Victorian Drama
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854. He wrote in numerous literary forms throughout the 1880s and contributed to aestheticism, a movement that hailed "art for art's sake." He married Constance Lloyd in 1884, and the couple had two sons. In 1890, Wilde published his famous novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. He went on to become a popular playwright in London, culminating in his successful comic play The Importance of Being Earnest. Not long after the play garnered critical acclaim, Wilde suffered irreparable social downfall when he was put on trial for homosexuality, which was illegal during Victorian times. In 1895, he was convicted and sentenced to two years of hard labor. The poor conditions of the prison devastated his health. After his release, Wilde exiled himself to France and would never again return to England or Ireland. In 1900, he died from cerebral meningitis in Paris.
Main Characters of The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest is a play about marriage, duty, pleasure, and secrets. For a play that has such a small cast of main characters, the clever plot twists are many. Before reading Oscar Wilde's famous comedy, take a moment to familiarize yourself with five of the main characters, none of which happen to be named Earnest. The main characters include Jack, Algernon (pronounced al-jer-non), Cecily, Gwendolen, and Lady Bracknell. Click the player button to begin.
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View a live or filmed performance of Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest. As you watch the play, take notes on the key plot events. Then, identify the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution using this Notes on Plot Elements Template. If you need to review the elements of plot, refer back to your study of Shakespeare's Macbeth.
Themes in The Importance of Being Earnest
Dialogue is a powerful tool for developing themes within dramas. In The Importance of Being Earnest, themes include the role of marriage, the interplay between truth and lies, and social propriety. In this interactivity, you will read excerpts from the play to explore how these three themes are developed through the use of character dialogue. Click the player button to begin.
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Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller was born in Harlem, New York City in 1915. Although his immigrant father became a wealthy businessman, the family lost nearly everything in the stock market crash of 1929. Miller held jobs to pay for his tuition at the University of Michigan, where he first discovered his talent for writing plays. In 1947, Miller's play All My Sons became a hit on Broadway, earning him a Tony Award for Best Author. In 1949, Miller's play Death of a Salesman premiered on Broadway, garnering more critical acclaim and earning two more Tony Awards for Best Author and Best Play, as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It is widely considered to be among the best American plays of the 20th century. Miller's most widely produced play, The Crucible, debuted on Broadway in 1953. At the age of eighty-nine, Miller passed away on February 10, 2005, the 56th anniversary of the debut of Death of a Salesman.
Main Characters of Death of a Salesman
Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman is hailed as one of the most emotionally riveting dramas commenting on modern American life. Although this poignant story about the American Dream is almost seventy years old, the tragic characters and their siutations still resonate with audiences today. In this interactivity, take a moment to get to know some of the main characters of Death of a Salesman. You will learn some of the background of Willy, Linda, Biff, Happy, Charley, and Bernard. Click the player button to begin.
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Plot Structure
You might remember that plot refers to the series of events or actions that make up a story. In the play The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde uses irony and dialogue to to create humor while moving the plot forward. However, in the play Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller takes advantage of a modified plot structure that incorporates flashbacks and character dialogue. By waiting to reveal key details of the story until opportune moments arrive, Miller builds tension throughout the story and keeps the audience engaged. In this interactivity, compare the differences between a standard plot structure and a modified plot structure. Click the player button to begin.
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View a live or filmed performance of Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman. As you watch the play, take notes on the key plot events as they occur in the play and identify the plot elements using this Notes on Plot Structure Template. Then, reorder the events in chronological order, taking into consideration which events are real and which ones are likely Willy's hallucinations. Comparing the chronological order of events with the order in which they are presented in the play, consider the following questions.
- Why do you think Miller chose a modified plot structure for this play?
- What effect does the modified plot stucture have on the audience and the telling of the story?
- How do the plot elements and plot structure in Death of a Salesman differ from those in The Importance of Being Earnest?
Themes in Death of a Salesman
Dramas usually rely heavily on the use of dialogue to develop themes. An example of a theme featured in Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman include the break with reality through lies and illusion. Another important theme is the American Dream, or specifically how one defines success in life. In this interactivity, you will read excerpts from the play to explore how these two themes are developed through the use of character dialogue. Click the player button to begin.
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Victorian Drama Review
Now that you have explored a Victorian drama and compared it to an American one, it is time to review your knowledge and practice what you have learned. In this non-graded activity, read the statements and decide whether they are true or false. Click the player button to get started.