The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
What a play it is! Such amazing pace and terrific use of humor to speak the 'unspeakable.' Although the play is replete with eligible men pursuing beautiful women, homosexuality looms large over it.
In the opening scene, we meet Lane and his master – Algernon. The very tenor of their talk reveals their homosexuality. Lane married once, but he considers it a big mistake; now he lives with his master. Their relationship demands a certain propriety, but we see how Lane reveals aspects of his personal life to his master as if they were close friends. Their talk reveals homo-social aspects of the household. One can assume even more considering the fact that the master is a confirmed 'Bunburyist'– he practices it everywhere. However, the play does not spell out what the word means. The master, when meeting his friend Jack, claims that Jack, too, is a Bunburyist
Algernon insistence on calling Jack a Bunburyist puts Jack on the defensive. The clever reader even in Wilde's own time would immediately recognize what Wilde was hinting at. The modern reader, on the other hand, is charmed by Wilde's ingenuity in dealing with 'homosexuality.' The very word Bunbury evokes a range of meanings and gels so well with modern day queer lexicon. The word runs throughout the play.
Another fascinating aspect of the book is food. Right in the opening scene, we see Lane preparing cucumber sandwiches for the lady guests – Algernon's aunt and her daughter. It is not any other sandwich, but a cucumber sandwich. Finally, when the ladies arrive, the cucumber sandwiches are already consumed (by Jack). Lane is sent out to buy readymade cucumber sandwiches, with Jack still around, one does not feel too convinced as to the fate of those cucumber sandwiches (still not brought by Lane). All this constant fuss about cucumber sandwiches distinctly allude to the homoerotic aspect of the play (women are bereft of them, only men ravish them in the play).
The play is layered when seen from the perspective of sexuality. On the other hand, it gives immense pleasure even if one ignores the hidden meanings, and reads only what meets the eye. The words brilliance, economy, style, craftsmanship, which are so often (ab)used in book reviews, seem absolutely justified in describing this remarkable play.
Humor is used as a weapon. Wilde goes on and on in exposing the hypocrisies of his times. A world in which everyone is straight; all men at all times chase women. They get married, and then life stops, nothing happens after this point, the play ends too. In this world, men hardly meet their wives, they go 'Bunburying', they maintain the facade of respectability. Women, on the other hand, play their parts in the similar fashion, no matter how taxing that could be. For instance, at one point in the play, we hear about a widow whose hair has turned gold from grief, and she had never looked so healthy before she became a widow.
Towards the end, again we see food emerging with full force (While in the opening scene cucumber sandwiches give pleasure; Jack wants to eat them with delight and relish, there is no conflict of any sort, three men are seen inhabiting the space freely). Now Jack and Algernon's true identities are about to be revealed. The conflict with women sets in because their their lies are exposed in front of the women, men panic. So in confusion Algernon turns to muffins (no cucumber sandwiches, no homo-social setting of the opening scene) to soothe himself, he does not relish them, he just devours muffins to calm and soften his agitation.
Wilde depicts a society that curtails certain sexualities so well that its members themselves censure and regulate what is native to their bodies and souls. If one just looks at these characters – both men and women – and see how they approach one another, how quickly they fall in love without meeting each other, how they 'love' the idea of love more than the actual person, it becomes apparent that they are so profoundly alienated from their own bodies and souls. No wonder that they fall in love with the names first and only then, with those who own the names.
In the opening scene, we meet Lane and his master – Algernon. The very tenor of their talk reveals their homosexuality. Lane married once, but he considers it a big mistake; now he lives with his master. Their relationship demands a certain propriety, but we see how Lane reveals aspects of his personal life to his master as if they were close friends. Their talk reveals homo-social aspects of the household. One can assume even more considering the fact that the master is a confirmed 'Bunburyist'– he practices it everywhere. However, the play does not spell out what the word means. The master, when meeting his friend Jack, claims that Jack, too, is a Bunburyist
Algernon insistence on calling Jack a Bunburyist puts Jack on the defensive. The clever reader even in Wilde's own time would immediately recognize what Wilde was hinting at. The modern reader, on the other hand, is charmed by Wilde's ingenuity in dealing with 'homosexuality.' The very word Bunbury evokes a range of meanings and gels so well with modern day queer lexicon. The word runs throughout the play.
Another fascinating aspect of the book is food. Right in the opening scene, we see Lane preparing cucumber sandwiches for the lady guests – Algernon's aunt and her daughter. It is not any other sandwich, but a cucumber sandwich. Finally, when the ladies arrive, the cucumber sandwiches are already consumed (by Jack). Lane is sent out to buy readymade cucumber sandwiches, with Jack still around, one does not feel too convinced as to the fate of those cucumber sandwiches (still not brought by Lane). All this constant fuss about cucumber sandwiches distinctly allude to the homoerotic aspect of the play (women are bereft of them, only men ravish them in the play).
The play is layered when seen from the perspective of sexuality. On the other hand, it gives immense pleasure even if one ignores the hidden meanings, and reads only what meets the eye. The words brilliance, economy, style, craftsmanship, which are so often (ab)used in book reviews, seem absolutely justified in describing this remarkable play.
Humor is used as a weapon. Wilde goes on and on in exposing the hypocrisies of his times. A world in which everyone is straight; all men at all times chase women. They get married, and then life stops, nothing happens after this point, the play ends too. In this world, men hardly meet their wives, they go 'Bunburying', they maintain the facade of respectability. Women, on the other hand, play their parts in the similar fashion, no matter how taxing that could be. For instance, at one point in the play, we hear about a widow whose hair has turned gold from grief, and she had never looked so healthy before she became a widow.
Towards the end, again we see food emerging with full force (While in the opening scene cucumber sandwiches give pleasure; Jack wants to eat them with delight and relish, there is no conflict of any sort, three men are seen inhabiting the space freely). Now Jack and Algernon's true identities are about to be revealed. The conflict with women sets in because their their lies are exposed in front of the women, men panic. So in confusion Algernon turns to muffins (no cucumber sandwiches, no homo-social setting of the opening scene) to soothe himself, he does not relish them, he just devours muffins to calm and soften his agitation.
Wilde depicts a society that curtails certain sexualities so well that its members themselves censure and regulate what is native to their bodies and souls. If one just looks at these characters – both men and women – and see how they approach one another, how quickly they fall in love without meeting each other, how they 'love' the idea of love more than the actual person, it becomes apparent that they are so profoundly alienated from their own bodies and souls. No wonder that they fall in love with the names first and only then, with those who own the names.
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