Juan Antonio Franco López juananthonyfl@gmail.

com

Unit 51- Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw, by Juan Antonio F. López
1. Introduction
2. Historical context
3. Literary context
4. Oscar Wilde: life, works and style
5. George Bernard Shaw: life, works and style
6. Conclusion
7. Bibliography

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“Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time
that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” Oscar Wilde

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1. Introduction

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After Greek and Latin cultures, literature in Irish is the oldest literature in Europe, dating
from the 4th or 5th century. The presence of a “dual tradition” in Irish writing has been
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important in shaping and inflecting the material written in English, the language of Ireland’s
colonisers. Irish writing is, despite its exceptional national and linguistic characteristics,
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inevitably intertwined with English literature, and this relationship has led frequently to the
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absorption of Irish writers and texts into the canon of English literature.
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The small island of Ireland has produced a remarkable number of gifted writers. Yet we
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should draw a distinction between Anglo-Irish and Irish authors proper, such as Synge, Yeats,
O’Casey, or Joyce. These authors were clearly influenced by the Irish issue and wrote about
Ireland, and often in Gaelic.
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There is, however, another group of artists who, even though were born in Ireland, are
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considered Anglo-Irish since their settings, language, themes, or bulk of their works have an
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English or European rather than an Irish dimension (e.g. Goldsmith, Sheridan, Wilde, and
Shaw).

Throughout this unit we shall attempt to throw light on the atmosphere of English drama at
the turn of the 19th century, and, more specifically, on two Irish dramatists, Oscar Wilde and
George Bernard Shaw, who produced their works i<n two different Victorian periods. For this
reason, to begin with, special attention will be paid to the historical context in which the
works of these two playwrights emerged. In the same way, the literary context will be of

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special interest since it will reflect some of the features of these two authors. Finally, both
Wilde and Shaw will be examined in detail on the grounds of the historical and literary
frameworks examined.

2. Historical Context
Even though both Oscar Wilde and G. B. Shaw were8 born under the rule of Queen Victoria
(1837-1901), they are said to belong to different periods. Thus, Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) is
to be framed within the mid-late Victorian period, whereas George Bernard Shaw
(1856-1950) is to be framed in the early twentieth century, which coincided with the

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emergence of modernism. Hence, not only the so-called Victorian period should be taken into
account, but also the beginning of the 20th century.

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In general, the effects of the industrial revolution in the 19th century were felt in political,
social, economic and technological terms (See unit 47). The economic changes brought about

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important consequences at all levels since they resulted in a wider distribution of wealth, the
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emergence of labour unions, and movements for political and social reform.

Finally, another major issue should be raised, i.e., the Irish question. The history of Ireland
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after the union was principally concerned with the struggle for Irish civic and religious
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freedom and for separation from Great Britain. Hardly had the union been established when
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dissatisfaction in Ireland gave rise to the armed outbreak of July 23, 1803, under the Irish
patriot Robert Emmet. The struggle then turned upon the tithes, which all Irish, Roman
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Catholics included, were compelled to pay for the maintenance of the Anglican Church in
Ireland. Great cruelties were perpetrated on both sides during the so-called Tithe War, which
was coupled with a renewed emphatic demand for the repeal of the Act of Union.
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From 1845 to 1849 Ireland suffered a disastrous famine resulting from the failure of the
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potato crop. The government, influenced by laissez-faire ideology, failed to provide adequate
relief, and widespread tenant evictions compounded the problem. It has been estimated that 1
million died of starvation.

From the 1870s the goal of Home Rule assumed a leading place in Irish politics. In England,
Gladstone attempted to resolve the Irish question with a Home Rule Bill, which he formally
introduced in 1886. The bill would have given the Irish parliament the right to appoint the
executive of Ireland, although the taxing power was still supposed to be retained by the
British parliament. Another Home Rule Bill failed in 1893. Throughout the 1890s and 1900s

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a new cultural nationalism emerged, spearheaded by organizations such as the Gaelic Athletic
Association (founded 1884) and the Gaelic League (1893), and manifest in the Irish Literary
Revival represented by writers such as W. B. Yeats, Lady Augusta Gregory, and J. M. Synge.

Later on, in 1902 the Irish political leader and journalist Arthur Griffith formed the nucleus of
Sinn Fein, which became a political party in 1905. By 1918, however, Sinn Fein had
absorbed a more radical set of nationalist republicans, and had eclipsed the Irish
Parliamentary Party as the most important nationalist party in the country.

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3. Literary context

The Theatre Act of 1843 at last broke the monopoly granted to the Covent Garden and

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Drury Lane Theaters by the Act of 1737, allowing the modern theatre to develop. By 1899
the 61 theaters in London presented mostly melodramas, marked by suspenseful plots,

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stereotyped characterisations, and sentimentalism.
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One of the most important cultural movements which arose in Ireland at the end of the
19th century was the Irish Literary Renaissance. In the 1890s two Irish dramatists
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appeared: Wilde and Shaw. Neither wrote of Ireland, but both were outstanding dramatists in
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the Anglo-Irish tradition. This movement closely allied with a strong political nationalism
and a revival of Irish, ‘The Gaelic Revival’, personified in the literary figure of W.B. Yeats,
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the greatest poet Ireland has produced. Other figures close to the movement were J.M. Synge,
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known for his play “The Playboy of the Western World”, which caused riots in Dublin,
Lennox Robinson, T.C. Murray or Sean O’ Casey. In poetry, Yeats, Austin Clarcke or F.R.
Higgins stood out.
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In the beginning, Irish dramatical productions tended to serve the political purposes of
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the administration, but when more theatres flourished, a greater audience developed and
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many Dublinese theatres shared links with their London equals and London productions
frequently were staged also in the Irish theatrical world. However, most Irish playwrights
found it necessary to leave their native island to establish for itself in the drama sphere.

At the start of the 20th century, theatres and companies dedicated to Irish productions
began to emerge. This phenomenon meant that most prominent Irish dramatist learnt their
trade and established their reputations in Ireland rather than in Great Britain or the United
States.

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On the one hand, Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) put his art into his lifestyle to such an extent that
he was compared to the flamboyant Byron’s style. He was also a brilliantly provocative critic,
but his distinction lies in his comedies, more specifically, the comedy of manners. Wilde
reunited literature and theatre after a century in which poets from Shelley to Tennyson wrote
poetical plays, little staged and largely forgotten. Wilde’s most popular comedies were Lady
Windermere’s Fan, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband and The Importance of
being Earnest, staged between 1892 and 1895.

On the other hand, George Bernard Shaw’s (1856-1950) first works were received with

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hostility, and, thus, the need to create his own audience led him to publish some of them
before they were produced. Some of his works were Widower’s Houses (1892), Pleasant and

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Unpleasant (1898) and The Philanderer (1893:1905).

4. Oscar Wilde: life, works and style

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Hedonism was the thesis of some of Oscar Wilde’s witty essays, as also of his novel
The Picture of Dorian Gray. In this novel, Wilde seems to be concerned with showing the
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dangers of asking too much from life. The beautiful Dorian Gray -Faustus like- wishes that he
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should remain eternally young and handsome, while his picture, painted in the finest flush of
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his beauty, should grow old in his stead. The wish is granted: Dorian remains ever-young, but
his portrait gets old instead, and even shows the scars of the crimes attendant on asking for
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too much (a murder, the ruining of many women, unnamenable debauchery). Dorian,
repentant, tries to destroy his portrait, symbolically quelling his sins but, magically, it is he
himself who dies, monstrous with age and ugliness, and his portrait that reverts to its former
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perfection of youthful beauty. The sense of guilt -as much Mediaeval as Victorian- intrudes
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into Wilde’s bright godless world unexpectedly, and this book prepares us for those latter
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works which lack the old with and contain a sombre seriousness, derived from his
imprisonment mainly, such as The Ballad of Reading Gaol and De Profundis, inspired by the
execution of a fellow prisoner. Decadent, dandy, aesthete, wit, playwright, poet, novelist,
critic, and public lecturer, Wilde remains one of the most controversial Irish writers, not least
because, like Shaw, his relationship to his country of birth was an uneasy one.
To sum up, Wilde was the spokesman for the Aesthetic Movement with his brilliant wit and
conscious posing. His best plays were comedies of manners that were closer to Restoration
comedies than to other Victorian plays.

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5. George Bernard Shaw: life, works and style

Ibsen delved into the social and domestic problems of his age (common in Scandinavia and
England), and his presentation of a failed marriage in A Doll's House influenced Shaw, who
defended Shaw defended Ibsen against the attacks of the critics, and stated that this was the
way the new drama should go. It should not be afraid to shock, it should concentrate on ideas,
it should rely on its own inner life rather than on the external ‘accidents’ like spectacle and

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comic turns. Shaw put his own notions of drama into practice, and from Widower’s Houses
(1892) onward he dominated the European theatre. Moreover, Shaw was not only a mere

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preacher who used the stage as his platform for achieving fame. Being an Irishman like
Wilde, he had the native gift of eloquence and wit, and a sharp ear for the tones and rhythms
of contemporary speech.

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Shaw constructed his dramas on rules of his own, some of them most irregular, but he
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knew that, whatever tricks he played, his ability to hold the audience’s attention through sheer
words would carry him through. Generally, the aim in his early plays is to make audiences
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(and readers) examine their consciences and overhaul their conventional beliefs. He turns the
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conventional assumptions of English society upside-down, so that woman becomes the

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stronger sex and man the weaker, man the dreamer, woman the realist, woman the pursuer,
man the pursued. Shaw conceives a great creative will in the universe, which is endeavouring
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to produce higher and higher forms of life. As women have the greater part to play in the
making of new life, it follows that, perhaps quite unconsciously, she will look for a man in
whom the germs of human superiority lie.
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Shaw was fascinated by ideas of all kinds, and he used his outstanding dramatic skill
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to publicise all sorts of notions -from the importance of Phonetics in Pygmalion, to the
‘Protestantism’ of Joan of Arc ( St. Joan). He attacked everything, but never the Church.
Shaw was a great rationalist, much like Voltaire, but there was a deep sense of mysticism in
him. At times he sounds like an Old Testament prophet, and his finest works will endure for
its common sense, and a literary gift which prevented him from ever writing a dull line.

6. Conclusion

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To sum up, Oscar Wilde and Bernard Shaw were the most significant authors of the
19th century Ireland. Wilde mainly focused on social matters presenting the
eternal conflict between the individual and society. He also dealt with the
importance of Art in life establishing himself as a defender of Aesthetics as an
attitude towards life.

Both writers denounced the social artificialities and hypocrisies which characterised
the society they were part of. There was a clear criticism of social conventions
that ruled that society. Wilde and Shaw were insiders in that nullifying oppressive

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society. Finally, they can be considered as ‘dandies’ of their age. Both were
accountable for the revitalisation of the comedy of manners. Their plays, novels

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and essays meant a real revolution within the British literary tradition.

7. Bibliography

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Burgess, Anthony. English Literature. London: Longman, 1958.
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Ousby, I., The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge University Press.
1988
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Sanders, Andrew. The Short Oxford History of English Literature.
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