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Journée d’étude The Importance of Being Earnest, Université de ReimsChampagne-Ardennes,17octobre2015MarianneDrugeonWildeandShaw,TwoPolitically-CommittedPlaywrightsSHAW WILDEAParent’sRule:“Yourwayof lifewill bewhat I please, so itwill.”(MrsWarren’sProfession)

“Pardonme,youarenotengagedtoanyone.Whenyou do become engaged to someone, I, or yourfather, should his health permit him, will informyouofthefact.”(TheImportanceofBeingEarnest)

A Child’s Duty: “I advised you to conquer youridlenessandflippancy,andtoworkyourwayintoan honourable profession and live on it and notuponme.”(MrsWarren’sProfession)

“Itisyourdutytogetmarried.Youcan’tbealwayslivingforpleasure”(AnIdealHusband)

Marriage: “I am resolved that my daughter shallapproach no circle in which she will not bereceived with the full consideration to which hereducation and her breeding (…) entitle her.”(Widowers’Houses)

“Youcanhardly imaginethatIandLordBracknellwoulddreamofallowingouronlydaughter–agirlbroughtupwiththeutmostcare–tomarryintoacloak-room, and form an alliance with aparcel?”(TheImportanceofBeingEarnest)

Satisfactory Suitors: “When you can shew me afew letters from the principal members of yourfamily,congratulatingyouinafairlycordialway,Ishallbesatisfied.”(Widowers’Houses)

“Whatisyourincome?(…)Thatissatisfactory(…)That sounds not unsatisfactory. (…) So far I amsatisfied”(TheImportanceofBeingEarnest)

Parentage: “you are neither of you capable ofconceivingwhatlifeinanEnglishseasideresortis.Believe me, it’s not a question of manners andappearance. (…) In a seaside resort theres onethingyoumusthavebeforeanybodycanaffordtobe seen going aboutwith you; and thats a father,aliveordead.”(YouNeverCanTell)

“Iwouldstronglyadviseyou,Mr.Worthing, to tryandacquiresomerelationsassoonaspossible,andtomakeadefiniteefforttoproduceatanyrateoneparent, of either sex, before the season is quiteover”(TheImportanceofBeingEarnest)

Matri-money: Marriage seen as “a transaction”(Widowers’Houses)

Marriage Proposal seen as “Business” (TheImportanceofBeingEarnest)

Business and Feelings: “You remindme of Liz alittle:shewasafirst-ratebusinesswoman–savedmoneyfromthebeginning–never letherself looktoomuch likewhat shewas – (…) So she lentmesome money and gave me a start; and I savedsteadilyandfirstpaidherback,andthenwentintobusinesswithherasapartner.(…)Vivie. You were certainly justified – from thebusinesspointofview.MrsWarren.What is any respectable girl broughtuptodobuttocatchsomerichman’sfancyandgetthebenefitofhismoneybymarryinghim?As if amarriage ceremony could make any difference inthe right and wrong of the thing!” (MrsWarren’sProfession)

“WhenImarriedLordBracknellIhadnofortuneofany kind. But I never dreamed for a moment ofallowingthattostandinmyway.”“Ahundredandthirtythousandpounds!AndintheFunds!MissCardewseemstomeamostattractiveyounglady,nowthatIlookather.Fewgirlsofthepresent dayhave any really solid qualities, anyofthequalitiesthatlast,andimprovewithtime.”(TheImportanceofBeingEarnest)

Romanticism:“Well, it came intomyhead justashewasholdingmeinhisarmsandlookingintomyeyes, that perhaps we only had our heroic ideasbecause we are so fond or reading Byron andPushkin, and because we were so delighted withtheoperathatseasonatBucharest.”(ArmsandtheMan)

“Ireallydon’tseeanythingromanticinproposing.”Cecily: “notasillyromanticgirl (…).Shehasgotacapital appetite, goes on long walks, and pays noattention at all to her lessons” (TheImportanceofBeingEarnest)

Stock types: “an attractive specimen of thesensible, able,highly-educatedyoungmiddle-classEnglishwoman.”(MrsWarren’sProfession)

“aperfectexampleoftheEnglishtypeofprettiness,theapple-blossomtype.”(AnIdealHusband)

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WomenwithaPast:“It’s not work that any woman would do forpleasure, goodness knows, though to hear thepiouspeople talkyouwouldsuppose itwasabedofroses.”(MrsWarren’sprofession)

“Ifamanandawomanhavesinned,letthembothbebranded.Setamark,ifyouwish,oneach,butdon’tpunishtheoneandlettheothergofree.Don’thaveonelawformenandanotherforwomen.”(AWomanofNoImportance)“One pays for one’s sin, and then one pays again,and all one’s life one pays.” (Lady Windermere’sFan)“whohastherighttocastastoneagainstonewhohassuffered?(…)Whyshouldtherebeonelawformenandone law forwomen?” (TheImportanceofBeingEarnest)

NewWomen: “a woman of advanced views. (…)Youregardedmarriagesasadegradingbargain,bywhichawomansellsherselftoamanforthesocialstatusofawifeand theright tobesupportedandpensionedinoldageoutofhisincome.”“Iamanadvancedwoman.(…)I’mwhatmyfathercallstheNewWoman.(…)that iswhyIwillnevermarryaman I love toomuch. Itwouldgivehimaterrible advantage overme: I shouldbeutterly inhis power. Thats what the New Woman is like.”(ThePhilanderer)

“IhopeIamnot[perfect]. Itwould leavenoroomfordevelopments,andIintendtodevelopinmanydirections.”(TheImportanceofBeingEarnest)Lady Chiltern, about the Woman’s LiberalAssociation:“Wehavemuchmoreimportantworktodothanlookateachother’sbonnets(…),FactoryActs, Female Inspectors, the Eight Hours’ Bill, theParliamentaryFranchise.(AnIdealHusband)

EducationforWomen:“IshallsetupChambersinthe City, and work at actuarial calculations andconveyancing.Undercoverof that I shalldosomelaw, with one eye on the Stock Exchange all thetime. Ive come down here bymyself to read law:not as a holiday as my mother imagines.” (MrsWarren’sProfession)

“She is attending a more than usually lengthylecturebytheUniversityExtensionSchemeontheInfluenceofapermanentincomeonThought”(TheImportanceofBeingEarnest)

PowerfulWomen:TrenchtoBlanche:“Itwasyouwhospoketome.OfcourseIwasonlytoogladofthechance;butonmywordIshouldnthavemovedan eyelid if you hadnt givenme the lead. (…)Hisnervousness deprives him of the power of speech.”(Widowers’Houses)

“(Nervously) Miss Fairfax, ever since I met you Ihaveadmiredyoumorethananygirl…Ihaveevermet since…I met you.” (The Importance of BeingEarnest)

TheFreedomtoSmoke:“There’sno room in this clubwhere I canenjoyapipe quietly without a woman coming in andbeginningtorollacigarette. It’sadisgustinghabitin a woman: it’s not natural to her sex” (ThePhilanderer)

“LadyBracknell.Doyousmoke?Jack.Well,yes,ImustadmitIsmoke.LadyBracknell. Iamgladtohear it.Amanshouldalwayshaveanoccupationofsomekind.Therearefar too many idle men in London as it is.” (TheImportanceofBeingEarnest)

GenderHybridisation:“Every candidate for membership [to the Ibsenclub]mustbenominatedby amanandawoman,whobothguaranteethatthecandidate,iffemale,isnot womanly, and if male, not manly.” (ThePhilanderer)

“Outsidethefamilycircle,papa,Iamgladtosay,isentirelyunknown.Ithinkthatisquiteasitshouldbe.Thehomeseemstometobetheproperspherefor the man. And certainly once a man begins toneglect his domestic duties he becomes painfullyeffeminate, does he not? And I don’t like that. Itmakesmensoveryattractive.” (TheImportanceofBeingEarnest)

Playwright’s Preface: “I am convinced that fineart is the subtlest, the most seductive, the mosteffective instrument of moral propaganda in theworld. (…) Ishallat lastpersuadeevenLondontotake its conscience and its brains with it when itgoes to the theatre, instead of leaving them athomewith its prayer-book as it does at present.”(PrefacetoMrsWarren’sProfession)

“There is no such thing as amoral or an immoralbook.Books are well written, or badly written. That isall.”(PrefacetoThePictureofDorianGray)

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MoralLessons:“theloveofmoneyistherootofallevil.”“Which of us is theworse, I should like to know?methatwringsthemoneyouttokeepahomeovermychildren,oryouthatspend itandtry toshovetheblameontome?”(Widowers’Houses)“Never make a hero of a philanderer” (ThePhilanderer)“Yes:it’sbettertochooseyourlineandgothroughwith it. If I had been you, mother, I might havedoneasyoudid:butIshouldnothavelivedonelifeand believed in another. You are a conventionalwoman at heart. That is why I am bidding yougoodbyenow.Iamright,amInot?”(MrsWarren’sProfession)

“Howstrange!Iwouldhavepubliclydisgracedherin my own house. She accepts public disgrace inthehouseofanothertosaveme…There isabitterironyinthings,abitterironyinthewaywetalkofgoodandbadwomen…Oh,whatalesson!Andwhatapitythatinlifeweonlygetourlessonswhentheyareofnousetous!”“Idon’t thinknowthatpeoplecanbedivided intothe good and the bad as though they were twoseparateracesorcreations.”“Thereisthesameworldforallofus,andgoodandevil, sinand innocence,go throughhand inhand.”(LadyWindermere’sFan)“Iwaswrong,God’slawisonlyLove.”(AWomanofNoImportance)“You have gotwhatwewant somuch in politicallife nowadays – high character, high moral tone,highprinciples.”“Womenarenotmeant to judgeus,but to forgiveuswhenweneedforgiveness.”(AnIdealHusband)

Unprincipled Principles: “Every man isfrightenedofmarriagewhenitcomestothepoint;but it often turns out very comfortable, veryenjoyable and happy indeed, sir – from time totime.”(YouNeverCanTell)

“Healthistheprimarydutyoflife”“The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily.That is what fiction means.” (The Importance ofBeingEarnest)

Aphorisms:“When one is young, one marries out of merecuriosity,justtoseewhatit’slike”“Advanced people form charming friendships:conventionalpeoplemarry.”(ThePhilanderer)

“girls never marry the men they flirt with. Girlsdon’tthinkitright.”“The amount of women in London who flirt withtheir ownhusbands is perfectly scandalous.” (TheImportanceofbeingEarnest)

DebunkingChristianMorality:“You dont see how serious it is to make a manbelieve that he has only another year to live (…).Ive made my will, which was altogetherunnecessary; and Ive been reconciled to a lot ofpeople I’d quarrelled with: people I cant standunder ordinary circumstances. Then Ive let thegirls get roundme at home to an extent I shouldnever have done if I’d hadmy life beforeme. Ivedone a lot of serious thinking and reading andextra church going; And now it turns out simplewasteoftime.”(ThePhilanderer)

Miss Prism on hearing of Ernest’s death: “What alessonforhim!Itrusthewillprofitbyit.(…)Asaman sows, so shall he reap.” (The Importance ofBeingEarnest)