ENGL 3653: English Literature II

John M. Mercer, Professor of English

Northeastern State University, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

Study Guide 9: Wilde and Shaw

Revised 3-11-09

 

“The Nineties”

  1. Who are the aesthetes?  What is the Aesthetic Movement or Rhymers’ Club?
  2. What is meant by “Art for art’s sake”?

 

“Drama and Theater”

  1. What distinction is made between “drama” and “theater”?  To what degree was each successful during the Victorian Period?  Why?
  2. What important Victorian dramatists were from Ireland rather than England?

 

Introduction to Oscar Wilde

  1. With what literary movement was Wilde associated?
  2. What is The Picture of Dorian Gray?
  3. What genres of literature did Wilde write and publish?
  4. Why did the successful run of The Importance of Being Earnest end abruptly?
  5. Who was Lord Alfred Douglas?  Who was the Marquis of Queensbury?
  6. Extra-credit video: For a historically accurate dramatization of the life of Oscar Wilde, watch the movie Wilde, which should be available at video stores.

 

The Importance of Being Earnest

Several different genre labels can be attached to Wilde’s greatest play, The Importance of Being Earnest.

  1. Is the play written in prose or poetry?  How can you tell?
  2. Evaluate to what extent each of the following definitions applies to this play.  (All quotations in this study guide are from Harmon’s Handbook to Literature, 9th ed.)
    1. Farce: “a dramatic piece intended to excite laughter and depending less on plot and character than on improbable situations, the humor arising from gross incongruities, coarse wit, or horseplay”
    2. Comedy: “differs from farce . . . by having a more sustained plot, weightier and subtler dialogue, more lifelike characters, and less boisterous behavior.”
    3. Farce-comedy: a comedy that depends primarily on the devices of farce but includes some elements of comedy that “elevate [it] above most farce.” 
  3. To what extent do the following traits of comedy of manners apply to The Importance of Being Earnest?
    1. The play emphasizes the “manners and conventions of an artificial, highly sophisticated society.”
    2. Characters tend to be stereotypes (stock characters) rather than complex individuals.
    3. The plot, though clever, is less important than “atmosphere, dialogue, and satire.” The plot often includes an “illicit love duel” involving one or more pairs of “witty and often amoral lovers.”
    4. The dialogue is witty, polished, even brilliant, appealing to the intellect.
    5. The satire targets stock characters who “fail somehow to conform to the conventional attitudes and manners of elegant society.”
  4. Rather than satirizing failures to conform to society, this play seems to satirize the conventions of Victorian society. Find at least one passage that concerns each of the following Victorian themes, subjects, or social conventions, and explain how it is satirized.
    1. Customs relating to death
    2. Marrying for money
    3. Philanthropy
    4. Decline of the aristocracy
    5. The Victorian family
    6. Keeping a diary
    7. Victorian respectability
    8. Men’s need for the double standard in marriage
    9. High Church Anglicanism
    10. Victorian earnestness
    11. Afternoon tea 
  5. The plot of The Importance of Being Earnest has been called a satire of a traditional comic plot.  How does the play include and make fun of each of the following elements commonly found in the plot of a comedy?
    1. Obstacles to love
    2. Mistaken identity
    3. Love at first sight
    4. Heroic sacrifice for love
    5. Abandoned baby
    6. Long-lost brother
  6. In the title of the play, what is the definition of “earnest”?  What is the double meaning of the title?
  7. One of the main sources of humor in the play is its use of paradoxical epigrams that say the opposite of well-known values or clichés.  (An epigram is a brief, witty saying.  A paradox is a contradictory statement that is true in some way.)  Find the paradoxical epigram in the play that says the opposite of each of the following commonly held values or clichés, and explain the truth, as Wilde sees it, behind each epigram.  (Critics have argued convincingly that Wilde on some level believes the outrageous things his characters say.)  These are not listed in any particular order.
    1. “Marriages are made in heaven.” 
    2. “A gentleman must do his duty.”
    3. Every man needs an occupation.
    4. Grief caused her hair to turn gray.
    5. “It’s the pure, simple truth.”
    6. “People shouldn’t display their dirty linen in public.”
    7. Those who are ill deserve our sympathy.
    8. People don’t respect their elders the way they used to.
    9. Before two people get married, they should know each other well.
    10. “Two’s company; three’s a crowd.”
  8. Make a list of additional paradoxical epigrams or other witty sayings you find in the play.

 

The plot of the play is relatively easy to follow.  Bring to class, however, any questions you have about the plot.  Here are just a few questions related to plot:

  1. How does Algernon learn that Jack’s name isn’t Ernest?
  2. Who is Bunbury?  What is a Bunburyist?  Which characters are Bunburyists?  How do they differ in their Bunburyism?
  3. Besides talking and lying, what else is Algernon frequently DOING throughout the play?
  4. Why does Lady Bracknell disapprove of Jack as a suitor to Gwendolyn?
  5. Why do Cecily and Gwendolyn have a terrible disagreement during tea time?
  6. How does Cecily take revenge against Gwendolyn during tea time?
  7. What "terrible thing" or "fearful ordeal" are Jack and Algy willing to undergo for the women they love?
  8. Why does Lady Bracknell suddenly change her mind and decide to approve of Algernon’s proposed marriage to Cecily?
  9. In order to get permission to marry Gwendolyn, how does Jack manipulate Lady Bracknell?
  10. What is Jack's real name?  Who are his parents?  What is his relationship to Algernon?
  11. Why does Wilde give Jack the last name “Worthing”?  (See introduction to play.)
  12. What are Miss Prism’s character traits?  It has been said that “Prism” sounds like “prim prison” or “prune prison.”  Do these phrases aptly describe her character?  If so, how?
  13. What is a chasuble? Why is the Anglican priest named Dr. Chasuble?

 

Bernard Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession

1.      Mrs. Warren’s Profession was written in 1893 and published in 1898.  Why was it not performed in England until 1926?

 

Mrs. Warren’s Profession is one of Shaw=s “Unpleasant Plays.”  Shaw’s purpose in writing these plays is to force his audience to acknowledge unpleasant truths about late Victorian society.  In

Mrs. Warren=s Profession, Shaw exposes society’s responsibility for fostering prostitution by providing only immoral alternatives for lower-class women. To explore this theme, Shaw uses a dramatic technique called “discussion,” in which the characters’ dialogue sets forth the playwright’s opinions (1744-45).

2.      The most obvious example of “discussion” in the play is on pages 1766-67, where Mrs. Warren explains three different alternatives she could have taken if she had not gone into prostitution.  What are these three alternatives, and why is each of them unacceptable?

3.      The situation in which Mrs. Warren finds herself is an example of what is sometimes called the “White Slave Trade.”  What is the meaning of this term?  How does it apply to Mrs. Warren?

4.      Explain how each of the following statements by Mrs. Warren in the “discussion” contributes to the theme of the play:

    1. “It c a n t be right, Vivie, that there shouldnt be better opportunities for women. I stick to that: it=s wrong.”  (1768b)
    2. “The only way for a woman to provide for herself decently is for her to be good to some man that can afford to be good to her.”  (1769t) 

5.      In quotation 4a above, what accounts for the spacing between the letters of the second word (“c a n t”) and the omission of apostrophes?  (See introduction to Shaw.)

 

Shaw uses the different characters in Mrs. Warren=s Profession to reveal the roles of different kinds of people in what he sees as a corrupt capitalist society.  Use the following questions to determine the role each plays in society:

6.      Mrs. Warren

a.       Why is she called “the unmentionable woman” (1778m)

b.      What two different roles has she played in prostitution?

c.       Is she a pragmatist (realist) or an idealist?

d.      According to her own explanation (1789), how has her initial career choice limited her later opportunities?  To what extent is she correct about the limitation of her later choices, and to what extent is she just trying to justify her actions?

7.      Vivie Warren

a.       Vivie has been described as a “New Woman” of the 1890s, one of the first modern, independent women in drama. What are her character traits? In what ways is her character the opposite of a traditional romantic heroine?

b.      Is she a pragmatist or an idealist? 

c.       What is her work ethic?  What does Praed mean when he says she follows the “Gospel of Getting On” (1783m)?

8.      Mr. Praed

a.       What does he mean when he says he preaches “the Gospel of Art” (1783m)?

b.      How much does he know about Mrs. Warren’s profession?  How much does he understand about the corruption of society?

c.       Is he a pragmatist or an idealist? 

9.      Sir George Crofts

a.       What is his social and economic status?  What does the title “Sir” indicate? 

b.      What is his moral nature?  Why is he referred to as “that wicked old devil” (1772b) and “[the unmentionable woman’s] capitalist bully” (1778m)?  How does his morality compare with that of the other characters in the play?

c.       Explain what he means when he says, “Why the devil shouldnt I invest my money that way?  I take the interest on my capital like other people.  I hope you dont think I dirty my own hands with the work” (1777m).

10.  Frank Gardner

a.       Is his outward demeanor agreeable or disagreeable?

b.      What is his work ethic?

c.       How does he try to use his good looks to his economic advantage? Is this another kind of prostitution?

d.      Why does he break up with Vivie?

11.  The Rev. Samuel Gardner

a.       What is his occupation?  What is his social status?

b.      How does he know Mrs. Warren?  Why has he offered to pay for the letters he wrote to her?

c.       What is his role in the corrupt capitalist society?

 

Plot of Mrs. Warren’s Profession

  1. In act 1 and throughout the play, the main external conflict is between Mrs. Warren and Vivie concerning Vivie’s future.  In act 1, how do Mrs. Warren’s plans for Vivie’s future conflict with Vivie’s plans?
  2. At the end of act 1, how does Mrs. Warren’s chance encounter with the Rev. Samuel Gardner threaten to undermine Mrs. Warren’s plans for Vivie?
  3. In act 2, what does Mrs. Warren tell Vivie about her past?  Why does she tell her?
  4. At the end of act 2 and the beginning of act 3, how does Vivie respond to her mother’s revelation?
  5. What two men want to marry Vivie?  What is the motivation of each?
  6. In act 3, the crisis (turning point) of the play, what does Sir George Crofts tell Vivie about her mother?  Why does he say this?  Is it true?  How do you know?
  7. How does Vivie react to this revelation?  Why?
  8. In act 3, in what could be considered the climax (most exciting moment) of the play, what does Sir George Crofts tell Vivie about her relationship to Frank?  Why does he tell her this?  Based on the information given in the play as a whole, do you think Croft’s statement is true? 
  9. Critics have pointed out that Sir George Crofts’ revelation (in question 8 above) is only incidental to the plot of the play.  If it is not absolutely necessary, why does Shaw include it?
  10. In act 4, what decision has Vivie made concerning Frank? Why?
  11. In act 4, what decision has Frank made concerning Vivie?  Why?
  12. In act 4, what decision has Vivie made concerning her mother?  Why? 
  13. When Mrs. Warren tries to convince Vivie to change her mind, what surprising admission does Mrs. Warren make concerning the validity of Vivie’s decision?
  14. At the end of the play, what values has Vivie embraced?  What are her future plans?

 

Sympathy for Characters in Mrs. Warren’s Profession

Vivie is based on a character from the French writer De Maupassant: a virtuous but passive daughter of a prostitute. (Shaw’s Vivie, however, is not passive.)  While he was writing the play, Shaw wrote in a letter, “I have made the daughter the heroine” and “the mother is a deplorable old rip.”  Your answers to the following questions will be subjective.

  1. Is Vivie the “heroine” of the play?  Is she a sympathetic character?  Why and/or why not?
  2. Is Mrs. Warren a “deplorable,” unsympathetic character?  Why and/or why not?
  3. Does the play have ANY sympathetic characters?  If so, who is the most sympathetic?  Why?
  4. The play has several relatively unsympathetic characters.  Who is the most unsympathetic?  Why?   
  5. Extra-credit research: Find different critics’ interpretations of the characters, especially of Mrs. Warren and Vivie.  Do the critics find these characters to be sympathetic or unsympathetic?