The Importance of Being Earnest
Transcription
The Importance of Being Earnest
THE SHALLOW MASK OF MANNERS VICTORIAN ENGLAND In the XIXth century the sun never set on the British Empire. It is the largest empire in history and it is ruled by a woman, Queen Victoria, who assumed the throne as an 18 year old in 1837, reigning for 63 years. Her dominance is such that her era, with its stuffy morality and its haughty colonialism, is called the “Victorian Age”. She rules over 1/5th of the earth’s surface and 1/4th of the world’s population. But at the turn of the century there is war in South-Africa and strife in Ireland. These are sign-posts that Britain’s era is about to end. Then Victoria dies on January the 22nd 1901; The widow of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, a German royal house, the mother of nine children, Victoria dies at the age of 81. She gives way to her son, King Edward the VIIth. More importantly, the Victorian Age gives way to the Edwardian Age. There is a new spirit of liberation as Edward shakes up stuffy old England, leading the American writer Henry James to call it a time when you should “live all you can.” CNN, Celebrate the Century, 2000 Recap Watch the documentary and fill in the gaps. 1. Reign of Queen Victoria: 18……..…...-19…………… (……………. years); 2. The ……………….…………... in history: …. th of the world’s surface, ….th of the world’s population); 3. Values: ………………….…………………………………………………………………..…………… ; 4. Foreign policy: ……………………….…………………………………………………………………. ; 5. King ……………………………….... ushers in a new era of ………….………………………………. . OSVAR WILDE Oscar (Fingal O'Flahertie Wills) Wilde (1854-1900), an Irish-born poet, dramatist and novelist, was the leader of an aesthetic movement that advocated Art for Art's sake. He wore his hair long, dressed eccentrically and carried flowers in his hand while lecturing. He dazzled London literary society with his wit. His works include a novel (The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891) and a series of brilliant social satires. The four best-known plays are Lady Windermere's Fan, 1892; A Woman of No Importance, 1893; An Ideal Husband, 1895; The Importance of Being Earnest, 1895. Accused of homosexual practices he was tried, found guilty and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with hard labor. Physically, spiritually, socially and financially ruined, he lived in exile in France from 1897 until his death three years later. THE COMEDY OF MANNERS In early 17th century England, Ben Jonson pioneered the comedy of humours with characters who are gross characters of ruling passions. Then in the late 17th century came a more sophisticated, polished form of comedy, the comedy of manners, in which emphasis was placed on witty dialogue. The first writers in this vein were William Congreve and William Wycherley. Oscar Wilde and Noel Coward continued the tradition in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Comedy of Manners exposes the vanities and hypocrisies of the upper classes, by inventing real values and exposing to ridicule the shallowness of a society which trivializes the values it seems to uphold. -1- The Importance of Being Earnest WATCH 5 10 15 20 25 30 GWENDOLEN: … Of course you are quite, quite sure that it is not Mr. Ernest Worthing who is your guardian? CECILY: Quite sure. [A pause] In fact, I am going to be his. GWENDOLEN [inquiringly]: I beg your pardon? CECILY [rather shy and confidingly]: Dearest Gwendolen, there is no reason why I should make a secret of it to you. Our little county newspaper is sure to chronicle the fact next week. Mr. Ernest Worthing and I are engaged to be married. GWENDOLEN [quite politely, rising]: My darling Cecily, I think there must be some slight error. Mr. Ernest Worthing is engaged to me. The announcement will appear in the Morning Post on Saturday at the latest. CECILY [very politely, rising]: I am afraid you must be under some misconception. Ernest proposed1 to me exactly ten minutes ago. [Shows diary.] GWENDOLEN [examines diary through her lorgnette carefully]: It is very curious, for he asked me to be his wife yesterday afternoon at 5:30. If you would care to verify the incident, pray do so. [Produces diary of her own.] I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train. I am sorry, dear Cecily, if it is a disappointment to you, but I am afraid I have the prior claim. CECILY: It would distress me more than I can tell you, dear Gwendolen, if it caused you any mental or physical anguish, but I feel bound to point out that since Ernest proposed to you he clearly has changed his mind. GWENDOLEN [meditatively]: If the poor fellow has been entrapped into any foolish promise I shall consider it my duty to rescue him at once, and with a firm hand. CECILY [thoughtfully and sadly]: Whatever unfortunate entanglement2 my dear boy may have got into, I will never reproach him with it after we are married. GWENDOLEN: Do you allude to me as an entanglement? You are presumptuous3. On an occasion of this kind it becomes more than a moral duty to speak one's mind. It becomes a pleasure. CECILY: Do you suggest, Miss Fairfax, that I entrapped Ernest into an engagement? How dare you? This is no time for wearing the shallow mask of manners4. When I see a spade5 I call it a spade6. GWENDOLEN [satirically]: I am glad to say that I have never seen a spade. It is obvious that our social spheres have been widely different. [Enter Merriman, followed by the footman. He carries a salver7, tablecloth, and plate stand: Cecily is about to retort. The presence of the servants exercises a restraining influence, under which both girls chafe8.] MERRIMAN: Shall I lay tea here as usual, Miss? CECILY [sternly, in a calm voice]: Yes, as usual. [Meerriman begins to clear table and lay cloth. A long pause. Cecily and Gwendolen glare at each other.] Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, 1895. COMPARING ¾ A is MORE + adjectif long + than B ¾ A is adjectif court-ER + than B ¾ A is LESS + adjectif(court ou long) + than B The more + adjectif + of the two is… ¾ A resembles B in that … ¾ It is difficult to distinguish between A and B. ¾ 1 to propose: demander en mariage. entanglement: enchevêtrement. presumptuous: impertinente. 4 manners: bonnes manières. 5 spade: bêche. 6 to call a spade a spade: appeler un chat un chat. 7 salver: plateau (de métal). 8 to chafe: ronger son frein. 2 3 -2- The Importance of Being Earnest TO + ADJECTIVE + TO Les expressions en TO + ADJECTIF + TO expriment des degrés de probabilité, de certitude, ou de tendance: ¾ ¾ ¾ ¾ to be sure to: être sûr de to be likely to: être probable to be bound to: être inévitable to be liable to: être enclin à, avoir tendance à ¾ to be apt to: être sujet à Ces expressions ont pour caractéristique de pouvoir toutes se conjuguer avec un sujet personnel: ¾ Ernest is sure to deny he said this to both of us. Ernest va sûrement nier avoir dit cela à chacune d'entre nous. ¾ I am bound to tell you the truth. Je n'ai d'autre choix que de vous dire la vérité. ¾ He is liable to make jokes. Il a tendance à faire des plaisanteries. ¾ Cecily is apt to lose her temper. Cecily est sujette à des accès de colère. ¾ Gwendolyn is likely to ask Ernest for some explanation. Gwendolyn va probablement demander quelque explication à Ernest. WORDS RELATIONSHIPS a guardian: a parent: a relative: to be engaged: to propose: to receive a proposal: to entrap someone: to get a divorce: LIENS AFFECTIFS un tuteur un parent (père ou mère) un membre de la famille être fiancé (≠ to be hired: être embauché) demander en mariage recevoir une demande en mariage prendre quelqu'un dans ses filets divorcer SAY IT YOURSELF 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Who is engaged to be married to Mr. Ernest Worthing? When did he propose? Why do the two girls keep diaries? What sort of occasion is this? Why does Gwendolen use a lorgnette? Who has the prior claim to Ernest? What does Gwendolen think has happened? How does the other girl explain her fiancé's inconstancy? SAY WHAT YOU THINK 8. What is the meaning of the word "earnest"? Show how Oscar Wilde mocks society from the very outset by his pun in the title of the play. 9. What similarities and what differences are there in the language used by the two women? 10. What comic remark reveals Gwendolen's social superiority over Cecily? 11. Point out the incongruity at the end of the passage between what Cecily and Gwendolen are doing and the way in which they look at one another. -3- The Importance of Being Earnest Literary APPRECIATION 12. Examining only the stage directions show they point to the development of the relationship between the two women. 13. Show how the first one and then the other girl gain control of what is happening. 14. What makes the scene more comical on stage than on the printed page? 15. Pick out one example of each of the following: a) cold civility; b) cutting irony. 16. Describe the setting and the manner in which the two women are dressed. 17. Oscar Wilde styled his play "a trivial comedy for serious people". Which of the following adjectives would apply to it? extravagant / absurd / preposterous / idiotic / saucy / brilliantly clever / diverting / entertaining TAKE IT FURTHER 18. The poet W.H. Auden says of Wilde's play that it is a verbal opera "in which the characters are determined by the kinds of things they say, and the plot is nothing but a succession of opportunities to say them." Do you think this applies to this scene? PRESENT PERFECT (HAVE + V-EN) ¾ Forme: HAVE + V-EN = présent de l'auxilaire HAVE + participe passé du verbe lexical. Le present pefect exprime donc bien, par sa forme, un lien entre le présent et le passé. ¾ Valeur: Le present pefect s'emploie pour exprimer un bilan, pour évaluer le résultat ou les conséquences d'évènements passés sur la situation présente. ¾ Comparez: GWENDOLEN [meditatively]: If the poor fellow has been entrapped into any foolish promise I shall consider it my duty to rescue him at once, and with a firm hand. (l. 17) […] CECILY: Do you suggest, Miss Fairfax, that I entrapped Ernest into an engagement? (l. 23) 1. Qui fait un bilan de la situation présente en se référant à un événement passé? 2. Qui s'intéresse seulement à la réalité d'un fait passé? ¾ Exercez vous! Put the verbs in the preterit or the present perfect as appropriate. GWENDOLEN : "I don't know where Mr. Worthing ……….…….(to go). I last …………(to see) him last night. He then …………………(to propose) to me and I ………………… (not to hear) of him ever since." CECILY: "My dear Gwendolen, you can't imagine to what extent my life …………………(to change) since we last ………………(meet). I ……….……..(spend) most of this morning writing about it in my diary." SHOULD + BV 1. Find in the text the sentence corresponding to the following translation: Il n'y a aucune raison pour que j'en fasse un secret. 2. What verbal form corresponds to the French subjunctive? 3. Translate : Il est étonnant que vous n'en ayez pas entendu parler. C'est incroyable qu'il ait changé d'avis. -4-