that
in his sincere effort to amuse the public, he best succeeded with that public by holding
it up to scorn and ridicule with the lightest satire.… The comparison with
Shaw…immediately suggests itself, but the fundamental distinction consists in the
fact that whereas in Shaw’s comedies the conversation, witty and epigrammatic to a
degree is strictly germane to the action, with Wilde the conversation, with all its
sparkling brilliancy, is in fact subsidiary and beside the mark”.8
With an overview of the critics’ comments on The Importance of Being Earnest,
we can draw that there are numerous similar and contrasting view points on this work.
I prefer, with my further arguments, to Archibald Henderson’s opinion that Oscar
Wilde and George Bernard Shaw share some similarities underlying their works. And
I think the reason behind is that The Importance of Being Earnest itself not only
5
6
7
8
Tim Slover & Nola Smith. The Importance of Being Earnest: A Study Guide
Archibald Henderson. Interpreters of Life and the Modern Spirit
Tim Slover & Nola Smith. The Importance of Being Earnest: A Study Guide
Tim Slover & Nola Smith. The Importance of Being Earnest: A Study Guide
contains the elements of aestheticism but also shows critically realistic concern for the
society then. It is true that this drama can be appreciated through Oscar’s aesthetic
view of art that art is “existing independent of life, independent of reality”9, yet more
or less art comes from life. That may possibly explains why he regards drama as a
combination of art and life. But there are connections between art and life depicted by
him, and for Oscar Wilde, even his public claim of “art of art’s sake” could be well in
line with his realistic concern. Therefore, shall we say that this tour the force of
aestheticism does share some elements of realism, although unwillingly perhaps.
For the purpose of a more comprehensive interpretation of The Importance of
Being Earnest, I hereupon carry out a more detailed analysis on the play script in the
following chapters.
Chapter One focuses on the theoretical study. First of all, it gives an explanation
on Oscar Wilde’s aestheticism in drama creation. Secondly, critics’ view on
aestheticism will be further explained. Thirdly, this chapter also tries to give a
definition of realism in a broad sense and consequently to make a comparative study
between aestheticism and realism.
Chapter Two and Chapter Three serve as further elaboration of Chapter One,
discussing the two key aspects in Oscar Wilde’s aestheticism respectively. Chapter
Two deals with “beauty” by analyzing the ironic effect achieved through the
characters’ dialogues while Chapter Three devotes to the discussion on the “amoral”.
Finally a conclusion will be drawn.
Chapter One
As one of the leading figures of aesthetic movement, Wilde holds that “the Arts
should provide refined sensuous pleasure, rather than convey moral or sentimental
messages.” and “Art did not have any didactic purpose; it need only beautiful.”
10
Wilde first inherits the aesthetic philosophy of art from Pater that art has nothing to
do with morality (art is not moral nor immoral but amoral), that the best of art is pure
art, that the duty of an art critic is to tell his own impressions of a work of art, and that
the function of art is to attract, to please and to provide enjoyment. Gradually, Wilde
develops Pater’s view and reaches a conclusion that art is considered as “existing
9
10
Chen Jia, P465-467
Chen Jia. P464
independently of life, independent of reality”, and finally he produces the
fundamental principle for his aesthetics that “art is above life”.
11
Wilde’s aestheticism has become a hot topic ever since his first masterpiece,
The Picture of Dorian Gray. For example, according to Linda Dowling, Wilde’s
particular genius as an artist of aestheticism is “to confront the public, in his life and
work, with the seemingly undemocratic aristocratic spirit which previous generations
of progressives had renounced.”
12
From Dowling’s perspective, it is for the purpose
of “being an aristocrat of aesthetic consciousness” and “believing in the power of art
to create a harmonious and free human community” that Wilde is “symbolically
sacrificed”. Besides, Richard Ellman, in his book Oscar Wilde (Knopf, 1984), regards
Wilde’s aestheticism as “anything but shallow, and that his wit was anything but
trivial”. What’s more, Julia Prewitt Brown analyzes Wilde’s philosophy of art by
“placing him within the intellectual context of the German Romantics, the French
Symbolistes, and his own Victorian contemporaries”. Last but not least, some critic
argues that Wilde’s philosophy of art has once experienced a change from
aestheticism to realism when he was writing Salomé, which was finished just two
years before The Importance of Being Earnest.
Concerning realism, its definition is: the depiction of subjects as they appear in
everyday life, without embellishment or interpretation. The term also describes works
of art which, in revealing a truth, may emphasize the ugly or sordid. (Wiki)
From the definition of realism mentioned above, we can clearly see the main
difference between realism and Oscar Wilde’s aestheticism is the relationship between
art and reality. The former emphasizes that art should reflect the life while the latter
highlights the art exists independently of life. However, Wilde regards drama as a
combination of art and life. Therefore, Wilde’s aestheticism shows a critically realistic
concern for the reality: it is derived and developed from the real life. Indeed, it is
reality-based.
Chapter Two
The two key aspects in Wilde’s philosophy of aestheticism are beauty and
a-moral, both of which are revealed in the drama through Wilde’s unique language. As
11
12
Chen Jia. P466-467
Linda Dowling. The Vulgarization of Art: The Victorians and Aesthetic Democracy.
is indicated by Auden, The Importance of Being Earnest is the “only pure verbal
opera in English”.
13
As for beauty itself, Wilde speaks highly of its value:
Beauty is a form of genius—is higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs no
explanation. It is one of the great facts in the world like sunlight, or springtime,
or the reflection in dark water of that silver shell we call the moon.
14
What’s more, Wilde himself is a representative of beauty. For instance, when he
was making the year-long continental speaking tour in the United States, he dressed
like a superstar, “outfitted in outlandish costumes, including a black velvet doublet
with puffy sleeves, ruffled collar, tight fitting breeches, black silk stockings and
low-cut shoes with silver buckles”.15 When it comes to the beauty in his drama The
Importance of Being Earnest, it is closely connected with Wilde’s ironic dialogue,
mainly through two methods: the identity between seriousness and studied triviality &
the reversal of tradition and rules.
On the one hand, the irony in the dialogue creates beauty. The typical example
of irony is the identification between seriousness and triviality, a “studied triviality”.
Once Wilde answered a question raised by a journalist “We should treat all the trivial
things of life very seriously, and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied
triviality.”16 The first example is the identity between name and love.
Gwendolen: … and my ideal has always been to love someone of the name of
Ernest. There is something in that name that inspires absolute confidence. The
moment Algernon first mentioned to me that he had a friend called Ernest, I
knew I was destined to love you.17
Cecily: Well, ever since dear Uncle Jack first confessed to us that he had a
younger brother who was very wicked and bad, you of course have formed the
chief topic of conversation between myself and Miss Prism. And of course a
man who is much talked about is always very attractive. One feels there must be
something in him, after all. I daresay it was foolish of me, but I fell in love with
you, Ernest.18
13
Alvin Klein. Theatre: Nothing Matters, Only Style and Words.
Oscar Wilde. P3
15 Carol Bishop. The picture of Oscar Wilde: the celebrated aesthete gazed at the portrait Frances Richards had
painted of him . Suddenly, he had a brilliant idea.
16 George Levine. Taking The Trivial Seriously.
17 <http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest/Act_I>
18 <http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest/Act_II>
14
Comparatively, the name “Ernest” sounds beautiful since “it has music of its
own” and “it produces vibrations”
19
but name itself is a trivial thing and it is rather
absurd to connect it with as a serious thing as love. It is a kind of Utopian association
to regard men with the name “Ernest” as being earnest. However, there is an inner
logic behind this absurd identity, or in other words, it is to a large extent fact-based. In
Victorian era, Britain has achieved great progress in the development of science,
economy and politics, etc. In 1859, Charles Darwin published his masterpiece The
Origin of Species, which set a huge impact on British society. Before Darwin’s theory
was published, a majority of the British people believed that they lived happily
because they were “The Chosen People”, yet what Darwin provided them with was a
cruel and dark space, in which earth was just a small planet. Meanwhile, there was
also a series of revolution in religion. There was a booming population of followers in
Victorian era. Besides, a lot of new sets of religion appeared in Britain. For example,
Young Men’s Christian Association debuted in 1844 and Salvation Army was
established in 1877. What’s more, the suspicion of religion was a common
phenomenon, as there were millions of workers with no faith of religion. The
publishing of The Origin of Species, together with the great suspension on religion,
resulted in the continuous crisis between science and religion, thus covering the
Victorian Britain with a pessimistic phenomenon, and encouraging people to try to
avoid the cruel reality and to fulfill themselves in the pursuit of the Utopian world
where there was eternal beauty.
Lady Brackneil: I would strongly advise you, Mr. Worthing, to try and acquire
some relations as soon as possible, and to make a definite effort to produce at
any rate one parent, of either sex, before the season is quite over.
20
Here, Wilde strengthened the tone of Brackneil’s speech by adding a series of
descriptive words and phrases: strongly, as soon as possible, definite, at any rate.
What’s more, the effect is even enhanced by adding an adverbial clause of time. It
sounds rather odd to connect engagement, a definitely serious matter, with season, an
obviously trivial element. It is owing to this ironic identity that brings this sentence a
laughable effect, or in other words, a unique beauty. However, what Lady Brackneil
said was commonly seen at that time. In the Victorian era, marriage was not as
romanticized or fairytale-like as depicted in many novels of the time. On the contrary,
love actually played a minor role in the majority of matrimonies that took place. An
19
20
<http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest/Act_I>
<http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest/Act_I>
engagement was entered into as one would approach a business deal, and there were
some generally accepted rules and guidelines to follow. For example, “Victorians
were encouraged to marry within the same class. They could marry up, but to marry
down meant marrying beneath yourself.”21 Furthermore, the financial aspects of both
families were discussed openly, “which can be compared to today’s prenuptial
agreements”22. Therefore, from the perspective of Victoria Marriage rules, the ironic
dialogues said by Lady Brackneil was fact-based.
Cecily [coming over very slowly]: But I don’t like German. It isn’t at all a
becoming language. I know perfectly well that I look quite plain after my
German lesson.23
Similarly, “at all”, “perfectly well” and “quite” served the same function as “at
any rate”. And the ironic effect is strengthened through the link between “German
lesson” and appearance. Here, German lesson symbolizes a person’s knowledge, yet it
is appearance that was dominant in Victorian Era. According to Francoise
Barret-Ducrocq, Victorian observers were under the impression that “they could tell
by a person’s appearance whether or not that person’s morals were intact”.
24
Besides,
women were very much likely to be judged for their appearances as to whether they
were respectable and decent, and being respectable and descent was often associated
with class. That’s why Cecily cared so much about her appearance and she would
rather not take the German lessons which did no good to it.
In short, the three examples mentioned above have proved the three aspects
where Wilde showed critically realistic concern in the Victorian era: love, marriage
and appearance.
On the other hand, the beautiful language also creates a special irony through
the reversal of common sense or rules. As is indicated by Francesca Coppa, what
Wilde wants to create is “a space in which the audience is allowed to recognize the
rules of literary and theatrical history, and to share the pleasure of watching those
rules circumvented.”25
Algernon: Really, if the lower orders don’t set us a good example, what on earth
21
22
23
24
25
Jen Ziegenfuss. Marriage in the Victorian Era.
Jen Ziegenfuss. Marriage in the Victorian Era
<http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest/Act_II>
Jennifer Morley. Hair Imagery in Jane Eyre.
<http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/research/fales/exhibits/wilde/1epigram.htm >
is the use of them? They seem, as a class, to have absolutely no sense of moral
responsibility.26
Here, Oscar Wilde used this ironic dialogue as a satire on the morality condition
of the upper-class in Victorian Era. In tradition, it should be the upper-class who set
the example for the lower-class to imitate so as to help them improve themselves. Yet
in reality, lower class people (who mainly belong to working class) had poor living
and working conditions. They had to work long days so as to support their families.
They often lived in an over-crowded condition and they were poorly ventilated. They
didn’t participate in social entertainment and had very little chance for education. As a
result, they didn’t follow rules of courtship. So it was impossible for them to imitate
the upper-class, if not mentioning the fact that the upper class was not worth
imitation, to some extent. Upper class usually inherited land or investments to create
wealth, lived an idling life and held their own social events throughout the season
instead of socializing at church. From the facts mentioned above, it is clear that Oscar
Wilde satirized the hypocrisy of the upper class by exposing the sharp contrast in the
social class in Victorian society.
Algernon: Oh! It is absurd to have a hard and fast rule about what one should
read and what one shouldn’t. More than half of modern culture depends on what
one shouldn’t read.27
What Algernon said obviously broke the common rule that a majority of the
modern culture depended on what one should read. This enantiosis brings the
dialogue a unique beauty because what Wilde tries to criticize is not modern culture.
Instead, it is the society which modern culture has tried to reflect upon. In Victorian
era, courtship was emphasized with great efforts. There used to be numerous rules on
courtship in detail. To name just a few:
Victorian dates were almost always supervised in some way. A woman was
never to go anywhere alone with a gentleman without her mother's permission.
A woman was never to go out with a gentleman late at night. In fact, it was
considered extremely impolite for a gentleman to stay late at a woman's home.
A woman was allowed some liberties, however. She could flirt with her fan, as
this behavior was within the protocol of accepted behavior.
If she had progressed to the stage of courtship in which she walked out with a
gentleman, they always walked apart. A gentleman could offer his hand over
26
27
<http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest/Act_I>
<http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest/Act_I>
rough spots, the only contact he was allowed with a woman who was not his
fiancée.
A gentlewoman never looked back after anyone in the street, or turned to stare at
others at church, the opera, etc.
No sexual contact was allowed before marriage. Innocence was demanded by
men from girls in his class, and most especially from his future wife.28
However, what showed in literature was the opposite: the dark side of the
society. “By the 1880s and 90s, books were more realistic and often grimmer. Even
writers of the high Victorian age were censured for their plots attacking the
conventions of the day, with Adam Bede being called ‘the vile outpourings of a lewd
woman's mind’ and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall ‘utterly unfit to be put into the hands
of girls’. The disgust of the reading audience perhaps reached a peak with Thomas
Hardy's Jude the Obscure, which was reportedly burnt by an outraged bishop of
Wakefield. The cause of such fury was Hardy's frank treatment of sex, religion, and
his disregard for the subject of marriage”29. So modern culture was really showing
“what one shouldn’t read”. Wilde has used the status quo of modern literature as a
mirror to expose the dark side of the Victoria society.
Algernon: … The amount of women in London who flirt with their own
husbands is perfectly scandalous. It looks so bad. It is simply washing one’s
clean linen in public.
30
At the first sight, “washing one’s clean linen in public” is a very beautiful and
interesting phrase because the original phrase should be “do not wash your dirty linen
in public”, meaning one should not talk about family problems in public. Yet its
underlying message is quite ironic. The reason why Algernon regarded to flirt with
one’s own husband is scandalous is that the truth is the exactly the opposite: although
a couple may flirt with each other in public to show their innocence, actually they
cohabit and live in different worlds. This is well proved by the fact that “Between
2-5% of all young women workers turned to prostitution”.31 Therefore, by using the
deliberately reversed idiom, Wilde satirized the hypocrisy in the marriage in Victorian
Era. And this satirical effect is even strengthened by the following example.
Algernon: I hear her hair (Lady Harbury) has turned quite gold from grief.32
28
29
30
31
32
<http://victorian.fortunecity.com/eliot/177/romance/romance.html>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_literature>
<http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest/Act_I>
<http://www.victoriaspast.com/LifeofVictorianWoman/LifeofVictorianWoman.html>
<http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest/Act_I>
Beauty is achieved by the use of alliteration: “gold” and “grief”, which also arise
an ironic effect, since the correct combination should be “gray” and “grief”. The
sentence sounds as if Lady Harbury became younger and more vigorous instead of
grief and older after she lost her husband. Here, Wilde again satirized the hypocrisy of
Victorian era: marriage was not a bond in which both sides should take responsibility;
instead, it was a confinement that limits each side from his or her freedom.
Algernon: … You are the prettiest girl I ever saw.
Cecily: Miss Prism says that all good looks are a snare.
Algernon: They are a snare that every sensible man would like to be caught
in.
33
Though Algernon sounded like a hooligan, he talked “with wonderful
expression.” That’s where the beauty comes from. On the other hand, what he said
also broke the common sense that a sensible man should not be caught in a snare.
However, here it made sense because “snare” was used metaphorically instead of just
physically. What Algernon really wanted to say was that he would very much like to
be attracted by a girl who was as pretty as Cecily. That is to say, he was flirting with
Cecily with the help of metaphor. Therefore, what Miss Prism has taught Cecily was a
mere scrape of letter. In reality, during the nineteenth century, "external appearance
was an exact reflection of internal reality".34 What’s more, women who looked neat
and tidy from their clothing to their hair were “more likely to be regarded as
respectable--both socially and sexually”35. From the facts mentioned above, we can
draw the conclusion that Oscar Wilde has sarcastically exposed the disgusting side of
the Victorian era: women really used their appearance as a tool to attract social or
other activities and to some extent, it was a snare.
In brief, the five examples mentioned above have shown that Wilde has a highly
social concern in some fields of Victorian society such as its sharp contrast inside the
social class and the value of Victorian courtship. Wilde showed his concern through
the dramatizing process of a serious of ironic dialogues.
Chapter Three
Besides beauty, the “amoral” is also an indispensible part of Wilde’s
33
34
35
<http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest/Act_II>
Jennifer Morley. Hair Imagery in Jane Eyre.
Jennifer Morley. Hair Imagery in Jane Eyre.
aestheticism. As he has said in the court, “there is no such thing as a moral or an
immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written”.36 When it comes to the
“amoral” in Wilde’s drama, it is well proved through the characterization of dandy, of
both genders, either old or young. As Wilde himself has said in one of his aphorisms,
Dandyism is the assertion of the absolute modernity of Beauty37
And Joseph Wood Krutch, a critic of Oscar Wilde, states that Wilde has “created a
mythological realm of perfect dandyism” in this drama. What’s more, the dandy in
Wilde’s drama is a unique kind, for s/he is “an aristocrat whose elegance is a symbol
of the superiority of his spirit; he uses his wit to shock, and is an individualist who
demands absolute freedom”.
38
As for the three old characters, Miss Prim, Doctor Canon Chasuble and Lady
Brackneil, each has his or her unique dandyism. For Miss Prism, she was a typical
hypocritical Puritan. On the one hand, she taught Cecily the German lesson and some
philosophical works, forbidding her to look at her dairy; on the other, she flirted with
the old single priest in disguise of science, which served as a counter example of her
morality. As Prism has said in Act II:
“Maturity can always be depended on. Ripeness can be trusted. Young women
are green. I spoke horticulturally. My metaphor was drawn from fruits.”
Doctor Canon Chasuble served as her male counterpart.
“Were I fortunate enough to be Miss Prism’s pupil, I would hang upon her lips. I
spoke metaphorically.-My metaphor was draw from bees.”39
There is a four-page gap between the two dialogues above, yet they share one
common aspect: pun. Take Chasuble’s words as an example: “I would hang upon her
lips.” Metaphorically speaking, it means he would be very much willing to be taught
by Miss Prism; Literarily speaking, it means he would kiss her passionately. Although
Chasuble added the sentence with “My metaphor was drawn from fruits”, there is no
doubt that he made use of this “metaphor” deliberately, because no sensible man
would blurt out such an alluring and ambiguous metaphor. But it is true in reality.
According to Edmund Leites, “The Puritans…sanctified the passionate desire and
erotic longing for another….The Puritans…call for a love within a marriage deep and
passionate.”
36
37
38
39
40
40
From his point of view, the psychological tension felt by the Puritan
<http://quotationsbook.com/quote/4847/>
<http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9900E7DC1E31E033A25752C0A9649D94659ED7CF>
<http://julians.interfree.it/wilde.htm>
<http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest/Act_II>
Steven Seidman. P719-721
between the conflicting demands of desire and discipline was managed by projecting
it as an opposition between the two genders. That’s why Chasuble appeared a little too
open while Miss Prism seemed quite self-restrained. However, “Ripeness can be
trusted” serves as more than the proof of “Maturity can always be depended on.”,
since she added it by a metaphor: Young women are green, which indicated that as an
old woman herself, she was very much mature and that she could be trusted to be
depended upon as a wife. In conclusion, Wilde used the method of pun to indicate the
hypocrisy of Puritan in Victorian Era: although they might look like serious and
earnest in front of the public, they were frivolous in disguise.
When it comes to Lady Brackneil, she was a typical selfish figure who was
filled with pride and prejudice. Every time she appeared, someone or something
would be her target of attack: her husband, her friend, the young generation, the
general, the servant, romantic fictions, French culture and even innocent strangers,
etc. She was always concerning the interests of her own family while ignoring that of
others. For instance, when she heard Cecily’s extremely outstanding family
background, she said,
“Dear child, of course you know that Algernon has nothing but his debts to
depend upon. But I do not approve of mercenary marriages. When I married
Lord Brackneil I had no fortune of any kind. But I never dreamed for a moment
of allowing that to stand in my way.”41
This is a typical show of the characteristics of dandyism: rules are for others. For
Algernon’s side, it was surely beneficial for him to marry Cecily because he “has
nothing but his debts to depend upon”. However, it was nothing but lie from the
perspective of Cecily, the interests of which were completely ignored by Lady
Brackneil. From her point of view, lack of properties was no barrier in her marriage;
therefore, it certainly would not be a barrier in that of Algernon. In brief, when
concerning the interests of her own family, Lady Brackneil usually ignored the moral
responsibility and paid no attention to others’ loss. According to the marriage law in
Victorian Era, “a woman entering into the institute of marriage had to be equipped
with a dowry. The husband-to-be had to prove that he could support his new bride in
the lifestyle she was accustomed to”. 42 By offering a vivid depiction of the
counterexample, Wilde sarcastically criticized the self-centeredness of the Victorian
upper class.
41
42
<http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest/Act_III>
Jen Ziegenfuss. Marriage in the Victorian Era
When it comes to Algernon, as an idling bachelor who “has nothing but his
debts to rely on”, he is considered as a hero that is “closer to the figure of the dandy
than any other character in the play”. He enjoyed his life as being a “bunburyist”:
“Nothing will induce me to part with Bunbury, and if you ever get married,
which seems to be extremely problematic, you will be very glad to know
Bunbury. A man who marries without knowing Bunbury has a very tedious time
of it.”43
From Algernon’s point of view, only if there were three people in the marriage
can it be interesting. This is a straight show of no sense of moral responsibility. As is
shown in The Importance Of Being Earnest: Wilde's Wit In Use,
“Algernon is a proponent of aestheticism and a stand-in for Wilde himself, as are
all Wilde's dandified characters, including Lord Goring in An Ideal Husband,
Lord Darlington in Lady Windermere's Fan, Lord Illingworth in A Woman of No
Importance, and Lord Henry Wootton in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Unlike
these other characters, however, Algernon is completely amoral. Where Lord
Illingworth and Lord Henry are downright evil, and Lord Goring and Lord
Darlington are deeply good, Algernon has no moral convictions at all,
recognizing no duty other than the responsibility to live beautifully.”44
The characterization of Algernon was again a direct attack against the traditional
Puritan idea, which strongly opposed the French drama, owing to its reflection of the
thoughts of extramarital love. Nevertheless, Oscar Wilde exposed its hypocrisy by
saying that “the happy English home has proved in half the time”45.
As for the two female dandies, Gwendolen inherited the strong-mindedness of
her mother and spoke with an obvious sense of authority on matters of taste and
morality, while Cecily, as her antithesis, was a girl as innocent as “a pink rose”46.
However, they both fell in love with a man only for his name “Ernest”. When they
misunderstood that they are engaged to the same person, a verbal fight started
between the two female dandies and was immediately escalated. At that certain period
of time, they did not care about a penny of morality. In Act II, before Merriman
carried the food in,
Gwendolen [Meditatively]: If the poor fellow has been entrapped into any
foolish promise I shall consider it my duty to rescue him at once, and with a firm
43
44
45
46
<http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest/Act_I>
<http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Importance-Being-Earnest-Wildes-Wit-Use/132234>
<http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest/Act_I>
<http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest/Act_II>
hand.
Cecily [Thoughtfully and sadly]: Whatever unfortunate entanglement my dear
boy may have got into, I will never reproach him with it after we are married.
Gwendolen: Do you allude to me, Miss Cardew, as an entanglement? You are
presumptuous. On an occasion of this kind it becomes more than a moral duty to
speak one’s mind. It becomes a pleasure.
Cecily: Do you suggest, Miss Fairfax, that I entrapped Ernest into an
engagement? How dare you? This is no time for wearing the shallow mask of
manners. When I see a spade I call it a spade.
Gwendolen [Satirically]: I am glad to say that I have never seen a spade. It is
obvious that our social spheres have been widely different.47
After Merriman leaves the table,
Gwendolen: You have filled my tea with lumps of sugar, and though I asked
most distinctly for bread and butter, you have given me cake. I am known for the
gentleness of my disposition, and the extraordinary sweetness of my nature, but
I warn you, Miss Cardew, you may go too far.
Cecily: [Rising]: To save my poor, innocent, trusting boy from the machinations
of any other girl there are no lengths to which I would not go.
Gwendolen: From the moment I saw you I distrusted you. I felt that you were
false and deceitful. I am never deceived in such matters. My first impressions of
people are invariably right.
Cecily: It seems to me, Miss Fairfax, that I am trespassing on your valuable
time. No doubt you have many other calls of a similar character to make in the
neighbourhood.48
During this verbal fight, it is easy to find that both Gwendolen and Cecily have
made no criticism on their “Ernest”. Instead, they criticized the third party in their
relationship with every possible method. For Cecily’s side, in order to protect her
Ernest from the inducement, “there are no lengths to which I would not go”; for
Gwendolen’s side, she insisted that her impression on Cecily was “invariably right”.
Traditionally speaking, when there was a triangle in the marriage, both the male side
and the female side should undertake some responsibility and it should be the wrong
side that shoulders the main responsibility. However, by making such an interesting
dialogue between the two female dandies, Wilde satirized the Victorian courtship in
47
48
<http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest/Act_II>
<http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest/Act_II>
which “men and women in the Victorian age appear as differentiated in nature,
behavior, and roles: men posses an omnipresent hypersexuality, while women become
guardians of the moral order, as the very exemplars of restraint and spirituality.”
49
In all, the four examples mentioned above have given a vivid picture of Victorian
dandy, of either sex, old or young. Through the characterization of these unique
images, Wilde ironically criticizes the hypocrisy of the upper-class in the Victorian
Britain.
Conclusion
As a master of aestheticism, Oscar Wilde conveys to his readers and audience
numerous fantastic works, and The Importance of Being Work is not an exception.
This work not only offers readers a vivid depiction of Wilde’s philosophy of
aestheticism but also reveals his critically realistic concern for the Victorian Society，
which is achieved mainly though his objective observation on the value judgment of
Victorian Era
The two essential aspects of Wilde’s aestheticism, beauty and amoral, coexist
with critical realism’s concern and reflection of the reality, while the relative irony
and dandyism still achieve the artistic effect of aestheticism. Therefore, the seemingly
contradiction in theoretical claims turns to be a mutual reliance within the creation.
For one thing, by using the two special techniques, i.e. identifying seriousness
with studied triviality and the reversal of common sense of rules, Mr. Wilde
sarcastically criticizes the three aspects of the Victorian society: marriage, appearance
and value of love.
For the other, through the characterization of the amoral dandy, Wilde exposes
and satirizes the self-centeredness and no-moral-conviction aspect of the Victorian
upper-class, the hypocrisy of Victorian Puritan and the inequality in the responsibility
undertaking in the Victorian courtship. Thus he consciously creates amoral figures
while unwittingly bearing the criticism of morality, a thing unavoidably encompassed
by the literary creation.
With the probably unfair trial on the theme of athleticism vs. critical realism, the
essay does undergo its significant journey. Many concerns as well as puzzles,
however, could not be dealt with within the bounds of this analysis. Among others, the
question of definition or ascription still pervades literary study, and more
49
Steven Seidman. P719-721
convincingly it could never be thoroughly explained in the mystery of literature. So
the subtle relation between aestheticism and realism, at least in The Importance of
being Earnest, proves the unending charm of the artistic ambiguity of literature.
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后记：感谢张琼老师及外文学院其他老师的帮助与指导。谢谢！