The Importance of Being Earnest: Sharp Wit and Sharper Satire

The Importance of Being Earnest is a play that I have loved since I first read it years ago. I most recently reread it through a read-a-long at Unputdownables and, I am happy to report, it is every bit as witty and charming as it was then. But, thanks to the discussion, I got a lot more out of it this time around.

The satire that Wilde presents is funny yet cutting. While I of course noticed the obvious social satire upon my first reading, this time I picked up on many other points that Wilde is making (this is exactly why I love Wallace’s read-a-longs; intelligent, articulate participants shed light on new ideas each week). He points out the arbitrariness of religion, the changing whims of women in society, and the interactions between generations. But all the while, he maintains the lighthearted tone of the play, keeping the humor going and using what would normally be tense situations as comedic episodes (case in point: when Cecily and Gwendolyn think they are engaged to the same man).

Another realization hit me while reading this play: All of the commentary that Wilde is making about society, religion, and relationships is put forth entirely through dialogue. Now, I know what you are thinking. No shit, Sherlock, it’s a play. Right? Yes, it’s a play, I understand that. But it’s also a play with no narrator, no third person explaining the actions of the characters or their back story. In fact, the stage notes are even fairly limited. The great impact that Wilde has is created almost entirely through dialogue.

I’ve read countless plays and novels, and, although I have also known that these are very different mediums, the extent to which they differ never really hit me until this particular reading. Wilde’s ability to create engaging, sharp conversation is amazing. The dialogue and the ideas that he presents fit together like a puzzle, building until the whole picture, to continue the simile, is revealed at the end of the play.

For anyone who hasn’t read The Importance of Being Earnest, I highly recommend it. This play is hilarious, it’s accessible, and it’s a great choice for readers who enjoy a variety of genres.

Death of a Salesman: The Mirage of Success

When it comes to great literature, plays are a species all their own. Sure, they have to share qualities that other great works of writing possess, but they also have to have a superior quality of dialogue in order for them to work. Additionally, the playwriter has to be extremely creative in terms of designing the set and picturing the action of the play on one simple little stage.

Does Arthur Miller’s writing showcase these qualities? Definitely.

Death of a Salesman illustrates the mental breakdown of Willy, a man who has been a traveling salesman for over 30 years and is worn out. He has built his entire identity on being a successful salesman, though, and when his career slips between his fingers he realizes that his own ideas of his success may not have been accurate reflections of his true accomplishments. His children, who are well into their 30s, have both put off starting a career– a detail that Willy is ashamed of. Everything Willy says is exaggerated, everything he claims to have achieved has to be taken with a grain of salt, and everything he has hoped for his children is based upon the illusion that being well-liked is the key to success.

Title: Death of a Salesman is the perfect moniker for this play. It describes the literal and emotional breakdown of Willy without giving away the deeper aspects of the work. Though it does (spoiler!) reveal the ending, it doesn’t detract from the meaning of the work in the least. The play is about the journey that Willy has made throughout his life–and about the hard realization that all his hard work may have been real, or it may have been one big illusion of grandeur.

Cover: This cover is alright. It captures the mood of the play accurately and has great balance, but it’s nothing too eye-catching. I do like, though, when publishers release a line of similar cover designs (of which this is one) because it helps me to differentiate the publishers easier and remember which ones are my favorites.

Writing: Miller’s writing is great– the style is unique, the slang isn’t too hard to pick up even over 60 years after the play was written, and the dialogue moves well. Additionally, Miller’s set descriptions were well thought out and conveyed– I had no trouble at all imagining the scenes as (I hope) he intended them to be.

Character Development:  This, I think, was the point of the entire play. Willy, his sons Biff and Happy, and his wife, Linda, all learn about one another and about themselves over the course of the play. Of all of the characters I believe that Biff has the most realistic mindset– but Willy’s instability is rooted in a deeper understanding of the futility of his life and the fact that, despite his hot shot stories, he really has come to nothing. Happy seems like a completely secondary character, though he foils Biff well. Linda, on the other hand, really makes no progress at all. It could be argued that she does in the end, but I found her character to be somewhat inconsequential– it seems as though she was only present to act as a motivator for her sons to take care of their father. If she hadn’t insisted that they do so, they would have never made the effort.  

Plot: To be honest, I found the plot a bit lacking. Until the end there really is no action– the story revolves around a conflict between Willy and Biff, one that brings them in circles. To complicate the progression of the plot, Willy has flashbacks that constantly weave in and out of the present. These hallucinations, though, really are the driving force behind the storytelling and work well throughout the structure of the play.

Overall, the play is a bit slow in the beginning but towards the end I couldn’t put it down. The story is based in the question of reality– is the life you imagine you lead real? Or does it only cloak a far less exciting and successful existence? I was very bothered by the fact that each character tried to please the others (being the independent person that I am I cannot imagine stiffing my personality to make my parents happy), but somehow it all worked. By the end of the play, though, I was so exasperated with Willy’s behavior that the final scene was almost a relief.