Transcript Posted 1-24-17 Modern Drama Unit Intoduction

REALIST DRAMA
REALISM IN THEATRE
 movement in the late 19th century
 steered theatrical texts and performances towards greater
fidelity to real life
(=natančna reprodukcija resničnega življenja)
 describes life without idealization or romantic subjectivity
 characters product of social factors and environment
(naturalism)
 stage life = everyday reality
 catalyzing theatre
(=poučno gledališče)
Themes
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contemporary society
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middle-class characters, situations, and problems
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complex, three-dimensional characters shaped by their
family and heritage
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unhappy marriages, relationships, sex, prostitution,
diseases, religious hypocrisy, social inequality
 drama of ideas
(=tezna drama)
 psychological drama
(=psihološka drama)
 comedy of manners
(=nravstvena komedija)
 conversational piece
(=konverzacijska igra)
 comedy of ideas
(=tezna komedija)
 Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House" (1879)
Henrik Ibsen
Norway
Origins of Modern Drama: Ibsen
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Henrik Ibsen, Norway, 1828-1906
GB Shaw said “The door slam at the end of [Ibsen’s] A
Doll’s House ushered in the age of Modernism”
Christmas, 1879; about gender roles and legal
restrictions; ends in Nora walking out on her family.
Social problems depicted “realistically” - no easy
solutions or deus ex macchina
Well-made play, intensive structure
Middle classes, everyday diction
Focus on individuals, but in their social environment
Rights of individual over group, religion, morality
Author background
 Born in 1828, in Norway (at the time part of Sweden)
 Son of well-to-do merchant whose business failed
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when Henrik was young
Father died not long thereafter
When Henrik was 19 , the household servant bore his
illegitimate child
Longed to go to university but failed Greek (heance
no admission)
Early plays and writings were romantic
Began developing more realistic plays in 1860’s (even
though audience preferred lighter works)
Published plays first, then staged them
A Doll House or A Doll’s House
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Norwegian does not distinguish whether “doll” should be
possessive, so it is translated both ways (significant interpretive
implications)
Play was hugely controversial but also very popular when it
opened in Copenhagen in 1879 (mostly because of its ending)
Based on a real story (details after you finish reading)
Very tight structure—every word counts—in some ways a direct
line to outcome as in the Greek plays
Secondary characters (Krogstad and Mrs. Linde) are important
foils to the main characters (Torvald and Nora Helmer)
Realist especially in its implied social commentary—Ibsen very
sympathetic to rights of women and individual rights in general
(we will get to characteristics of realism in class)
Themes-motifs to consider
 Male-female relationships in 19th century, especially
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as related to marriage—and connected images (birds,
small animals, household items
Secrecy-evasion-avoidance of the truth
Male moral code vs female moral code (ethics)
Costumes; pretending or playing
Corruption-illness-poison
Aggression-passivity
Confinement-isolation
Nature of bravery
Love vs friendship
The Art of Skimming!
Look for these topics
regarding the Victorian era in
England:
Prudery
Morals
Beliefs
Dress
Social Class – particularly
upper class
Education
Gentry
London vs. the countryside
Any reasons to criticize?
The Importance of Being
Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for
Serious People
By Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde: Master Epigrammist
• Epigram – a short, witty, often paradoxical saying designed to
surprise the audience.
“It is better to be beautiful than good. But . . . it is better to be good
than to be ugly.”
“Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from
time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.”
“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
Epigrams
• An epigrammist is a master of discourses, or dialogue.
• He used word structures to cite or rework established knowledge.
When audience members understand an epigram, they find pleasure
from being in on the joke and share the authority of the epigrammist.
Having to explain an epigram deflates its impact.
• Some say that epigrams have “no creative importance,” but some say
epigrams are an authoritative voice of truth wrapped in a witty,
memorable case.
• Francesca Coppa, a literary critic, wrote, “one can find the epigram in
Wilde’s work not only with a microscope, but with a telescope” (57).
• The whole play can be viewed as one big epigram.
The Power of the Epigram
• The epigram was his most powerful tool of satire. He
speaks unpleasant truths in a pleasant manner.
• Much of the humor is derived from the rigid social rules of
the era.
• When audience members laugh at his jokes, they are
laughing at themselves and their society.
Social Basics for the Young Lady
• Upon being introduced to a gentleman, a lady will never offer her hand. She
should bow politely and say, “I am happy to make your acquaintance.”
• When bowing on the street, it is appropriate to incline the head gracefully,
but not the body.
• A lady never looks back after anyone in the street, or turns to stare at them
in the theater, concert hall, church, or opera.
• In crossing the street, a lady raises her dress a little above the ankle, holding
together the folds of her gown and drawing them toward the right. Raising
the dress with both hands exposes too much ankle and is most vulgar.
* From Youth’s Educator for Home and Society of 1896
Social Basics for the Young Man
• A gentleman will always tip his hat to greet a lady.
• When walking in the street, the gentleman always walks on the outside to
protect his lady from the dangers of the road.
• If a gentleman is smoking and a lady passes by, he should remove the cigar
from his mouth.
• A gentleman should always rise when a lady enters or leaves a room.
• During the daytime, a gentleman never offers a lady his arm unless to
protect her in a large crowd. In the evening, it is appropriate for her to take
his arm.
• A gentleman should never place his arm on the back of a chair occupied by
a lady.
Overall
• Very prude
• Very rigid, following every rule there was to follow
• Very religious
• Very concerned with social status
Manners in Modern Times
• What rules of decorum exist today?
Oscar Wilde
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Born Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854-1900)
Married Constance Lloyd in 1884. He had two sons with her: Vyvyan and Cyril.
Successful playwright by 1892
Aestheticism –exaggerated devotion to art and beauty. Conflicted with strict
Victorian morality.
• Dandy -a man excessively concerned with clothes and appearance
• Homosexuality – illegal. Spent time in hard labor prison.
• Looking back on his own life, he wrote, “I had a genius, a distinguished name,
high social position, brilliancy, intellectual daring: I altered the minds of men
and the colours of things: there was nothing I said or did that did not make
people wonder.”
The Importance of Being Earnest
• 1895- regarded as one of the finest satirical plays in English
• earnest –serious and sincere
• “The play centers on two couples who have fallen in love and want
to marry. Before the lovers can reach their goal, however, they
must transverse through a Wildean world of inversions,
ambiguities, absurdity, social masks, double identities, digressions,
and irreverence.”
• Language is the centerpiece of the play. Wilde labored over every
single word.
• This play is Wilde’s plea for people to be themselves and do what
they want.
The Characters
• John Worthing – Jack, Earnest
• Algernon Moncrieff – his friend. They are both dandies.
• Lane – Algernon’s manservant
• Lady Bracknell – Algy’s aunt
• Gwendolen Fairfax – her daughter, and Algy’s cousin
• Cecily Cardew – Jack’s ward
• Miss Prism – Cecily’s governess
• Rev. Chasuble – rector at Jack’s country home
• Merriman –Jack’s butler
The British Accent
• The Brits speak in many more tones than we do.
• The “R” Car is cah
• The “T” bottle is boTTle
• The “A” ask is aask
• Upper Class – very posh!
• Watch “It’s Good to be Bad” Jaguar Commercial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bls1KKDwmo
Oscar Wilde
The Importance of Being Earnest: irony
and Victorian morality
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The play central plot – the man who is both and isn't
Ernest/earnest – presents a moral paradox.
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Earnest, misspelling for “Ernest”, means sincere, honest.
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None of the characters are really truthful.
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Characters are used to criticize Victorian prudery ( the Victorians’
attitude to get easily shocked by things related to sex).
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What Wilde wants us to see as truly moral is really the opposite of
earnestness: irreverence.
Only Connect ... New Directions
Oscar Wilde
The Importance of Being Earnest: the
nature of marriage
• Marriage is one of the main
concerns of the characters in
the play.
• Wilde makes fun of the
institution of marriage.
• Marriage is seen as a
hypocritical and absurd
practice, a tool for achieving
social stature.
Ida Vernon, William Faversham, Viola Allen, E. Y. Backus, Henry
Miller in The Importance of Being Earnest (1895).
Only Connect ... New Directions