Victorian Readalong Q4: The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
DiscussionsClub Read 2022
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1AnnieMod
It took us most of the year but we finally got around to some drama in our Victorian year. The last book by a male Victorian author that we will read is the play The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde.
First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it had remained one of the most popular plays from the period. While for most people the name of Wilde is synonymous with his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray or with fairy tales, he was one of the best playwrights of his generation.
If you are planning to join us reading this play, had you watched it performed and do you plan to also watch it? Or do you plan to just rely on reading it? Or maybe listen to an audio production? Do you find plays to be more effective in certain media and do you think that just reading a play robs it (or you) from its full power?
First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it had remained one of the most popular plays from the period. While for most people the name of Wilde is synonymous with his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray or with fairy tales, he was one of the best playwrights of his generation.
If you are planning to join us reading this play, had you watched it performed and do you plan to also watch it? Or do you plan to just rely on reading it? Or maybe listen to an audio production? Do you find plays to be more effective in certain media and do you think that just reading a play robs it (or you) from its full power?
2kac522
Read in this in 2015 and very much enjoyed it. Plan to re-read this month and watch a version or two, including the 2002 Colin Firth/Judi Dench film.
3thorold
I wasn’t planning to do anything about this right now, but I just had a quick look for Earnests on YouTube and ended up re-watching the 1980s BBC production, with Joan Plowright wearing an authentic Edith Evans hat, but not managing to milk the word “handbag” quite as impressively as her illustrious predecessor.
I’ve seen loads of amateur productions over the years and one or two professional ones as well, although not for a long time, but I found I remembered most of the good lines just before they were spoken and was saying them under my breath — the same sort of thing you get with G&S and the more familiar Shakespeare plays.
I’ve got a lovely Folio Society complete works of Oscar Wilde on the shelf, so I really ought to read the play in that.
I’ve seen loads of amateur productions over the years and one or two professional ones as well, although not for a long time, but I found I remembered most of the good lines just before they were spoken and was saying them under my breath — the same sort of thing you get with G&S and the more familiar Shakespeare plays.
I’ve got a lovely Folio Society complete works of Oscar Wilde on the shelf, so I really ought to read the play in that.
4kac522
>3 thorold: will add the Joan Plowright version to the playlist. Thanks!
5raton-liseur
I was not sure I would join for this read along, but I happened to read the play yesterday (in French and in a collective wikisource translation, so not the best way to enjoy it I guess).
It was a fun read, but a bit heavy-handed after a while. I might try to watch one or two performances, if M'sieur Raton is up for it.
I'll be lurking on the discussion here and I'm sure I'll learn a lot.
It was a fun read, but a bit heavy-handed after a while. I might try to watch one or two performances, if M'sieur Raton is up for it.
I'll be lurking on the discussion here and I'm sure I'll learn a lot.
6kac522
I read the play and watched two adaptations. The play is so delightful; there are so many good lines. A few of my favorites:
Lady Bracknell: To lose one parent, Mr Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.
*****
Later, in the garden with Cecily, Miss Prism states she wrote a three-volume novel:
Cecily: I hope it did not end happily? I don't like novels that end happily. They depress me so much.
Miss Prism: The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means.
*****
Cecily and Gwendolen, having just met, are in the garden; Gwendolen produces her diary:
Gwendolen: I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.
I watched both the 1986 BBC version with Joan Plowright as Lady Bracknell. She was outstanding, but I found that the lines flew by too fast for me to catch them all.
The 2001 film with Colin Firth & Judi Dench was fine; it had lots of added filming outdoors, etc., and everyone spoke slowly enough that I was able to catch all the lines. But Anna Massey as Miss Prism and Tom Wilkinson as Mr Chasuble stole the show--they made the film for me.
Lady Bracknell: To lose one parent, Mr Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.
*****
Later, in the garden with Cecily, Miss Prism states she wrote a three-volume novel:
Cecily: I hope it did not end happily? I don't like novels that end happily. They depress me so much.
Miss Prism: The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means.
*****
Cecily and Gwendolen, having just met, are in the garden; Gwendolen produces her diary:
Gwendolen: I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.
I watched both the 1986 BBC version with Joan Plowright as Lady Bracknell. She was outstanding, but I found that the lines flew by too fast for me to catch them all.
The 2001 film with Colin Firth & Judi Dench was fine; it had lots of added filming outdoors, etc., and everyone spoke slowly enough that I was able to catch all the lines. But Anna Massey as Miss Prism and Tom Wilkinson as Mr Chasuble stole the show--they made the film for me.
7Supprimé
Lady B is often played in drag. David Suchet did a great job, not trying to out-handbag Edith Evans. He ended up whispering the line. Anyone know if it's true that Oscar once played Bracknell?
8thorold
>7 nohrt4me2: Anyone know if it's true that Oscar once played Bracknell?
It seems unlikely, sadly, given that his “legal difficulties” started just a few days after the premiere. But surely Stephen Fry must have played Lady Bracknell as Oscar at some point?
It seems unlikely, sadly, given that his “legal difficulties” started just a few days after the premiere. But surely Stephen Fry must have played Lady Bracknell as Oscar at some point?
9Supprimé
10cindydavid4
we did this play in HS, loved it! Later on read it, then saw a broadway production of it with lynne redgrave as Lady Bracknell. Oh my. just perfection!
