Last Word on Last Words

Okay, maybe that's a false promise, since I never completely finish noodling with topics, and Candy's last comment makes me want to launch into this huge analysis of the non-happy endings of Grimms' and other non-English variants of the fairy tales (and E.T.A. Hoffmann), but instead I wanted to drop a very short note about how happy endings in a couple of Oscar Wilde plays, Lady Windermere's Fan and The Importance of Being Earnest.

In LWF, the final denouement's function, aside from giving us a brief moment of concern on the Lady's behalf that Mrs. Erlynne has spilled the beans, essentially erases nearly all of the sting from Erlynne's earlier sacrifice, which deflates the drama but makes the ending more "happy." Why would Wilde do that, besides to produce a pleasant echo of the not-miserable fate of the lovely Becky Sharp? It not only wouldn't be required in a conventional plot (Erlynne's cynical pairing is one of convenience, not the central love interest), but, as noted above, actually works against the classical balance of the plot. My tentative answer: it intentionally play against the moralism that's mocked throughout the play by making sacrifice-for-the-greater-good largely unnecessary, but also to defuse any lingering regrets the playgoer may have on Mrs. Erlynne's behalf. It eliminates the pathos.

In the same way, the "happy" ending of IBE, with both insipid-but-witty couples happily paired up is not the resolution of the "plot," such as it is, but a way to ensure nothing of any emotional note interferes with the appreciation of Wilde's wit. We don't have much invested in these people - and that's not because Wilde couldn't pluck those strings when so inclined (See: "The Happy Prince") We don't sigh, "Ahh," at the promised wedding beels at the end of IBE, we leave with a grin or a smirk. The happy ending is simply the absence of a jarring unhappy ending or an unsettling ambiguity.

Next genre noodling: against plot and why overheard conversations always sound stupid.