The Art Snob Archive

Wilde - Nov 10 2006

I say, dear readers, it appears that there may be some hope in this world. Against all odds, I have discovered an example of excellent taste and refined intellect at the University of Waterloo in a place other than this column.

Walk with me, friends, past fair Porcellino and into the bowels of the Modern Languages building. In this neglected, cavernous wasteland beneath the Theatre of the Arts you will find a bright, bright light, and with it hope. Here, a group of students and faculty have been working tirelessly on the noblest of tasks; together they hope to bestow upon the University of Waterloo the gift of Victorian elegance, of biting satire and unrivalled wit. This week, the UW Drama department brings us Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest.

My heart was filled with joy when I stumbled upon these brave laborers attempting to bring my favourite Irish playwright back from the dead. Indeed, the world has been a hollow place since this decadent, scandalized genius traded his pen for a beautiful Jacob Epstein-designed tomb in Paris.

One of the great figures of the Victorian era, Wilde’s writing illuminates this miraculous time in history when opium dens littered London and real men wore hats. A noble figure of high social status, Wilde is able to provide an intimate account of the nineteenth-century art snob; consider, for instance, the virtuous art connoisseur Dorian Gray.

A student of Classics at Trinity College Dublin and then Oxford, it is no surprise that our boy Oscar emerged as one of the pre-eminent talents of his day. Besides being a playwright, poet and novelist, Wilde was very involved with the Aesthetic movement that took hold in England during the late nineteenth century.

A reaction to Victorian ideas about art serving a social purpose, Aestheticism celebrated beauty and the notion of ‘art for arts sake’. Accordingly, Wilde saw it fit to wear his hair long and parade around wearing peacock feathers and multi-coloured carnations; a noble endeavour.

Brilliant, flamboyant, and arrogant, Wilde acts as a role model for art snobs everywhere. Once, upon arriving in the United States for a lecture tour, the Irishman remarked to a customs officer that “I have nothing to declare but my genius.” Such admirable honesty!

In selecting The Importance of Being Earnest for its fall production, the UW Drama Department has exhibited fine form. Recognized as Wilde’s most important play, this comedy of manners stands out “in the whole of English drama as a piece of pure, delightful nonsense.”

The play follows a crowd of wealthy young Londoners as they attempt to cope with Victorian social codes, with Wilde cleverly constructing a series of hilarious misunderstandings, replete with mistaken identities, misled lovers and the respectable practice of “bunburying.”

The Importance of Being Earnest has long been a favourite of the cultured elite and is widely celebrated as a comedic masterpiece. Its arrival on the UW stage presents a great opportunity for all of you wannabe intellectuals; indeed, no arts snob is complete without an appreciation for Oscar Wilde’s wit. The play runs November 15^th til the 18^th at 8pm, and tickets are available at the Humanities Box Office for a mere $10 if you are a student! Take advantage of this chance, dear friends! Godspeed.

posted by HLL @ Friday, November 10, 2006