The Reversal of The Traditional Female Roles in Oscar Wildes An Ideal Husband文献综述

 2022-09-08 11:09

Literature Review

Oscar Wilde wrote altogether four comedies: Lady Windermerersquo;s Fan, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband, The Importance of Being Earnest. These comedies created a great sensation at that time and brought the most astonishing success to Oscar Wilde.[1]14

Studies Abroad

Since 1970s, researchers who study Oscar Wildersquo;s comedies have changed their strategy. Instead of focusing on a particular plot or detail, they study Wildersquo;s comedies under a circumstance of the specific British culture and society in 19th century. The Plays of Oscar Wilde written by Alan Bird is quite a good example. Bird understands Wildersquo;s comedies from an angle of British politics and economy in late 19th century and comes to a conclusion that different from others. He regards the end of An Ideal Husband as a victory of money, ambition and corruption rather than a victory of love.[2]150

In late 19th century, there a great number of plays focusing on the topic of what is an ideal husband. Kerry Powell, the British critic, regards them as reversals of common images of ideal wives in Victorian comedies and compliments that the reversals show the awakening self-consciousness of modern women. When it comes to An Ideal Husband of Oscar Wilde, however, Kerry Powell negatively comments that this play is an appeal for the objection against authority of women in their families and for the forgiveness immorality of men.[3]89

Around the turn of this century, breakthrough progresses have been made in the study of Oscar Wildersquo;s comedies. The Irish identity of Oscar Wilde and his Homosexual orientation triggered a hot of study which based essentially on an angle of homosexuality. Some researchers focused on dandy characters and homosexuality indication in Wildersquo;s comedies.[4] As for the representative comedy of Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, many researchers interpret the homosexual orientation of this play, and regard it as a reflection of the double life experience of a gay man.[5]328

Besides, there are also studies and works interpret Wildersquo;s comedies that basically based on colonialism. For examples, Wildersquo;s plays: some lines of influence written by Richard Allen Gave[6]219 and Wilde on the Stage written by Joel Kaplan.[6]249

Cultural criticism is another main school among the studies of Wildersquo;s plays. Such as the essay, The Significance of Literature: “The Importance of Being Earnest” written by Joel Fineman, analyses Wildersquo;s plays in the way of cultural criticism, pointing out that Wildersquo;s comedies reflect the particular culture of serious humorous of British culture.[7]108

Some feminist researchers regard the play, An Ideal Husband, as a work of manrsquo;s fight-back or self-defense against the coming wave of feminism in late 19th century[8]

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