The Origins of The Importance of Being Earnest

The Origins of The Importance ofBeing Earnest PETER RABY The progress of The Importance of Being Earnest from its first embryonic state in the summer of 1894 to the triumphant opening at the St James's Theatre on February 14th, 1895 is both complex and obscure. There are gaps in Wilde's correspondence, most of which is undated. The relationship between the various drafts, manuscript and typescript, both the three- and four-act version , is hard to establish definitively. The prompt-copy of the first production is missing, though an early prompt-copy of Alexander exists. This essay will begin by tracing some of the background to the play's inception, and propose a few adjustments to the sequence; and it will review one or two stages of the business negotiations which form an integral part of the process which shaped Wilde's last play. The first appearance of the play which became The Importance of Being Earnest was Wilde's letter to George Alexander, written in late July or early August before he left London for a holiday in Worthing with his family. Wilde's introductory comment, "There really is nothing more to tell you about the comedy beyond what I said already," suggests that Wilde had already narrated the story in outline to Alexander, and perhaps to other people, following his long-established practice of refining and polishing his stories through repeated and developing versions. In his long letter, he provided a detailed scenario, specifying the settings, the major scenes, the characters, and even a few key moments of dialogue, and drew attention to the play's nature by stressing its potential charm and lightness: "Well, I think an amusing thing with lots of fun and wit might be made." Having offered the bait in the form of a reasonably firm outline - and Wilde, by this point, had a slightly tarnished track record in the matter of delivering scripts on time - he could then link it with a financial proposal: "If you think so, too, and care to have the refusal of it - do let me know - and send me £150. If, when the play is finished, you think it too slight - not serious enough - of course you can have the £150 back Modern Drama, 37 (1994) 139 140 PETERRABY - I want to go away and write it - and it could be ready in October, as I have nothing else to do...." In this last prediction, Wilde was accurate, a surprising forecast in the face of the disruptions he had to contend with. Whether he really intended the play for Alexander, in view of the play's "slightness," is open to question. But his need for money was urgent: "In the meanwhile, my dear Aleck, I am so pressed for money that I don't know what to do." The lack of money forms a recurrent refrain in his letters from Worthing, a counterpoint to the euphoric flourish which concludes the scenario: "Royalties for a year for author. Manager credited with writing the play. He consoles himself with bags of red gold."} The idea of a new play, a play of a different kind which would bring bags of much needed red gold for the author, had surfaced earlier in the year. Wilde's financial difficulties had grown steadily more severe during 1894, and had been accentuated by the delay in the production of An Ideal Husband, with Hare initially reluctant to release his rights to it. ("You must remember that the fault is not mine that your play was not produced long ago," Hare reminded Wilde, "had it been ready by the time you agreed then it could have been produced to follow Diplomacy.,,)2 Wilde was in detailed correspondence with several managers and producers during 1894 over rights to his plays, both existing and unwritten: with Hare; with Waller over a "triple bill"; with Alexander; with Dion Boucicault, who produced Lady Windermere's Fan at the Lyceum Theatre, Sydney, in May; with the American Palmer, who had asked for a play '''with no real serious interest' - just a comedy"; and with Charles Frohman, potentially his most advantageous contact. Frohman controlled the American rights to Lady Windermere...