The Nature of Beauty

Aesthetic n.- a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste and with the creation of and appreciation of beauty; a pleasing appearance or effect: BEAUTY Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary Tenth Edition

Defining the world (or worlds) of a show is one of the most important initial phases of the production. Before the designers can build the set, light the stage, and costume the actors, the director has to develop a jumping-off point by deciding what defines the world of the play: When and where does the story take place? Will it be cramped and claustrophobic or open and free? Is it mythic or historically accurate? Is it a world of ghouls and goblins or farmers and peasants? For UMass Theater’s production of The Importance of Being Earnest, the director decided that Wilde’s play was a “comedy of manners” and could only exist in its original setting: Victorian England in the 1890s. Beyond that, he decided that the characters fell into three different categories: aesthetes, non-aesthetes, and exceptions to the rules. These classifications came to define everything from how the characters get what they want to the clothes on their backs.

AESTHETES Aesthete- One having or affecting sensitivity to the beautiful, esp. in art The term comes to us from the British and its first recorded use was in 1881 (The Importance of Being Earnest celebrated the birth of the “aesthete” less than twenty years later, in 1895). Wilde’s aesthetes are brilliantly witty, avoid work at all costs, and prize appearance above all else. In the world we’ve created, the aesthetes include the four principle characters: Jack, Algernon, Gwendolen, and Cecily. We decided that these young lovers, who can pull a perfectly phrased line right out of the air at a moment’s notice can do the same with a more material thing: a diary, for example. All they have to do is focus their attention on a thing and they can will it into being: the set and props for the production only exist when these characters give them their attention, and then they magically appear. NON-

AESTHETES
Non-Aesthetes are the opposites of Aesthetes. Non-Aesthetes are just what they sound- the opposite of Aesthetes. They have no sense of the delicate beauty of life and it takes a lot of hard work for them to get what they want. There is none of the easy wit or graceful appearance that is characteristic of an Aesthete. Miss Prism, Dr. Chasuble, and Merriman are the production’s NonAesthetes. Things do not appear out of mid-air for these characters: a pile of books or a watering can prove a daunting opponent. Even their dress reflects their toils: the colors are earthy and mundane in contrast to the jewel-toned Aesthetes.

EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULES
Those outside the Aesthete and NonAesthete categories. In this world of wit and manners, where appearance matters most, there are those who do not fully belong to either the Aesthetes or their opposites: Lady Bracknell and Lane. Lady Bracknell is Gwendolen’s mother, a woman of great status. While she could probably overpower any of the younger Aesthetes, her power is such that she does not need to engage it as frequently as they do. One gets the sense that it’s not that she can’t but that she simply doesn’t need to. Lane, on the other hand, is a servant who plays the Aesthetes’ game well. He is equally witty and presentational but he simply doesn’t care. While they will their world into being, causing things to simply fall from the sky into their hands, Lane goes about his business with style but without that same desire. In grouping the characters into three categories, the director was able to begin to define the characters’ worlds and articulate these worlds not only for the designers but for himself and the actors as they began rehearsals. That’s a lot of impact for a simple idea: Aesthetes, Non-Aesthetes, and the Exceptions to the Rules!