The Importance of Being Earnest Flashcards
Context: Where was Oscar Wilde born?
Dublin, Ireland.
Context: Where did Wilde study?
Magdalen College, Oxford.
Context: What other jobs did Wilde have before dedicating his life to writing?
He worked as an editor for a women’s magazine but was fired a year later after he stopped showing up for work.
Context: Who was Robbie Ross?
- Wilde’s first gay lover, an openly gay Canadian.
- He gave Wilde a home after he got out of prison + stayed w/ him 4 3 years until he died.
- Bought back rights to Wilde’s work, allowing it to be published again and repopularised.
Context: Who was Alfred Douglas?
- Wilde’s second gay lover, who later became an anti-semitic homophobe.
- Introduced Wilde to underground ring of male prostitutes
- Son of Marquis of Queensbury, who instigated Wilde’s downfall.
Context: Queensbury vs. Wilde
- Q. sent calling card to Wilde’s club, the Albemarle, inscribed: “For Oscar Wilde, posing somdomite” 1895; Wilde tries to sue him for libel
- Backfired: Lawyers able to prove W.’s homosexualoty thru’ his poems, novels, and cigarette cases inscribed w/ his name w/ male prostitutes.
Context: When did Wilde go to prison and when did he leave?
25 May 1895 to 18 May 1897.
Context: What was Wilde sentenced to?
2 years hard labour.
Context: What proportion of London’s population was Irish?
5%
Context: Why were there so many Irish immigrants in London?
Irish moved en masse to London during the famine, to escape poverty and starvation.
Context: How is the fact that Wilde was Irish relevant to his life?
Mum = renowned Irish poet; dad = leading Irish oto-ophthalmologic (ear/eye) surgeon: W. never fully infiltrated English Elite as immigrant (especially an Irish one, whom were despised).
Context: How many people were part of the Victorian Aristocracy?
- Almost 10,000 people.
- Owned lots of land in country
- Made money from inheritance- had huge political influence
Context: What was Q. Victoria’s relationship w/ the aristocracy?
- Historically, the aristocracy + monarchy = real close
- But Victoria + Albert wanted to encourage growung middle class.
Context: By how much did the middle class grow during Q. V’s reign?
Middle class grew by 10%- went from 15% of population to 25%. Happened because of:
- Q.V.s encouragement/association w/ middle class
- Jobs created by Industrial Rev.
Context: What changes were there to the working class?
- Mass media meant they became more politicised
- 1870: National Education Act enforced education up to age 10–> working class= more educated.
Context: Changing role of women
- Patriarchal society- Marriage considered an essential for women, ‘union ordained by God’
- 1867: 1st Suffrage bill introduced to Parliament
- 1879: 1st women’s colleges at Oxford (Lady Margaret Hall)
- 1883: Women can enquire their own property
What is an epigram?
A compact saying or remark expressing an idea in a clever and amusing way.
What is repartee?
Speech characterised by quick and witty replies; a quick, clever back and forth between characters.
What is a paradox?
- An absurd or contradictory statement (which may be true)
- A person or thing that combines contradictory features or qualities
What is epigrammatic/comic reversal?
Taking an old idea that is familiar to us and twisting it e.g. “washing one’s clean linen in public”.
Wilde often uses this in his epigrams.
What is an ‘Ingénue’ stock character?
- Beautiful, kind, sweet, virginal and often naive young woman or girl
- Endearingly innocent and unsuspecting
- Lack of sophistication and cunning
- In mental/emotional danger, d.i.d- usually target of of womaniser she mistakes for hero
Quotes from Cecily that make her an ‘Ingénue’
- “I have never met any really wicked person before”
- “However badly he may have behaved to you in the past he is still your brother”
- ‘[Enter Cecily from the house] “Uncle Jack! Oh I am pleased to see you back”
Quotes from other characters that make Cecily an ‘Ingénue’
- Jack. “Miss Cardew does not come legally of age till she is 35”
- Alg. “You are my little cousin, Cecily”;
- Called ‘Child’ by other characters- babied, perceived as a pure infant
What is a ‘Dandy’ stock character?
- Young man who values physical appearance, refined language, leisurely hobbies which he pursues with nonchalance; Dismiss importance of business, politics, etc
- Recurring character in Victorian Lit.
- Unlike other stock characters, real people could be dandies
How did Charles Baudelaire describe Dandies?
- “Elevates aesthetics to a living religion”
- LIves only to “satisfy their passions of feeling and thinking”
Quotes from Algernon that make him a ‘Dandy’
- “I don’t play accurately […] but I play with wonderful expression”
- ‘[Enter Algernon, very gay and debonnaire]’
- (To Jack) “Well, I don’t like your clothes”
- “I have a business appointment that I am anxious… to miss?”
- “If I am occasionally a little overdressed, I make up for it by being always immensely over educated”
