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ALIENATION, From a social perspective, very despondent and futile and…
ALIENATION
(W) CONTEXT
Dandysim
- stood in opposition to gender stereotypes
- contradicted egalitarianism of the time by adhering to pre-industrial, feudal and classist principles
- (Lord Goring) epigrammatic speech is evasive and anti-utilitarian (emerging theory of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mills in 1861)
- heavily associated with homosexuality due to subversion of traditional notions of masculinity and as it became synonymous with homosexual public figures such as Wilde himself
because of his eccentricities and homosexuality he always felt this sense of impending societal judgement
- Outcast as of 1895 following his trial, initially suing the Marquess of Queensbury for libel (3rd April 1895)
- 26th April 1895, tried for homosexuality
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(R) POEMS
Maude Clare
Socially non conformist
- Maude Clare is the antithesis of Coventry Patmore's Angel of the Heath
- "Maude Clare was like a queen", "lofty step", "out of the church she followed them" - arrogance as she usurps attention
- "to bless the heath, to bless the board, to bless the marriage bed" - figuratively inserts herself between the intimacy of Thomas and Nell
Fallen Women
- "the day we waded ankle deep for lillies in the beck" - Lillies are symbolic of both fertility and death
- exposed "ankles" - sexually daring, implies their pre-marital relationship which tarnished her sexual reputation = social outcast
Thomas = "my Lord" (insinuates the social hypocricy)
From the Antique
Social limitations based on gender:
*- "I wish and I wish I were a man, or better than any being were not"
- "doubly blank is a woman's lot"
- "None would miss me in all the world"* Begs no argument or contradiction; sense of despondency, pessimism and resignation
Futility of changing circumstances;
- Cyclical structure, Would wake and weary and fall asleep"
Tries to console self by criticising society, insinuating it is not a world worth contributing to or being associated with; "still the world would wag on the same" (Different from A.I.H where characters are in the thick of it and make significant social contributions)
- 3rd person narration, "Its a weary life she said" & was published after Rossetti's death in 1894 - alienated from contributing to the ongoing social and political discussions of the time, even through literature
Good Friday
Non-conformist:
- "I only I"
- "I am a stone and not a sheep"
- not like "those women...Peter...the thief...the sun and moon"
Redemption:
- "And smite a rock" - faith in salvaition through religion
(W) AN IDEAL HUSBAND
LORD GORING
Socially non-confomist
- rejects the ideals of responsibility, respectability and duty (easily identifiable in discussions with Lord Caversham)
[Caversham, Act III] "You have got to get married and at once."
"You can't always be living for pleasure."
- "Men are all dowdies and the women are all dandies."
Intrigued by Mabel Chiltern's own unconventionality + Mabel Chiltern finds that he is a partner to this side of herself: "Is it a morbid thing to have a desire for food? / Lord Goring will you give me some supper?"
Egoism
- "Vulgarity is simply the conduct of other people."
- "Other people are quite dreadful. The only possible society is oneself."
- "To love ones self is the beginning of a life long romance."
Frivolous and epigrammatic interlude at the start of Act III with Lord Goring's butler Phipps - an interlocutor who merely affirms whatever it is Lord Goring says, thus making this as much a soliloquy as a conversation
- Egoism and narcissism puts an amusing spin on an otherwise weighty topic
Also the opinion of Lord Caversham, much to his own despair
In being somewhat of an outcast, he can be more objective. However, when he becomes engaged to Mabel Chiltern he sacrifices his potency as a social commentator, right at the end of the play. May foreshadow Wilde's own loss of impartiality as he anticipates his own downfall?
MRS CHEVELEY
Both Lord Goring and Mrs Cheveley are blatantly contrived and non-conformist, both dandies of sorts, but are also fundamentally different
Description in Act I Stage Directions:
- "tall" thus imposing and noticable
- "showing the influence of too many schools" - extravagant dress (Emphasised in the 1895 production where actor wore an "evening frock trimmed with an entire flock of dead swallows.")
Difference lies in the fact that Lord Goring very much feels to be a proponent of the aesthetic creed and a notable dandy
A disguise for Mrs Cheveley? A means to distract from her duplicity and scheming.
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(R) CONTEXT
Impending sense of Religious judgement as having not fulfilled certain religious obligations, e.g, being a mother and a wife
Rejecting 3 marriage proposals:
- James Collinson (1848)
- Charles Cayley
- John Brett
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From a social perspective, very despondent and futile and resignatory. Whereas, from a religious outlook, much more optimistic in salvation and redemption through Christ. Wilde is more forgiving of society.