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A Study on Lady Windermere's Fan: An Attempt at self-creation within conventions

  • Journal of Modern English Drama
  • Abbr : JMBARD
  • 2011, 24(3), pp.35-70
  • Publisher : 한국현대영미드라마학회
  • Research Area : Humanities > English Language and Literature > English Literature > Contemporary English Drama

Kyung-Shim Oh 1

1강원대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This paper presupposes that Oscar Wilde introduces two conventional drama types ‘melodrama’ and ‘comedy of manners’ into Lady Windermere’s Fan to subvert the two dominant social values, Puritanism and Libertinism. To make these two values prevalent in the play, Wilde juxtaposes melodramatic characters such as good women and bad women, with comedy of manners’ characters, libertines and rake heroes. Those two types of characters have completely different ways of thinking, different life styles and different social values. Nevertheless, their attitudes toward dandies are very similar in enforcing their standardized values on them. They are the chief obstacles to two dandies, Lord Darlington and Mrs. Erlynne whose major goal of life is to keep creating themselves aesthetically. This paper examines how these dandies keep arranging the environment to support creation of themselves in society where social conventions rule the upper classes. This paper assumes that these two groups of characters act as social conventions to dandies whose concerns are to keep creating themselves without restriction. The two dandies, Lord Darlington and Mrs. Erlynee have paradoxical relations with these two groups of characters. Why do they have paradoxical relations with conventions? Because while they are willing to accept social conventions, they are determined to undermine these conventions at the same time. These two dandies borrow the means of ‘acting’ to create themselves aesthetically. As for Lord Darlington, he impersonates ‘a melodramatic romantic lover’; As for Mrs. Erlynne, she is acting the two roles: at first, a villainess, and then the ideal mother who can sacrifice herself for her daughter with pure love. Both dandies are acting to create the context fit for inventing themselves as a work of art within the social and theatrical conventions. However, neither of them succeeds in their endeavors and to live as what dandy ought to be, they have no choice but to leave England.

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