Oscar Wilde and the Theatre of the 1890s - Softcover

Powell, Kerry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521111676 ISBN 13: 9780521111676

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2009

Synopsis

Kerry Powell examines Wilde's plays in relation to popular theatre of the 1890s, both in England and on the Continent. Along with revealing insights into the sexual and moral politics of the era, Powell provides an indispensable basis for understanding Wilde's achievement as a playwright. At his best, Wilde reconstitutes the dramatic fashions of the era, and partly as a result his plays have prevailed over the works, many now forgotten, that they simultaneously imitate and undermine. Through his analysis, Powell looks at the plays of, among others, Arthur Shirley, Lady Violet Greville, Sydney Grundy and W. Lestocq as well as the impact of Ibsen on Wilde. The book contains production photographs from plays by Wilde and by little-known playwrights and an appendix of biographies. Oscar Wilde and the Theatre of the 1890s will be of interest to students and specialists of drama, theatre history and English literature.

About this title

Book Description

Kerry Powell examines Wilde's plays in relation to popular theatre of the 1890s, both in England and on the Continent. Along with revealing insights into the sexual and moral politics of the era, Powell provides an indispensable basis for understanding Wilde's achievement as a playwright.

From Library Journal

Oscar Wilde claimed that no dramatist of the 19th century had influenced him, yet in this carefully researched critical work Powell provides evidence to the contrary, pointing out several parallels between Wilde's plays and those of his contemporaries. In addition to examining the works of such playwrights as Sydney Grundy, Victorien Sardou, and W. Lestocq, Powell devotes a chapter to similarities between Ibsen's Pillars of Society and Wilde's An Ideal Husband , an unusual comparison. This book, besides offering new insight into Wilde's plays, captures the intellectual and aesthetic excitement of London in the 1890s with humorous anecdotes about Sarah Bernhardt and other theater personalities. The Victorian moral climate is also examined with particular emphasis on feminism and the relations between the sexes. Recommended for all who are interested in the theater.
-Nancy R. Ives, SUNY at Geneseo
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0521111676
• ISBN 13: 9780521111676
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 216