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IBE context - Coggle Diagram
IBE context
Social Reform
1845 Friedich Engels "The Condition of the Working Class in England" revealed shokcing lives of urban poor living in overcrowded slum tenements with outbreaks of diseases.
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Utilitarian politics sacrificed the well-being of the poor for the prosperity of the upper/middle class
Human relationships determined by rank, status and wealth
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Welfare
1834 "Poor Law" introduced the workhouse for anyone who could not support themsleves or their family
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Genre
Absurdism
When characters are made to look foolish in order to undermine their authority and criticise their behaviour in society. Absurd situations are used to make serious points
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Metadrama
When a drama draws attention to the fact it is pretend. This is shown in the play by the four protagonists consciously creating their own fictions about their lives. It shows their desire to escape social restrictions, and the necessity of hiding ones true self
Wilde did not value realism. He believed it has no aesthetic beauty. Instead art should present something which is not real but is beautiful and this can be then emulated by individuals to imrpove their lives
Aesthetic movement
The idea of art for its own sake. He wants the audience to be persuaded that life should imitate art so that society can be reformed in a way whcih is more beautiful, truthful and self aware. Wilde says "the mission of the aesthetic movement is to lure people to contemplate so that they wake into conciousness, creating new desires and appetites."
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Gender
1857 "Divorce and Matrimonal Causes Act" made civil divorce possible. Women could now divorce their husbands for adultery, and cruelty. However, husbands only had to prove adultery to gain a divorce
1854 Covemtry Patmore wrote a poem The Angel in the House celebrating passive domestic women, embodied in a celebration of his wife. 185 he wrote Sesame and Lilies which celebrated the achievements of women in the home
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1884 Matrimonal Causes Act gave women some rights, although it was still believed that husbands had the right to beat their wives to keep them at home
Morality
Growing middle class had strict attidtude to sex, while the aristocracy tolerated infidelity andn laxness. Indeed the Prince of Wales had a number of famous sexual relationships with nobelwomen and actresses
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1889 Cleveland street scandel. Police raided a homosexual borthel and discovered it had lots of high status patrons, including Lord Arthur Somerset friend of the Prince of Wales who had to flee to avoid prosecution
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Age of Invention
1851 Great Exhibition in Crystal Palce in Hyde Park brought together the inventions and goods of Britain for the world to see
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Prison Reform
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1865 Prison Act called for individual cells, silence and isolation as a way to create calm and rehabilitation
Hard labour was considered a key tool to reform. By working hard picking oakum, unpicking old rope and walking on a treadmill to grind corn prisoners were punished. They were also encouraged to read the bible to find reform. Flogging was allowed as punishment
Queer references
On re-reading the play after his release from prison, Wilde said "It was extraordinary reading the play over. How I used to toy with that Tiger life". This suggests that it is about his concealed homosexual life.
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Wilde's Philosophy
In the Play we see 4 of Wilde key ideas:
- Society needs to reform, becoming more equal
- Aesthetics are more important than morality or ethics, wince life will/should imitate art - this means that instead of art holding up a mirror to nature, art should present something beautiful which we can then imitate and improve our world
- Character presents itself as a series of surfaces in constant transformation - human beings are always evolving and changing
- One of the main structural principles in art is that of binary oppositions. This is seen in Wilde's use of paradoxes and inversions. He shows that binary oppositions create a conflict which can be resolved to find a new way forward