從新批評的角度剖析《認真的重要性》的語言藝術

作者簡介：楊永青，女，云南師范大學外國語學院助教，研究方向為現當代英美文學。

（Yunnan Normal University Yunnan Kunming 650504）

Abstract：The Importance of Being Earnest written in 1895，is Oscar Wildes most popular work，which is also one of the most famous comedies.This play jeers at Victorian values，most of all，the idea of earnestness.Wilde not only satirizes the hypocrisy of Victorian virtue but also mocks its authentic representation.So the genre，especially the language in this work plays a very important role，and the author will discuss it from the perspective of new criticism in order to dig his master of language and the satire.

Key words：The Importance of Being Earnest，Oscar Wilde，New Criticism，genre

中圖分類號：K254 文獻標識碼：A 文章編號：1006-026X（2012）11-0000-01

Ⅰ.Introduction

Oscar Wilde（1854-1900），born in Dublin，playwright，poet，essayist and wit，is now as famous for his flamboyant lifestyle and idioms as for his plays，poems and fiction.Besides his plays，Wilde also wrote some famous fictions，such as The Picture of Dorian Gray（1891），Lady Windermeres Fan（1892），A Woman of No Importance（1893），An Ideal Husband（1895），and his last play，Salome.

The paper consists of five parts.This introduction serves as the first part.The second part gives a literature review，among which the discussions on some critics opinions in the view of new criticism.The third part introduces some important concepts proposed by the theories of new criticism and Cleanth Brooks.The fourth part examines how Oscar Wilde enacts the ability of mastering language，form and structure.And the final part is the conclusion，in which there will be main findings，limitations of research and the tendency in the future study.

Ⅱ.Literature Review

Ⅱ.1 International Studies

The Importance of Being Earnest was in danger of becoming embalmed in porphyry （or whatever other substance Wilde might have preferred） as the anodyne Victorian stage classic，passively digested today without reference to its potentially subversive tendencies，notably its ethical and social implications.It is a point of some importance as to whether or not the exhaustive labors required to ‘place’ the piece so comprehensively in its historical setting pander to such a response（Tydeman 1997：414）.

The irony of the situation is compounded by the fact that Wilde makes fun of determinism in The Importance of Being Earnest.When Algernon proposes to Cecily，he discovers to his surprise that they are already engaged： Cecily，irritated by Algys “entire ignorance”of her existence，“determined to end the matter one way or the other”and accepted him （394）.Since Algernon was not around to write any love letters，she wrote them for him and mailed them to herself！ Algys future，in brief，did not wait for him to bring it about；he tarried，so it occurred without him！（Nassaar 2000：91，Binongo 1999：781）

Ⅱ.2 Domestic Studies

Oscar Wilde has been a frequent topic in the Westren critical world.In the 1950s，studies of him basically followed the way of earlier research by concentrating upon his personal life，his style and such anecdotes as his homosexual disputes，litigations and legal procedures that led to his early death.After the 1960s，the research is more and more focused on the form of his text.From the 1980s up to the present，the study has been demonstrating a cultural and increasingly multi-dimensional tendency.（張介明 2004：26-30）

The Importance of Being Earnest fully shows Wildes artistic style and comic capability.Starting from its humorous language，his stylistic analysis based on the relationship between linguistic form and its aesthetic function.And the dualities in the comedy has been recognized.（吳琦 2004：81-83，李勤 1998：32-34）

Wildes ways of mirroring life elicited responses that became themselves subjects to be mirrored.The legendary one-man theatrical impersonations and the frequent practice of staging Wildes comedies with one character dressed as Wilde himself are often random characterizations extending from the biases inherent in each production.（李元 2003：61-66，李元 2007：47-51，袁霞 1997：82-85）

Oscar Wilde，with determined subversion of the late Victorian Bourgeois culture and ideology，attacks the fixed norms of identity，marriage and gender in his time and construct a carnivalized world full of dandies，his ideal embodiment of ascetic expression.（周小儀 1994：95-101）

Ⅱ.3 Summary

Based on the literature review above about the research at home and abroad，it is easy to get to the point that some critics discuss this play from some perspectives such as the language，subversion，and social meanings.The author would like to absorb their experiences and useful material，longing to do some research academically and practically on the basis of new criticism.

Ⅲ.Theoretical Approach

New Criticism involves the close and careful reading and interpretation of individual literary texts.

With adopting some useful elements from Formalism，New Criticism studies the relationships between a texts content and its form，between what a text conveys and the way it adopts.The New Critics “may find tension，irony，or paradox in this relation，but they usually resolve it into unity and coherence of meaning.”（Biddle，Fulwiler 1989：100）

New Criticism is “a ‘formalist’ approach to literature — that is，it pays close and careful attention to the language，form，and structure of literary texts while regarding individual texts （rather than historical context or broad generic trends） as the principal object of critical investigation.”（Booker 1996：14）

The New Critics argued that the meaning of literary texts resides primarily in the texts themselves.They insisted that literature should be read “in special ways because style，form，and technique play roles in literary texts that are different from （and more important than） the roles they play in ordinary discursive texts.”（Booker 1996：14）

“Their continual focus on the organic unity of the work of art and on the relative independence of art from the social and political world is typical of the New Critical project as a whole.”（Booker 1996：20） For the New Critics，a successful work of literature is always that which “employs a number of complex literary strategies to indicate a multiplicity of possible meanings but then resolves these multiple possibilities through the close integration of the various elements of the work into a coherent whole.”（Booker 1996：20）

Ⅳ.Discussion

This part，concentrating on the languages in The Importance of Being Earnest through the approaches applied by New Criticism，aims to interpret and appreciate the skillful diction and expressional characteristic.

Wilde always uses some humorous expressions to give the atmosphere of comedy.Take some paragraphs for example：

“Algernon： What on earth do you do there？

Jack（pulling off his gloves）： When one is in town one amuses oneself.When one is in the country one amuses other people.It is excessively boring.”（Wilde 1994：8）

From the above，we can see that Wilde shows the cynical attitude to Jack.And the following example will show lady Bracknells acerbic attitude and hypocritical appearance.

“Lady Bracknell：…What is your income？

Jack： Between seven and eight thousands a year.

Lady Bracknell（makes a note in her book）： In land，or in investments？

Jack： In investment，chiefly.

Lady Bracknell： That is satisfactory.What between the duties expected of one during ones lifetime，and the duties exacted from one after ones death，land has ceased to be either a profit or a pleasure.It gives one position，and prevents one from keeping it up.Thats all that can be said about land.”（Wilde 1994：20-21）

The famous critic of new criticism Cleanth Brooks summarizes that there are three main assumptions about New Criticism.Firstly，the critics interest ultimately should be focused on the work itself，not the authors intention，nor the readers response.Secondly，the purpose of this attention is to expose the works unity；every element should support its unifying theme.Thirdly，the work should also have some sort of complexity；great literature unifies ambiguities，ironies，and tensions.

When lady Bracknell knew that Ceily has a large amount of fortune，she quickly changed her mind to accept her as the wife of her nephew，though Ceily and Algernon has been toget，her not lasting one hour.

“Lady Bracknell： To speak frankly，I am not in favour of long engagements.They give people the opportunity of finding out each others character before marriage，which I think is never advisable.”（Wilde 1994：59）

New Criticism stresses “the autonomy of the individual work，its creation of meaning internally through language and structure，and its organic unity.It is concerned with the relation between the form of the novel and the meaning of its tragic experience.”（Harvey 2003：160）

The New Critics “prefer ‘difficult’ works that contain apparently illogical and troubling material.They prefer works that stay away from social and historical subject matter and that deal rather with private，personal，and emotional experience.They prefer indirect representation—symbolism，metaphor，connotation—to realistic representation”（Griffith 1998：135）.

Ⅴ.Conclusion

The genre in Oscar Wildes The Importance of Being Earnest has been discussed through the methodology and theory of New Criticism，especially by Cleanth Brooks theory.In this short essay，the author mainly talks the language as well as the form，structure in this play，showing another view of researching Oscar Wildes The Importance of Being Earnest.

In the process of writing this essay，the author finds out that there are many short comings for the author to look for the whole source about Oscar Wilde，and the author could not get the higher level in doing research.The author believes that in the future study，some more materials will be achieved，which will do some favor to the research.And the author thinks that the inner side of the female characters will be paid more attention，because from their point of view，the readers can get another mind of this play.

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