The Importance of Staging a Scene

David Christopher
ENG 437A
Prof. S. M. Rabillard
16 Feb. 2007

Assignment #1 – Staging a Scene: Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest

In his play, The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde has presented material that is simultaneously very light-hearted in its satire, and yet rich in its social critique. As such a two-tiered piece of work, Wilde has simply and brilliantly combined conventions of theatre and comedy to create a piece that superficially appears quite simplistic but is, in actuality, quite rich in its social commentary. The surface simplicity is further evidence of the genius of the work as Wilde has managed to weave a sharp satire of the upper classes into an otherwise brief and light-hearted presentation.
What is important, in staging a scene, is to present a setting that remains light and enjoyable, while providing hints as to the social commentary that will be presented. It is paramount not to interrupt the lightness of the material by exposing the underlying theme as too serious or brutal. In contrast to the emotionally gut-wrenching works of Ibsen, in which his oppressive settings are reflective of the realistic emotional dramas that he will explore, it would seem that Wilde is holding true to notions suggested by Synge in his introduction to The Playboy of the Western World: “On the stage one must have reality, and one must have joy, and that is why the intellectual modern drama has failed, and people have grown sick of the false joy of the musical comedy, that has been given them in place in the rich joy found only in what is superb and wild in reality (Synge 96). In this sense, it would be reasonable to say that the primary motive of the play is humour, both verbal and situational, complemented and accented by the use of established convention. The satire within the comedy against the petty behaviour of the upper classes must be considered only secondary. That is to say that it can only be accessed if it does not compromise the levity of its surface presentation.
The setting and presentation must therefore encompass several aspects that are important to the integrity of the work. It must be light and humorous while making use of conventional images to marry with the comedic conventions within the play such as mistaken identity, lost infants, love-at-first-sight, and coincidence. On the secondary level, it must provide evidence of a critique or satire of upper class behaviour that does not overshadow the comic appearance. There must be physical and verbal evidence of a society that is conventionally recognizable as upper class, but also as ridiculous.
With these macro-objectives in mind, let us explore the micro-dynamics in the staging of an early scene in which Jack and Algernon are providing an implicit exposition of the nature of their relationship. The scene begins on line 39 of the first act when Algernon first addresses Jack and runs until line 279. Algernon taunts Jack with his cigarette case, having become aware of Jack’s ‘other’ identity, and Algernon makes light of marriage in the face of Jack’s desire to marry Algernon’s cousin, Gwendolen.
We see in Algernon characteristics that are clearly indicative of satire against his aristocratic social libertinism. He has been dismissive with his servant and been clear that his views on marriage are less than conservative. Nevertheless, he remains protagonistic and seems to serve the main purpose of contrasting against Jack and motivating both coincidence and mischance.
Although Jack is the evident protagonist, as the main conflict of marriage circles around him, it is clear that Algernon is also an important element in the comedy and critique. In fact, one might suggest that Jack is a cliché ‘straight man’ to Algernon’s comedic verbal banter. Algernon assumes an almost arrogant air of superiority over Jack in their initial conversation which allows the audience to enjoy the comedy and levity of his verbal banter against Jack’s nervous desire to keep a secret and win the hand of Gwendolen. Algernon, in this scene, is in a position of complete ease. Not only is it his own home, but he has no secret to keep and he has no desire to engage in marriage. Jack is, of course, concerned on both these counts.
The two-tiered nature of the comedy and social satire could be symbolized by a two-tiered stage. An indoor balcony crossing the entire stage left to right, but only half-way downstage would act as a metaphor for the two-tiered nature of the drama and for the imagined superiority Algernon has over Jack. As Algernon sends Lane for the pivotal cigarette case, he could move upstairs to continue his conversation with Jack below. As such, we have a physical representation of superiority in which Algernon can manipulate Jack like a puppeteer from above. It might even be plausible to have Algernon taunt Jack with the cigarette case by dangling it on a string further emphasizing the image of Jack as a puppet at the end of Jack’s string.
In order to represent the convention of a clearly aristocratic social environment, the décor of the house would have to be obvious. An array of extravagant artworks on the wall would be evidential and provide an opportunity for the paintings to reflect the nature of the drama. Various other works of art should be obviously scattered about as well. The couches should be of the highest antique quality, even though they will be used with comfort, and they should be large in number, crowding almost every inch of the three walls of the box set on the main floor. The large number of couches symbolizes an excess in extravagance and laziness that one might expect from Algernon. Each side, both upper and lower, should have large glass doors allowing free access from servants on one side, and aristocratic visitors on the other. The servants and aristocratic characters should never enter from the same side. The reflective nature of the glass would create a mirror effect of expansiveness typical of the frivolously large living spaces of the well-to-do classes.
The paintings on the upper floor should be entirely comic satire of upper class society. In the middle is a painting of a marriage scene of two wealthy individuals whose marriage has famously failed, such as Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor for modern audiences. This painting hints at the convention of marriage and romance in the play and the satire against them. It also symbolizes the attack on the petty sensibility that wealth and title are the only reasonable grounds for decent marriage. As a backdrop to Algernon on the second floor, it would underscore his lines about marriage that he doesn’t “see anything romantic in proposing [ . . .] Then the excitement is all over” and that “if ever [he] get[s] married, [he]’ll certainly try to forget the fact” (although technically, he has not gone upstairs yet) (Wilde 255). He later implies a lack of fidelity between married partners, especially when married to someone as serious as Jack, when he suggests that Jack’s wife will want a “bunbury” alias (Wilde 261). The painting adds comic authenticity to his trivialization of Jack’s desire to marry Gwendolen.
On either side, are twin paintings that are caricature-like portraits of Algernon and Jack. Although a portrait of Jack might seem odd in Algernon’s house, it would not be such a prevalent stage piece as to be distractingly out of place. As the play deals with conventions and the ridiculous, there is no need to be particularly discrete with the physical presentation. Furthermore, the ‘twin’ portraits hint at the brotherly relationship between them that is yet to be revealed. They are both formally and identically dressed in the portraits, except that Algernon should carry an air of self-importance while Jack appears more modest. The portrait of Jack has a stereotypically comic moustache drawn on it, suggesting subtext that Algernon is actually intimidated by Jack with a need to ridicule him and suggesting his natural frivolity and libertinism with such expenses as a painted portrait.
The comic backdrop is perfect for the location from which the casually comedic Algernon will play his baiting game with Jack about his secret identity. As a complement, Algernon’s attire should be stereotypically aristocratic, but with a ridiculous and flambouyant edge. He wears a traditional navy blue silk suit with a ridiculous pink scarf tucked into the front coming right up under his chin so that it appears to be supporting his head.
By contrast, on the main floor, where our straight man resides, are paintings that are more traditional although not austere: classically famous pieces that represent extravagance. A copy of the Mona Lisa and a copy of Whistler’s Mother are immediately recognizable. In this instance, the Mona Lisa is symbolic of the beauty in Gwendolen to which Jack is a captive, and Whistler’s Mother of the oppressive disdain her mother (Lady Bracknell) will harbour against Jack for his apparent lack of social station. Both of these paintings are behind Jack as he is the one subject to them. Furthermore, these first floor paintings are on the back wall under the balcony and, therefore, shadowed a little, suggesting that the surface comedy above is to be brought more into the light than the less important underlying serious social commentary.
The more serious tenor of the first floor setting underscores the play’s demonstration that Jack is “the most earnest looking person that [Algernon] ever saw in his life” (Wilde 257). Jack will be dressed in the same attire as Algernon, without the ridiculous scarf. In this way, Algernon has made Jack ridiculous only in the painting, but has made himself ridiculous by his own fashion choice.
In terms of physicality, Algernon’s character should be hyper-comfortable with extravagant sweeping motions of his arms in a ridiculous and condescending histrionic fashion. Jack should be more stiff and nervous. The differences in their physical movement will create a light-hearted tension representative of the lover with something to lose and the libertine with nothing to. The effect on the audience will be to sympathize with Jack and anticipate both an increase in his conflict to achieve an unlikely marriage, and eventually to turn the power structure against Algernon. This presentation will also avoid villainizing Algernon too severely into someone we wish to see undergo tragedy, but merely comic coincidence.
The staging of the scene is corrupt with dichotomy. In fact, Algernon and Jack will later become such perfect twin fools that they actually have mutual lines in their respective romances. The dichotomy of comedy against serious theme, however, is the primary dichotomy. Its representation is encompassed with all available aspects of conventional semiotics. Setting, twinned paintings, extravagant couches, twinned and contrasted outfits, the use of height and puppetry images, and histrionics all work together to accentuate and assist in the audience’s participation in brilliant conventional comedy and lighter social commentary.



Works Cited

Synge, J. M. The Playboy of the Western World and Other Plays. Oxford University
Press, 1998.

Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays. Oxford University Press, 1998.