Oscar Wilde is one of my favorite writers of all time. If the bookstore in Scotland I hope to own one day is haunted by his ghost, I would not mind that one bit. Although, I would probably have to open it in Ireland instead. I took to him after reading The Picture of Dorian Gray. It was one of the few good books we had to read for school. While I found the chapters on gems and other research topics to be rather dull, I was enraptured by the rest of the book. It had casual bi representation in a time where people were arrested for "gross indecency" (read homosexuality). Not only that, but despite Dorian being the villain, his bi identity was not villainized. As I learned more about Wilde over the years, I just knew we would have been great friends. This bisexual icon knew great fashion and was not one to compromise his principles.
Over the last couple of years, I have wanted to dive more into Wilde's writings. At first, I was unhappy to find out that he had not written any more novels, but his plays quickly helped me to move past the disappointment. Along with plays, he has short stories, but I have only read one of those thus far. For Pride month, I have chosen to rank each of his completed plays now that I have read them all. If you wish to listen to them, and I do recommend that, be warned that The Duchess of Padua and Vera; or; the Nihilists likely do not have any professional recordings. They do have volunteer recordings to be found on YouTube, though. These two were not studied as much as the others and have suffered for it.
The Plays: Ranked
7. Salome
I have ranked this play last because I struggled to understand it. Even when reading about it afterwards, I did not feel enlightened. It is referential to biblical material found in the New Testament, so perhaps being Jewish hindered me, but I did not pick up on the queer content that is supposedly in it either. According to Wikipedia, it is about "the attempted seduction of Jokanaan (John the Baptist) by Salome, step-daughter of Herod Antipas; her dance of the seven veils; the execution of Jokanaan at Salome's instigation; and her death on Herod's orders". While these things are featured, the play feels plotless. It was reminiscent of the aforementioned gem/research chapters in Dorian Gray. Others may enjoy this play more than I did, but I could not understand the hype.
6. Duchess of Padua
This is also a play that is hard to follow. The plot comes through more than Salome, but the timing is either foolish on the part of the characters or questionable in tracking. It is a tragic love story at its core, filled with revenge and drama, but I could not take any of the characters seriously. The story follows a man who has just been informed of the circumstances surrounding his father's death. The informant tasks him with a carefully crafted revenge plot. He agrees but ends up falling for the wife of his father's betrayer. It was hard to tell if he had confessed his love for the woman upon meeting her or if they had known each other for a while before he was offended that she hadn't considered he might love her. From there, the pair clearly have a toxic relationship. It is difficult to feel sympathy for either one, which makes it hard to enjoy the play. If you do choose to read it, at least you will have the informant's snide remarks to draw enjoyment from!
5. An Ideal Husband
This is one of Wilde's drawing-room comedies, which he is known for. This play involves political blackmail that leads to the main couple questioning their relationship. The topic of an ideal spouse comes up throughout the play and is weighed in upon by several of the characters. The leading lady does not know as much about her husband as she thinks she does. An old classmate calls this into question when she uses the leading man's secrets against him for her own benefit. This also leads to questioning what a good politician is defined as. The play is ultimately saved by the banter and the relationship between side characters Mable and Lord Goring. Those two might be my Oscar Wilde OTP.
4. Importance of Being Earnest
This is irrefutably Wilde's most renowned play. That does not necessarily make it his best. This is another drawing-room comedy, so expect great one-liners. The play features country-dweller, Jack and his city friend, Algernon. When he wishes to get away from the country, he pretends to be Ernest. Despite their difference in personalities, Algernon behaves similarly to Jack, donning a fake name to escape for a while. "Ernest" is interested in Algernon's cousin, Gwendolen, but her overbearing mother serves as an obstacle. When he returns home to the country after a visit with her, he finds that Algernon has taken advantage of the knowledge that Ernest is a fake name. Algernon introduces himself to Cecily, Jack's ward, as Earnest, a man she had only heard of. The play involves tricking the love interests and the original Ernest (Jack) marrying his cousin. With all of this in mind, I view the play as average.
3. Vera; or; the Nihilists
Set in a fictionalized version of Russia, Wilde incorporates issues that can still be found plaguing society today. I quite enjoyed this play until the end. The leading woman, Vera, is a headstrong freedom fighter without an ounce of fear. When she was younger, she made a vow to her brother to fight for the Nihilists, a resistance group. Losing her whole family in the process, she does this. She becomes the head of the revolution with loyal followers. They want to get rid of the monarchy and replace it with a republic. They know they need to kill the czar, but things become complicated when his son, the prince, joins their ranks. He and Vera are interested in each other, which is the downfall of the play. Vera chooses infatuation instead of staying true to herself. When she claims to have saved Russia in the end, I do not know what she meant. The rest of the play does outweigh the poor ending, though.
2. Lady Windermere's Fan
This drawing-room comedy blends together with An Ideal Husband in my mind, but it has a better plot to it. If you get a kick out of mistaken identity like me, this is a fun one to read. Lord Windemere is secretly paying large amounts of money to a woman that Lady Windermere does not know. When she finds out, she assumes that he is cheating on her. The woman, Mrs. Erlynne, gets invited to Lady Windermere's birthday party, properly meeting the hostess for the first time. During this party, Lady Windermere is talked into running away with another man to get back at her husband. She leaves a note for her husband. When Mrs. Erlynne intercepts this note, she knows she must stop Lady Windermere from making the same mistake she did. This play features a sweet romance between older-folks, positive platonic woman relationships, and messages about not jumping to conclusions. It was a great read and I hope you will give it a chance!
1. A Woman of No Importance
This is easily my favorite of Wilde's plays. It is consistently feminist from beginning to end, has the great one-liners of any drawing-room comedy, and the plot twists are satisfying. The players are: Hester, a young American woman looking for love; Gerald, who has just been offered a good job that he is more than ready for; his boss, Lord Illingworth; and his mother, Mrs. Arbuthnot, a woman who chooses to stay away from the public eye. When Lord Illingworth meets Mrs. Arbuthnot, he realizes that she is his ex-lover, yet he refers to her as a woman of no importance. He further realizes that Gerald must be his son. As Gerald and Hester fall for each other, the past between his mother and his boss is brought to light. Gerald and Hester have Mrs. Arbuthnot's back in the matter and will do what it takes for her to be happy. If you are looking for a morally cathartic play, I highly recommend this one!
I have loved exploring Oscar Wilde's plays. While not all of them were my cup of tea, they all strengthened my understanding of Wilde as an author, as a person, and the story of his life. I did behind-the-curtains research on each play, looking into when they were written, which actors were on his mind, how the audience reacted, and much more. Wilde won't be everyone's special interest, but I hope you can benefit from him being mine. Use this ranked list as a way to look past the popularity of each play and into the quality of each instead. Popularity and longevity are good measures for works of fiction, but they aren't everything. Happy Pride!
Comments