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History of the Play
The Importance of Being Earnest premiered at the St. James's Theater in London's West End theater district on February 14, 1895. It was produced by George Alexander, one of the great producers of the day. It was originally written as a four act play, but Mr. Alexander demanded it be reduced to three by cutting scenes that dealt with Algernon's debt problems. Cut were an opening scene in which Algernon is besieged by creditors, and a later scene where a solicitor (lawyer) pursues Algernon to the country to arrest him for a debt of 796 pounds for dinners at the Savoy Hotel. The matter was subsequently reduced to references throughout the play of Algernon's financial hardships.
Synopsis
Act I: Setting: Algernon Moncrief's apartment on Half Moon Street
Ernest (Jack)Worthing pays a visit to Algernon at his London apartment just as tea is being set up for a visit by Algernon's aunt, Lady Bracknell, and her daughter Gwendolen. Algernon pointedly asks Ernest if he knows anyone by the name of Cecily. Ernest denies knowing anyone by that name, prompting Algernon to produce Ernest's cigarette case which holds an inscription inside from "little Cecily" to her "dear Uncle Jack." Ernest gives in and reveals that Cecily is his 18 year old ward who lives at his home in the country and that his real name is Jack. He uses his real name in the country and calls himself Ernest in town. Ernest/Jack, in love with Gwendolen, decides he no longer needs this alter ego, and plans to "kill" Ernest off. Algernon reveals that he too has invented an invaluable alter ego, Bunbury. Bunbury is a dreadful invalid whom Algy sneaks off to 'visit' in order to get away from town.
Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen arrive for tea, and Algernon escorts Lady Bracknell out of the room, allowing Gwendolen and Jack (Gwendolen knows him as Ernest) to profess their love to one another. They agree to become engaged. Gwendolen, to Jack's consternation, admits her ideal has been to love someone by the name of Ernest. Lady Bracknell unexpectedly reenters the room and discovers Jack on one knee proposing marriage. Lady Bracknell sends Gwendolen to the carriage and questions Jack to consider his character for marriage to Gwendolen.
Jack reveals that we was orphaned in a London train station; found in the cloakroom in a black leather handbag and raised by a Mr. Thomas Cardew. Because he has no parents, Lady Bracknell finds Jack unsuitable to marry Gwendolen. She refuses the engagement and leaves.
Gwendolen briefly returns and requests Jack's country address in order that she may write to him daily. Algernon, remembering Jack has a young ward in the country, writes the address on his shirt cuff.
Act II: Setting: Garden at Jack Worthing's Manor House the following day.
Cecily is at her studies with her governess Miss Prism when Dr. Chasuble, Rector of the Church, appears and escorts Miss Prism for a walk. Algernon arrives at the Manor House, posing as Jack's wicked, younger brother, Ernest. Immediately, Algy/Ernest and Cecily fall in love. Cecily takes Algernon into the house for refreshments.
Miss Prism and Chasuble return and are met by Jack. He is wearing black mourning clothes because of the "death" of his corrupt younger brother Ernest in Paris.
Cecily rushes to greet Jack and brings him the exciting news that his brother Ernest has arrived from London. Jack is extremely surprised when Algernon enters pretending to be Ernest.
Jack, distrustful of Algernon's intentions toward Cecily, orders Algernon to leave by the next train. Algernon and Cecily say their goodbyes, and Cecily confesses she has been deeply in love with "Ernest" for a year and has made entries in her diary detailing the courtship. Algernon, wishing to stay "Ernest" for Cecily's sake, rushes off to the church to be rechristened "Ernest."
Gwendolen arrives from London looking for Jack/Ernest and is escorted into the garden to meet Cecily. They sit down to afternoon tea and accidentally discover they are both in love with "Ernest Worthing."
Jack and Algernon return to the garden, are confronted by their lovers, and admit their true identities. Gwendolen and Cecily, each with her heart set on loving someone by the name of Ernest, retreat indoors together.
Act III: Setting: The morning-room at the Manor House, later.
Gwendolen and Cecily decide to forgive Jack and Algernon their indiscretions and promise to marry them. Lady Bracknell makes a surprise visit in order to retrieve Gwendolen. When she learns of Cecily's great fortune, she gives her consent to Algernon's marriage to Cecily. Jack refuses to give his consent, however, unless he is allowed to wed Gwendolen.
Chasuble arrives to rechristen both young men when Miss Prism's name is mentioned. Lady Bracknell recognizes the name and asks that she be sent for. Miss Prism reveals she had been previously employed as governess to Lady Bracknell's sister (Algernon's mother) but that one day she failed to come home with the baby in her charge. Miss Prism further admits to leaving her unpublished manuscript in the baby carriage while placing the baby in a black leather handbag.
Jack runs upstairs and retrieves the black handbag in which he was found. The handbag, indeed, belonged to Miss Prism, and Jack was the lost baby. Jack, it turns out is Algernon's older brother. In a bid to discover his real name, Jack makes a check of historical military records and discovers his real name is that of his late father, Ernest! Ernest is now free to marry Gwendolen, and Algernon may marry Cecily.
Style of "The Importance of Being Earnest"
The Style in which The Importance of Being Earnest is acted is crucial. Oscar Wilde was not imitating standard British farce, in which sheer pace and physicality were major ingredients and in which the performers tended to signal the verbal jokes.
It is possible to identify three main strands of language within the remarkably homogeneous text: that of the four lovers, witty, elegant, polished, self-possessed; that of Lady Bracknell, who erupts into the play with a deployment of words as original and disconcerting as her attitudes; and the overlapping but still distinct register of Canon Chasuble and Miss Prism, with its mixture of pedantic precept and idiosyncratic diversion. Lady Bracknell's style of speech has an extraordinary quality of unpredictability, which stems partly from the shape of her sentences and partly from the sequence of her thoughts and logic. (Peter Raby, "The Importance of Being Earnest: A Reader's Companion")
Glossary of Words in the play
Dog cart - A light, two-wheeled, horse-drawn vehicle. "He's gone to order the dog cart for me."-- Algernon.
Gorgon - One of three sisters in Greek mythology with snakes for hair. So horrible that beholder is turned to stone. "Her mother is perfectly horrible. Never met such a Gorgon."-- Jack.
Marechal Niel - A variety of rose. Algernon: "Might I have a buttonhole first." Cecily: "A Marechal Niel?"
Misanthrope - A hater of humankind. "You should get married. A misanthrope I can understand - a womanthrope, never!"-- Miss Prism
Neologistic - A new word or a new meaning for an established word. "Believe me, I do not deserve so neologistic a phrase."-- Dr. Chasuable.
Oxonion - A graduate of Oxford University. "Untruthful! My nephew Algernon? Impossible! He is an Oxonion."-- Lady Bracknell.
Perambulator - A baby carriage. "Twenty-eight years ago, Prism, you left Lord Bracknell's house...in charge of a perambulator that contained a baby..."-- Lady Bracknell.
Philanthropic work - Someone who donates money, property, or work to needy persons. "I don't quite like women who are interested in philanthropic work."-- Cecily.
Portmanteaus - A leather trunk that opens into two halves. "Three portmanteaus, a dressing case, two hat-boxes, and a large luncheon-basket."-- Merriman.
Profligate - Utterly and shamefully immoral. "What about your brother? What about the profligate Ernest?"-- Algernon.
Quixotic - Extravagantly chivalrous or foolishly impractical. Pertaining to Don Quixote. "It is rather Quixotic of you."-- Cecily.
Rupee - The basic money unit of India, Pakistan, and Nepal. "Cecily, you will read your Political Economy in my absence. the chapter on the Fall of the Rupee you may omit. It is somewhat too sensational."-- Miss Prism.
Shropshire - County in England west of London known for its sheep. "Got nice neighbors in your part of Shropshire?"-- Algernon.
Tunbridge Wells - City in Kent in southeast England. "Yes, but that does not account for the fact that your small Aunt Cecily, who lives at Tunbridge Wells, calls you her uncle."-- Algernon.
Wagnerian - Of or like the German composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883) or his music, theories, or methods. Large, bombastic music. "Only relatives or creditors ever ring in that Wagnerian manner."-- Algernon.
About the Playwright
1854. Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde born in Dublin, Ireland, the second son of oculist (eye doctor) and ear-surgeon Sir William Wilde, and Jane Francesca Elgee, Lady Wilde, who wrote under the name 'Speranza'.
1871-4. Undergraduate at Trinity College, Dublin.
1874-8. Attends Magdalen College at Oxford University.
1880. First play, "Vera, or the Nihilists" is printed privately.
1882. Extensively tours the United States and Canada giving lectures.
1884. Marries Constance Lloyd in London.
1885. First son, Cyril, is born.
1886. Second son, Vyvyan, born.
1888. Short stories, "The Happy Prince, and Other Tales" published.
1890. Novel, "The Picture of Dorian Gray" published.
1891. Meets Lord Alfred Douglas.
1892. Play, "Lady Windermere's Fan" opens at the St. James's Theatre.
1893. Play, "A Woman of No Importance" opens at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket.
1895. January: Play, "An Ideal Husband" opens at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. February: "The Importance of Being Earnest" opens at the St. James's Theatre. April: Wilde sues Lord Alfred Douglas' father, the Marquess of Queensbury, for libel. Loses and is arrested for indecency. Sentenced to two years imprisonment with hard labor.
1897. Released from prison and moves abroad to Paris.
1898. "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" published.
1900. Wilde dies in the Hotel d'Alsace, Paris. Buried at Pere Lechese cemetery.
"The Importance of Being Earnest" was produced and set in London, England, 1895. Here are some events that happened that year: Cuba was fighting Spain for its independence. Karl Marx published "Das Kapital". Tchaikovsky's ballet, "Swan Lake", debuted in St. Petersburg, Russia. King C. Gillette invented the safety razor. Auguste and Louis Lumiere invented the motion picture camera in Paris. Marconi invented radio telegraphy. Wilhelm Rontgen discovers x-rays. First professional football game was played in the United States (Latrobe, PA). Wells published "The Time Machine". Gustave Mahler's Symphony No. 2 was first performed.
Etiquette
From the Twentieth Century Etiquette book published in 1901, here are some Victorian tips on good etiquette:
Do not laugh at your own wit. Allow others to do that. And do not talk at people, that is, do not talk for the benefit of strangers, hoping to attract their admiration. Men and women are much given to this vulgar habit.
Never refuse to accept an apology. Only ungenerous minds will do. If one is due from you, make it unhesitatingly.
In meeting a number of friends together, do not make a difference in the warmth of your salutation. To meet one with reserve and formality and another with great efusiveness is ill-bred.
Never pick the teeth, scratch the head, blow the nose, or clean your nails in company.
Never correct the pronunciation of a person publicly; nor any inaccuracy that may be make in a statement.
A lady will not strike a gentleman with her handkerchief or tap him with her fan, or lean over his shoulder, or pat him on the back.
Nicknames are unknown in good society.
Do not go into company smelling of onions or garlic. They are offensive to most people. A tobacco breath is not much admired, either.
Do not place your arm on the back of a chair occupied by a lady.
The only gifts which should pass between ladies and gentlemen who are not relatives are books, flowers, music and confectionery.
The man who insults his inferiors or those who are weak is simply a coward.
A gossip is more or less malicious and uncultivated. If nothing worse, she is empty-headed.
When walking with a lady, find out before you start if she has any preference as to the route.
The Victorians: An overview
The period of 1837-1901 is known primarily as the Victorian age. It was so named after Queen Victoria (1819-1901), Queen of England and Ireland, and Empress of India.
For Britain and Europe the second half of the nineteenth century was a golden age of advancement and prosperity. Electricity and other new forms of energy accelerated man's technological capabilities to produce more goods and raise living standards' transportation and communication networks expanded across continents and oceans and telescoped time-distance relationships; and Europe became the workshop of much of the world. At the same time the earlier fear of class warfare waned as governments showed increasing solicitude for their peoples economic and social needs. Illiteracy was being reduced by the spread of public school systems. The franchise (right to vote) was being broadened; parliamentary government and mass suffrage were crowding out aristocratic plutocracy; political liberty was on the march.
This period was distinguished by unprecedented scientific advancement. In addition to the work of Charles Darwin and his associates in biology, fundamental discoveries were made in physics, such as in thermodynamics and electrodynamics, in chemistry with the arrangement of the periodic table, and in medicine with the development of the germ theory of disease. A new model of celestial mechanics was provided by Einstein, while Freud delved into hitherto little-understood levels of human consciousness.
In literature, painting, and sculpture, the impact of scientific and technological achievements took the form of realism, later extended into a facts-of-life school known as naturalism. At the same time, an increasing number of writers protested against injustices perpetrated in a society where cutthroat competition was defended and human exploitation excused as immutable elements in the struggle to survive. Still other artists, reacting against the baldly mechanistic view of man, devised new movements in the arts - expressionism and symbolism - each with special techniques for representing the subjective feelings of the individual. ("Civilization Past & Present", T. Walter Wallbank, et al.)
Chief accomplishments in the Victorian Era
Industrialism - Between 1870 and 1914 the new industrialism displayed the following characteristics: 1) New sources of energy, particularly electricity and the power produced by the internal combustion engine, were introduced. 2) New materials including steel and a variety of lighter metals and alloys (fusion of two or more metals) were employed, along with a host of synthetic products and new types of explosives. 3) Mass production methods involved the use of interchangeable parts and the assembly line, which came into its own in the automobile age when Henry Ford began turning out model T's. 4) New and faster means of mass transportation provided a new capacity to disperse industry and decongest factory towns and to plan for the social improvements of the human landscape.
Society and Economy - The latter part of the nineteenth century and decade preceding the First World War saw improvements in three basic areas: 1) The granting of such basic political rights as universal suffrage, civil liberties, and free expression of opinion. 2) An increase in the democratic distribution of wealth ( equal sharing in the wealth of a nation). 3) the spread of education.
Science - Extraordinary achievements of science in this era seemed to fulfill the dream of the pioneer scientists of the seventeenth century - a full understanding of nature's order and man's part in it. Science was now seen to be an indispensable component of basic human activity, and scientists were welcomed into the hitherto classics-centered universities. Science had become "respectable." Books by Charles Darwin (The "Origin of Species", "Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex") discussed evolution, Gregor Mendel formulated definite laws of heredity on the basis of experiments with the crossing of garden peas, and Louis Pasteur developed the germ theory of disease. Pasteur showed that the injection of a vaccine containing a mild form of the disease bacteria will cause formation of antibodies and prevent disease. Typhoid and smallpox ceased to exist. In psychology, Sigmund Freud was treating emotional disturbances by bringing deeply repressed motives and memories to the surface with the help of dream interpretation and free association.
Literature - Writers were responding in various ways to the growing interest in science. They were in revolt against the now-spent romanticism and the new realists did not hesitate to describe in graphic detail social and personal problems which had hitherto gone unmentioned because they were not "nice." They were chronicling without comment, "photographing" without touching up. Realists from around the world included Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevski, and Emile Zola. Playwrights writing literary realism included George Bernard Shaw, and Henrik Ibsen.
Themes and Topics to Explore
1) How does society continue to shape how we behave to one another?
2) Who is our modern "upper class?" Movie stars? Pop stars? Sports figures? Do we imitate their behavior?
3) How could such a repressed society be the basis for such an imaginative and far-ranging scientific and political era?
Especially for Students...
In live theatre, unlike movies and television, the actors can hear (and often see) you as easily as you can hear and see them. If you comment out loud at a live show, or read or eat, you disturb not only other members of the audience but also the people on stage, thus diminishing the performance and, ultimately, your enjoyment of it.
This doesn't mean you have to remain silent. Actors want you to respond with laughter and applause; but such responses should always be genuine and appropriate to the moment. Such inconsiderate behavior as shouting, catcalling or sustained whispering, even during blackouts, can ruin the concentration of actors and audience members alike. And throwing paper or objects of any kind towards the stage is not only rude, it's also extremely dangerous to the performers.
In the event of any student misbehavior, the relevant school will be contacted and its principal informed.
We want you to enjoy your visit to Seaside Music Theater, and we rely on you to exercise your common sense and mature judgment. Thank you for being a valuable part of our audience this season.