An Ideal Husband is probably Oscar Wilde's most popular play after "The Importance of being Earnest". It is set in 1895 and contains themes of love, marriage and the role of women. The "Hero" of the story is Lord Albert Goring, who is a dandy- someone who values Aesthetics over morals. Aesthetics are the most important part of life, and dandyism became somewhat of a cult in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Oscar Wilde was himself a Dandy, and Lord Goring is a personification of Wilde. I want to re-write the play in way that exposes Dandyism for what it really is, or what it has become: commercialism. In the play, Goring is the Hero because he saves his friends marriage by asking his wife to loosen her moral standards so that she can continue to love her husband. This works in this time period, because Morals prevailed so strongly in Victorian society.
However, nowadays, the Aesthetic-Moral relationship as been flipped right around. What we have now is a society where the majority hold little regard for moral integrity, and hold Aesthetics, (in the form of commercialism) in high esteem. I want to address this issue by having one character (in the minority) taking the high moral ground, while the rest of the characters value Aethetics. I was thinking of telling a story of finiacal instability, so that the people in the play, despite that fact that they have no money, still try to buy all of the latest material, aesthetic things.
This will be a direct reflection of how in "An Ideal Husband", The Victorian moralists hide their somewhat shady and corrupt histories.
Still have to work out the plot properly. What do you guys think? Is anyone familiar with this play that can offer any advice?
Thanks,
Josh
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ReplyDeleteHey Josh. You're idea sounds really interesting, that whole era was full of such hedonism. I remember reading 'Dorian Gray' really shocked me because at the time I wouldn't have thought that people behaved in such ways.
ReplyDeleteJust an interesting quote on your subject about financial instability. Stanely Fischer the First Managing Deputy Director of the IMF said, "You are indebted and I am indebted. I would not be better off if someone came and cancelled my debt. Debt is normal way of borrowing in order to do things, purchase goods, invest when you don't have the resources" - Pilger. (2012, August 8). The New Rulers of the World [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfrL2DUtmXY.
And how are you thinking about relating this subject back to post-colonial theories?
Hope to see more of your work in the future :)
Hi Josh,
ReplyDeleteThis sounds interesting, as we've already discussed. Now I'm thinking, isn't it just a DIFFERENT aesthetic the dandies have/had? I mean, clearly they are placed in some kind of opposition to those who occupy the moral high ground, but those people have their own aesthetic too.
Anyway I think you're on to something here and I look forward to reading more.
Esther :)
P.S. I like Hannah's question and comment on The Picture of Dorian Gray
ReplyDeleteHi Josh,
ReplyDeleteSo would you modernise it (i.e set it in the present)? The state of Global finances is a personal gripe of mine - banks driving debt and advertising/commercialism/media convincing us all we need more stuff to be happy. The average Joe seems to have no money, no time and a mountain of debt (not to mention 50% of Global population on brink of starvation). So many people are just trying to survive - who has time for 'morals'? We've kind of lost sight of what's valuable. I love your idea, however I'm not familiar with the play sorry. Good luck, look forward to reading it.