Oscar Wilde is remembered these days for being 1) witty (“I have nothing to declare but my genius”) and 2) gay, in a far-from-ideal period of history in which to be gay (Bosie, Reading gaol and all that). I suppose all writers can be boiled down to a simple phrase (Orwell: edgy political allegory and warning to future generations; Tolkien: medievalist purveyor of elf-lore, etc). However, whilst describing Wilde in a sentence or two is all well and good, it’s good to know that his actual work continues to be consumed on stage and screen – all four of his so-called drawing-room plays have been made into films (not to mention operas and musicals) and all four have regularly been performed on stage up and down the land. And to anyone who enjoys their wit sharp and acerbic, his plays are brilliant.
Wilde wrote nine plays in all (not quite the 39 that are attributed to Shakespeare but then Wilde did die at 46, and in fact wrote nothing much after his spell in prison) and of these it is the four aforementioned drawing-room plays that are the most prominent: Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892), A Woman of No Importance (1893), An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). The latter, sub-titled a Trivial Comedy for Serious People, was first performed on 14ᵗʰ February 1895 at the St James’s Theatre in London. It is a farcical comedy featuring two young men-about-town assuming double lives – and the name Ernest – whilst wooing the two young women of their affections.
The play parodies contemporary social mores and manners, and introduces two great supporting characters in the form of the formidable Lady Bracknell and the fussy governess Miss Prism. With the best quips, Lady Bracknell is a bitingly comedic character, played over the years in various incarnations by Edith Evans, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Gwen Taylor (and even David Suchet). Hers is the line “To lose one parent, Mr Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness” and of course the famously haughty exclamation “A handbag?!”. Watch Judi Dench’s version in the “interrogation” clip below (though she chooses to almost whisper the handbag line instead of going for the full-blown outraged exclamation of Edith Evans et al).
The successful opening night marked the zenith of Wilde’s career but even as he was basking in the plaudits from the appreciative audience, forces were gathering that would lead to his downfall. The Marquess of Queensberry, whose son Lord Alfred Douglas (Bosie) was Wilde’s lover, was scheming to throw a bunch of rotten vegetables at the playwright at the end of the performance. This act of retribution was thwarted by security but soon the feud would lead to a series of legal trials between March to May 1895 which would result in Wilde’s conviction and imprisonment for homosexual acts. Despite the play’s early success, Wilde’s disgrace sadly caused it to be closed in May after 86 performances.
