The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde is a multidimensional play that touches on many themes. One theme in particular that stood out to me was the theme of absolute truth. The theme emerges rather quickly in the play, in Act I, when Algernon discovers a different name in Jack’s cigarette case and learns of Jack’s separate identity. Jack responds to Algernon’s confrontation by describing that his name is “Ernst in town and Jack in the country” (Wilde 778). This sets a precedent for the reminder of the play, building its foundation on the premise of alternate truth. In that same vein, Kovarik’s discussion in the Revolutions in Communications of the early stages of the commercial and industrial media revolution relates to this theme of alternate vs. absolute truth as well. This is best seen through the New York Sun’s emphasis on the “human condition, in ways that the elite papers did not” (Kovarik 50). More specifically, the news outlet’s efforts to emphasize one type of story and inherently omit others creates an absence of truth. This is also seen in James Gordon Bennett’s, the founder of the Herald, style of journalism. Described as one the most successful penny newspapers, the paper was famous for its sensationalism where many people were “victims of his pen” (Koravik 52). This kind of reporting and its rhetoric alters the truth as well, mutilating the reality of the news story.

In chapter 5 of Theater Histories, Zarrilli discusses sentimental aspect of theater. Zarrilli states that “sentimental plays sought to evoke a benevolent community in the audience” (Zarrilli 238). Much like sensationalism and selecting certain stories to report in journalism, both mediums of theater and media strive to touch human emotions. Perhaps this was Wilde’s effort in the Importance of Being Earnest when he created a world filled with layers of truth or lack there of. Maybe the lack of truth, specifically in identity, is a commonality of all of us, something everyone experiences. In closing, I still have a couple questions. First, is truthful entertainment possible? Another question of mine is, would you describe the Importance of Being Earnest as a truthful play in terms of our reality and the world we live in? And lastly, how can we relate this idea of truth to social media?

-Hannah Hirschfeld

In Anne Washburn’s play Mr. Burns, we encounter a world post-nuclear apocalypse where the remaining scattered population is desperately trying to hold on to the last vestiges of normalcy from their old lives. We see them mimetically trying to reproduce episodes of The Simpsons in an effort to find unity and recreate the joy they found in the original episodes, much like Zarrilli et al.’s description of early mimetic communication (Zarrilli et al., pg. 5). As the reproduction of the Cape Feare episode goes from being a story told verbally (Act I) to becoming a full-fledged production (Act II) to becoming a warped, grim facsimile of its original source material (Act III), we begin to see the transmission of the episode as a giant game of Telephone. With each reiteration, Cape Feare becomes less and less like its original script and more a creation of the people performing it. Kovarik wrote that “recorded history represents our collective memory,” and much in this way, the oral record of The Simpsons become gradually combined with the real world memories of the people living through a nuclear apocalypse (Kovarik, pg. 2). By the time we reach Act III 75 years in the future, the version of Cape Feare is so far removed from its original script that only the bare bones may be recognized. As the original comedy is joined with the tragic world narrative, the play becomes strongly reminiscent of a Greek tragedy where, despite all the hero’s best efforts, he cannot avoid his downfall predicted by the chorus.

One other significant theme is the commodification of theater. In Act II, we see that the characters are buying and bartering for lines and episodes in a marketplace which is both competitive and violent. Why is it that in times of desperation, when we may assume that resources are few and far-between, theater is what people cling to most desperately? Why is recapturing the past so important? Additionally, what does it mean something produced as media becomes both a live performance and part of our own history?

-Axis Fuksman-Kumpa