Oskar Wilde wrote five excellent plays such as Lady Windermere`s Fan, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband, The Importance of Being Ernest, and Salome. These plays are clean and sprinkled with wit, not without some social criticism but there is nothing revolutionary or shocking. All the characters live in a fantasy world where the “most important aspect of life is how to tie a tie correctly”. The superficiality and hypocrisy make O. Wilde`s world delightful. The characters are delightful in their innocence and lightness: “Lord Goring, you are talking quite seriously. I don`t think I ever heard you talk seriously before”. “You must excuse me, Lady Chiltern. It will not occur again, if I can help it”.
They are living in a fantasy world which is supported artificially. Everything serious is light and everything light is serious. It is great pleasure to live with these characters. I was surprised to find out that O. Wilde was not a profound writer. Every play has its own moral lesson, but none of the moral themes are pressing issues of the time. Most of the moral themes have to do with gender roles.
Oscar Wilde`s plays are very traditionally structured. The reason why his plays endure is the personal wit that Wilde used in his plays. His characters are masters of the conversation. The characters` language is enjoyable. Well, I like some quotes, such as: 1) “Nowadays to be intelligible is to be found out”; 2) “Twenty years of romance make a woman look like a ruin; but twenty years of marriage make her something like a public building”; 3) “I remember a clergyman who wanted to be a lunatic, or a lunatic who wanted to be a clergyman, I forget which…”; 4) “I have always been of opinion that a man who desires to get married should know either everything or nothing. Which do you know?” These quotations are great, funny and easy to remember.
O. Wolde`s scenes end dramatically and his plays are such that if acted well, the endings give you a punch of emotion right in the last moment. Oscar Wilde`s plays are something light, so you can laugh together, while watching it.
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