OTHER DRAMATISTS
1. Oscar O. W. Wilde (1856–1900) was the son of a famous Irish surgeon, and was educated at Dublin and Oxford. At Oxford he distinguished himself both as a scholar and as an eccentric. In the latter capacity he posed as an “æsthete” in opposition to the common type of “athlete,” wearing fantastic garments, and behaving with an extraordinary combination of folly, extravagance, and presumption. On leaving the university he dabbled in literature in an amateurish fashion, writing poems, novels, and plays, and contributing to magazines and reviews. His opinions—he held that “morality” does not exist in “art”—led to much heated discussion, and to many charges being made against his moral character. Wilde instituted proceedings for libel, which in turn brought to light many unpleasant facts against him, and in the end landed him in jail (1895). On regaining his liberty (1897) he lived a wandering life on the Continent, and died miserably in Paris.
Wilde’s early poems and novels, an example of which latter is The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), are sumptuous in detail, cynically phrased, and richly ornamented in style;[237] but over them all is a curious taint, a faint malodorous corruption, that repels the healthy-minded reader. His plays, however, almost escape this infection. In tone they are hard and cynical, and in the portrayal of character they are exceedingly weak, but they are brilliant with epigram and telling phrase, are ingeniously contrived, and have many clever situations. They are the cleverest society comedies since the days of Wilde’s great fellow-country-man Sheridan. The best of them are Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895).
2. John Galsworthy (born in 1867) in drama takes the place occupied in the novel by Gissing. In sincerity, in his close scrutiny of the vexed problems of to-day, and in his deep sympathy for the poor and wretched Mr. Galsworthy much resembles the earlier novelist. As a playwright, however, he is too deeply engrossed with his problems to do complete justice to his talents. He is too serious, his humor is wan and meager, and the severe detachment of his plays makes them rather cold and depressing. The Silver Box (1906) deals with the inequality of “justice” as it is administered in the police courts; Joy (1907), Strife (1909), and Justice (1910) discuss various social and domestic problems; and The Skin Game (1920) deals with the post-war profiteer.
Mr. Galsworthy has written a considerable number of novels, which culminate in The Forsyte Saga (1922). This immense work includes three longish novels and two shorter tales, all of which had previously been published individually. In its breadth and power of comprehension, and in its keen and destructive vision into social and personal weaknesses, the book takes rank as one of the most noteworthy of the present day.
3. Sir James Barrie was born in 1860 at Kirriemuir, a small town in Forfarshire. Educated at Dumfries and at Edinburgh University, he became a journalist, settling ultimately in London. His early sketches and novels, such as Auld Licht Idylls (1888), A Window in Thrums (1889), and Sentimental Tommy (1896), squared with the average Englishman’s notions of Scotland, and were exceedingly successful. The element of pathos was heavily drawn upon, and their quaint and attractive humor—a delicate compound of fancy, pathos, and whimsical sentiment—was something quite new of its kind.
His plays strongly resemble the novels. In them he displays a sweet ethereal fancy that adds to the humor and pathos. The Admirable Crichton (1903) is fresh and delightful; Peter Pan, a golden venture into unashamed nonsense, is to the stage what Alice in Wonderland is to literature—a children’s classic; and Quality Street (1901), What Every Woman Knows (1908), A Kiss for Cinderella (1916), Dear Brutus (1917), and Mary Rose (1920) have the sweetly sensitive tears-in-laughter that make the Barrie plays quite different from all others.
4. John M. Synge (1871–1909) deserves mention as being the most important playwright of the purely Celtic school. He was always in delicate health, and his period of play-writing was very brief. During the years of his literary output he lived in close association with Irish peasantry, especially that of the Aran Islands, where the Celtic spirit is least affected by modern movements.
The Shadow of the Glen (1903) and Riders to the Sea (1904) are short plays of one act; and with the longer plays called The Well of the Saints (1905), The Playboy of the Western World (1907), The Tinker’s Wedding (1909), and Deirdre of the Sorrows (1910), they represent his published works. All portray the life of the Irish peasant; but it is the peasant as viewed from the outside by the cultured literary man. The observation is often keen, and the satiric intention apparent; but the peasant remains an idealized literary figure, and his language is idealized language. As acting plays, moreover, they are heavy and lifeless, for Synge was little skilled in stage technique. Their real importance lies in their style: a slow-moving, wonderful prose, rich in poetic embellishment and sonorous rhythms, and full of the typical Celtic mysticism. Consequently Synge’s plays will be read far more than they will be acted. A specimen of his style will be found on p. [568].