By Oscar Wilde

Tuesday, January 31, 2017 Have you ever found yourself in a sticky situation because of a seemingly harmless white lie? How did you resolve the situation?

Main Characters Jack Lady Bracknell Algernon Miss Prism Gwendolen Reverend Chasuble Cecily

Like Wilde himself, Algernon and Jack are dandies In Victorian times only men could be dandies. An authentic dandy: Enjoyed fine clothes and expensive habits Used refined language Spent most of his time socializing Lived to have fun

Algernon and Jack may look like proper young Victorian gentlemen, but each (unknown to the other) is leading a double life. Algernon has invented a sickly friend named “Bunbury.” When Algernon wants to escape his social obligations in London, he “goes Bunburying.” That is, he pretends to visit the ailing Bunbury in the country

Jack, a wealthy bachelor, lives an upright life in the country Jack, a wealthy bachelor, lives an upright life in the country. He has a young ward named Cecily, for whom he wants to set a good example. However, he wants to have some fun, so he invents a wild brother named Ernest. When he wants to go to London, Jack pretends he needs to bail Ernest out of trouble. When he gets to London, however, Jack pretends to be Ernest. Confused yet?

A satire, criticizing Victorian moral and social values First performed in 1895 A Comedy in 3 Acts A satire, criticizing Victorian moral and social values Uses wit, puns, exaggeration, and wordplay to create humor Settings London (“the city”) and Jack’s House in the Country In the Victorian time period

Victorian England Named for Queen Victoria of England Queen from 1837-1901 Culture was very moral and serious; valued family and stability Women were expected to be the “angel of the house” – in other words, to take care of their husbands and family. Men were expected to be well-educated and women were expected to marry well

Manners were supremely important English society divided into classes Upper-class was well-educated, came from a rich and respected families (“old money”) Young women were always chaperoned until marriage and women’s clothing was extremely modest, covering them from neck to ankle In the upper classes, people with a bad reputation were outcasts no matter how much money they had

Oscar Wilde Born in Ireland in 1854 to an upper-class family Lived in England and later Paris Attended Trinity College in Ireland and Oxford University in England Known for his wit and humor Believed in the value of “art for art’s sake” Wrote several plays, but only one novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Known to be wild, dramatic, fashionable, and flamboyant Along with other writers and artists, Wilde rebelled against the prim, moral, religious culture of Victorian England and liked to make fun of upper-class Victorian society Strict Victorian social rules The shallowness of the idle rich Known to be wild, dramatic, fashionable, and flamboyant Spent time in prison for homosexuality Died alone and poor in Paris

Satire & Farce SATIRE – makes fun of or criticizes the faults of people or groups; purpose is to point out flaws and/or inspire change FARCE – a comedy which aims to entertain the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, and verbal humor of varying degrees and sophistication

Vocab Invalid = noun Profligate = adjective Grave = adjective