How Do I Love Thee?

Ok, so this is not about Elizabeth Barrett Browning, but it is still about romance and love. It is still about finding that one special person and getting to know that "real" person. In reading Sure Thing by David Ives and The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, the reader picks up on a unanimous theme, love and romance. Only the road to true love seems to be a bit rocky in both plays. Of course, different authors, different characters and different settings all make for different stories. The time period in which an author writes also influences the way a story, or in this case a play, plays out. Ives wrote his play short, sweet and to the point with little details to interfere; while Wilde took more time and detail for the romance to travel its course through time. Despite the similarity in the romance department, the differences make it astounding to the reader on how the characters found love and romance.

Ives began his play, Sure Thing, in the same way that many of the relationships begin in modern day - by chance, by happenstance. Bill and Betty, two strangers in a café, have a chance meeting with romance to ensue (or so the reader is led to believe). Only in real life, a bell does not ring when the wrong thing is said; time does not rewind to give a person "do-overs" until it is right. Yet, Ives gave Bill and Betty "do-overs" throughout the short span of the play. The comedic dating disasters are erased by the bell each time, allowing them to dance their way through the entire getting-to-know-you process. In a comedy of errors, Bill and Betty are able to fix their blunders until they find that real connection between them that leads the reader to the assumption of a happy future together for Bill and Betty.

Romance begins with deception in the play The Importance of Being Earnest and the deception leads to intrigue, then to honesty and finally it comes to realizations of truth, thus bringing everything full circle. Jack pretends to have this brother Ernest that is always in trouble, just so that Jack has an escape. Jack falls in love and when the proposal of marriage arises, that is when the question of Jack/Ernest's heritage comes up; Lady Bracknell tells him that he is not good enough for Gwendolen, her daughter. His best friend, Algernon, finds out about his alter ego of Ernest and then decides to assume that very same identity to meet Cecily, Jack's ward. Suddenly, Gwendolen is claiming she is engaged to Ernest (really Jack) and Cecily is claiming to be engaged to Ernest (really Algernon). When all is said and done, the characters, and the readers, discover that Wilde had a surprise in mind, everyone finds out the truth as to who is really who in the strange turn of events at the end of the play.

When David Ives wrote his play Sure Thing, he wrote it in one act. Sure Thing is a quick and captivating, one act comedic adventure that enlist a power that many readers wish that they could possess; the power to rewind time when they stick their foot in their mouth while trying to make a good first impression. The play is quick and full of problems that any first chance meeting could possibly have. Betty and Bill interact with one another with quick and snappy pick-up lines, trying to find the right thing. The fast pace and short one-liners of the characters make this play a fast read. Ives wrote this play in a fast pace to keep the readers on edge and to take them off guard. The quick pace was set to keep the reader unaware with no recovery time before the next statement changes the topic. The fast pace, one liners and pick-up lines that Ives used works well in this play; although if he had made the play longer and continued the fast pace and quick quips of the conversation, the reader would probably tire quickly and most definitely, so would the actors. For instance, the opening lines,
"BILL: Excuse me. Is this chair taken? BETTY: Excuse me? BILL: Is this taken? BETTY: Yes, it is. BILL: Oh. Sorry. BETTY: Sure thing. (A bell rings softly.)" (Kennedy, 2005, p.1334)
is just the beginning of the fast and wild ride that Ives is about to take the reader on. Six lines and the characters are already in the middle of a re-write of their first conversation trying again to impress one another.

Unlike Sure Thing, Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest uses four acts to dramatize the romance and intrigue. There is no quick wit, there is no bell for "do-overs" and there are no one-liners from the characters. In comparison to Ives' Sure Thing, Earnest could be considered to be long and drawn out, but in reality, it is of average length. Wilde uses every bit of the play to describe the intricate web of lies, the game of deceit and never ending romance so that nothing is lost to the reader. He wants to make sure that he has enough information in the play to make the reader interested. Yet, not too much information too fast, because he has some surprises for the characters and also for the reader. When Wilde's character of Jack (pretending to be Ernest) mentions to Lady Bracknell about his unknown heritage; he was found inside a black purse from the coat closet at the Victoria Train Station. Here, the reader is given just enough information to be intrigued without leaving them hanging, yet not given too much information so Wilde could return to that information in a surprising turn of events at the ending.
"LADY BRACKNELL: Where did the charitable gentleman who had a first class ticket for this seaside resort find you? JACK (gravely): In a hand-bag. LADY BRACKNELL: A hand-bag? JACK (very seriously): Yes, Lady Bracknell. I was in a hand-bag- a somewhat large, black leather hand-bag, with handles to it - an ordinary hand-bag in fact. LADY BRACKNELL: In what locality did this Mr. James, or Thomas, Cardew come across this ordinary bag? JACK: In the cloak room at Victoria Station. It was given to him in mistake for his own." (Wilde, 2003, pp.23-24).
The reader got enough information to answer Lady Bracknell's question, but not too much information where Wilde couldn't continue this story line later on in the play. Also, it was not so long into the play where Wilde re-visited this statement where the reader could not recollect this interchange between the two characters.

The simplistic number of characters in Sure Thing allows for the audience to learn about a man and woman who have never met before and who seem to focus on some sort of romantic notion. The play, with its quick beginning, is representative of how many relationships start in modern day: two people meet, find each other attractive, and then suddenly, they are in a full blown relationship where they really do not know the other person. The play ends so suddenly that the reader is left with an assumptive conclusion because Ives never really gave Bill and Betty, or the reader a proper conclusion. In modern times, Ives' play could be representative of many modern day relationships: two strangers meet and end up together in a meaningless relationship with no inclinations of ever finding a deeper meaning or connection. The abrupt ending of the play and the implied enthusiasm of the final statements,
"BILL: Do you still want to go to the movies? BETTY: Sure thing. BILL AND BETTY (together): Waiter!" (Kennedy, 2005, p.1343)
leads the reader to assume that Bill and Betty are off to begin their meaningless romance as soon as the movie is over. The lack of other characters allows the reader to direct all their attention on the banter of these two people that are just trying to find that "Mr. or Mrs. Right." The ringing of the bell resets the situation for Bill and Betty to find the perfect situation in their conversation to find that "sure thing" relationship.

In Earnest, the play consists of a variety of characters, but in reality it is really one character short. The most sought after character in the play does not even exist and this is the comedic irony of the play. Everyone wants to be him and everyone wants what they cannot have. Jack wants to be Ernest for a means of escape, Algernon wants to be Ernest in attempt to meet and wed Cecily, Cecily and Gwendolen want to wed Ernest, but there is no Ernest, or is there? In the beginning of the play, Ernest is a character of Jack's imagination. Again, the characters are trying to find an ideal person; only in this play, the characters are not looking for a relationship so much as a lifestyle. Cecily fancies herself in love with Ernest. Many years of "bad Ernest" stories from her guardian, Jack and led to a relationship of imagination. Gwendolen is looking for the romance that Ernest/Jack provides to her during his jaunts to London. Jack is looking for freedom from responsibility and seeking adventure by being his troublesome, younger brother, Ernest and Algernon is looking to meet this Cecily that he has heard so much about and is intrigued with. Strangely, the characters lack of complete surprise in the finding out that Jack is really Ernest, the lost baby of Lady Bracknell's sister later found in a hand-bag by Mr. Cardew, is comedic as well. Through the revelations of Jack being Ernest and Ernest being Algernon's older brother and Lady Bracknell's missing nephew, the lines of the play are rather muted,
"LADY BRACKNELL: Under these strange and unforeseen circumstances you can kiss your Aunt Augusta. JACK (staying where he is): I am dazed with happiness. (kisses GWENDOLEN.) I hardly know who I am kissing." (Wilde, 2003, p.89).
The characters lack of enthusiasm and excitement of finding a lost family member is at best minimal; especially when the lost family member pretended to be his real self without any knowledge of it makes the play The Importance of Being Ernest, comical.

Sure Thing is based on the modern day dating scene. The café and the language are surreal in the manner that when Ives wrote this play in 1993, a café was not as commonplace as it is today, thirteen years later. The setting of the café limits the reader's imagination to just one location. There is no evidence of other things going on around them to add a distraction to the theme of finding that right person. The setting of the café also lends a feel of class, society and upbringing to the standards of the person that Bill and Betty are looking for in a relationship. At the time that Ives wrote Sure Thing, a café was less of a college scene and more of a yuppie scene; the business class, or professional class actually. The play insinuates this as well in the sense in which Bill and Betty talk about the Peace Corps, Woody Allen's movie Bananas -
"BILL: The Woody Allen Festival? BETTY: Just up the street. BILL: Do you like the early ones? BETTY: I think that anybody who doesn't ought to be run off the planet. BILL: How many times have you seen Bananas? BETTY: Eight times. BILL: Twelve. So are you still interested? (Long pause.)" (Kennedy, 2005, p.1342), sentiments of society against marriage and having children that will go to Ivy League colleges of Harvard, Vasser and Brown- "BILL: And children? BETTY: Three of them. BILL: Two girls and a boy. BETTY: Harvard, Vasser and Brown." (Kennedy, 2005, p.1343).
These sentiments are less of a concern in modern day as they were when Ives wrote the play. Using his clues from the times around him, Ives seems to have written Sure Thing based on the principle idea of what would happen if a chance encounter went bad and how would it be different if they could start over. The setting allowed for the mood to be set that Bill and Betty would be looking for someone with a certain social class and that the society in which a person lives reflects upon their ideals for relationships as well as life.

The setting is a major element in this play because it is the basis for Jack's alias of Ernest. This is a comedic part of the development of the incidental and unintentional misunderstandings. The primary settings are in the city: London, England, and in the countryside of Hertfordshire, England. The setting of London is where Ernest has a tendency to find trouble and his elder brother, Jack must always go to save him, when in all reality, Jack uses his double identity as a means of escape. When Algernon questions Ernest on whom Jack really is Jack admits that he is really Ernest and that Ernest does not exist. Algernon questions Jack as to why and Jack admits that
"JACK: My dear Algy, I don't know whether you will be able to understand my real motives. You are hardly serious enough. When one is placed in the position of guardian, one has to adopt a very high moral tone on all subjects. It's one's duty to do so. And as a high moral tone can hardly be said to conduce very much to either one's health or to one's happiness if carried to excess, in order to get up to town I have always pretended to have a younger brother of the name of Ernest, who lives in Albany, and gets in to the most dreadful scrapes. That my dear Algy, is the whole truth, pure and simple." (Wilde, 2003, p.13).
The setting lends an air of intrigue because the play begins with Jack in London as Ernest and the reader is introduced to the deception right away. Yet the reader is clueless as to why Jack "runs" to London for escape as often as he does if Cecily is as sweet as he claims. We then learn that Jack plans to kill off Ernest and be done with the double life, but instead Algernon assumes the role of Jack and the play then moves to Hertfordshire. Here Ernest begins a new life and the all the misunderstandings just follow along. In London, Jack/Ernest is engaged to Gwendolen, but then in Hertfordshire, Cecily ends up engaged to Algernon/Ernest and when the ladies meet, eyebrows are raised and questions are asked. The story ends in Hertfordshire, the very place it began when Jack decided he needed an escape. The setting is again a direct relation to the very way the characters act. In London, they are fun and fancy free, where in Hertfordshire they are subdued and quiet. Thus, the setting lends to the comedic element as it seemingly allows the story to come full circle.
Through the course of these two plays, the reader is introduced to two different comedies and they both have the same theme; love and romance. The periods of the authors make a major impact on the way the plays are written and the direction of the story lines. Short and sweet or an afternoon read, either way, the plays, the authors, they both lead the reader through a sea of intrigue and laughs. The reader is left with questions, but still have enough details to be able to finish the story on their own if they so choose. Wilde and Ives were both men beyond their times and their work may be criticized or revered, but the stories are fun and light and a great pick me up whenever one is needed.

REFERENCES:
Ives, D. (1993). Sure Thing. In Kennedy, X.J. & Gioia, D. (2005). Literature: An introduction to fiction, poetry, and drama (9th ed.). (pp. 1334-1343). New York: Pearson Education.
Kennedy, X.J. & Gioia, D. (2005). Literature: An introduction to fiction, poetry, and drama
(9th ed). (Chap. 40). New York: Pearson Education.
Wilde, O. (2003). The importance of being Ernest and four other plays (pp. 7-93). New
York: Fine Creative Media Inc.