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Courtship Interrupted

Courtship Interrupted

Introducing two opposite forms of satire on the social interruption of the act of courtship and marriage. Two different eras faced with similar obstacles of a successful relationship hindered by public opinion, social status quo, and personal prospects all lie within two radically different plays by Oscar Wilde, and David Ives. Wilde writes his in-depth play, The importance of being Earnest (1990) based on his issues within the Victorian era where a young man, Jack Worthing, has given himself two identities, himself and an alter ego, Earnest, in order to deal with his personal desires to do right and wrong. Ives strikes his chord with two ordinary, yet quick whited characters, Bill and Betty, to represent his viewing of the more modern era of dating from his play Sure thing (n.d.) in which two strangers attempt a successful social introduction that is allowed do-overs by a scene interrupting bell. The two authors have a common theme infused throughout their writings, that courtship might have changed in scenery but the strains on a relationship are the same throughout history.
As the characters are first brought into view in Wilde's play, they are immediately set up into their circumstances of social pressure. Jack has fallen in love with young Gwendolen who has also fallen in love with him, and his name which she believes to be Earnest. "My ideal has always been to love some one of the name of Ernest" (Wilde,1990, p. 2), simply because that name carries a definition of the desire to do the right thing. The name of a suitor would be something proudly announced in public. As Jack begins to propose to Gwendolen, she assumes that Jack has the proposal properly rehearsed since it is vitally important to have the proposal live up to social expectations. It must take place in the proper setting to assure the public has the opportunity to deem the proposal worthy and correct. Gwendolen hesitates over the issue of public affection saying,...