Introduction: The Importance of Laughing in Earnest

Abstract

Oscar Wilde’s comedies of manners—also known, especially in academic circles, as his “Society Plays”—are late nineteenth-century manifestations of Menander’s ancient Greek comedies and the Roman comedies of Plautus and Terrence. Though Shakespeare appeared to dabble in the form, it was with Restoration comedy that for a number of decades the comedy of manners became the dominant form of theatrical comedy. There are a number of direct links between Restoration comedies and Wilde’s comedies of manners, as both concern themselves with the aristocracy, have convoluted plots, have foppish characters (born again as the “dandy” in Wilde’s plays, and then conflated with the “rake,” as well, in Algernon), and are generally satirical in nature. But while both Restoration comedies and Wilde’s incarnation of the form are comedies of manners, are Wilde’s comedies really that much like those written by Molière, Congreve, Wycherley, Sheridan, and the like? In what way did Wilde make the comedy of manners his own? Or maybe a more appropriate question is, was Wilde actually writing comedies of manners?