Dandy As An Alternative Clown

Shakespeare and Wilde are two eminent playwrights in the history of English literature. As comedians, both dramatists are prolific and prominent in shaping comic characters. Especially through the characters clown and dandy, both Shakespeare and Wilde expressed most of their understanding of the world. In recent years, many scholars have paid attention to the relationship of the two playwrights concerning the themes of homosexuality, aesthetics and so on. There are even some scholars who have pointed out that Wilde’s dandies have something in common with Shakespearian clowns.Therefore, this thesis aims at pointing out the inheritance from the Shakespearian clowns in Wilde’s dandies through the following three aspects:the art of language, the spirit of critique and the philosophy of life. The unification in the three layers shows that the Shakespearian clowns and Wilde’s dandies though appearing opposite in status share similar functions in the comedies, which proves that Wilde’s dandies might be regarded as a sort of Shakespearian heritage of the clowns. And this thesis tries to probe into the inheritance from the following aspects.In the first place, this thesis probes into the art of language used in the clowns and the dandies and affirms the linguistic inheritance from the Shakespearian clowns in the Wilde’s dandies. In spite of owning distinct linguistic features, Shakespeare and Wilde share the mastery of English language and rhetorical devices. In particular, dandies in Wilde and clowns in Shakespeare exemplify the two dramatists’ eminence in language to the outmost. Frequently, the dandies and the clowns adopt such devices like pun, paradox, metaphor and many others. With the help of those rhetorical devices, the dandies and the clowns play with the words as well as the world. Especially in the disguise of puns and metaphors, the two characters pretend to be foolish or trivial, yet being wise and serious on the contrary.In the second place, both dandies and clowns play the identical role of commentator in the comedies. The critical potential in both the dandies and the clowns exists everywhere. With the help of those rhetorical devices and the disguise of the motley or the fancy dresses, both the dandies and the clowns enjoy a high level of freedom which enables them to talk after their will and to criticize following their hearts. Under a paradox or a quibble, they air their shrewd criticism around upon the wealthy, the influential, the marriage system and whatever they find faults in.Lastly, the philosophical potential in Wilde’s dandies may stem from Shakespearian clowns as well. For one thing, both of the two characters lead paradoxical lives, for they pretend to be the opposite of what they really are. To survive the world, they choose to withdraw themselves from the society, which can be counted as their philosophy towards life. For another, they keep on airing their meditative thoughts as well as the philosophical contemplations, in the aim of warning and advising the people around.Overall, in the form of the rhetorical devices such as metaphors, paradoxes and puns, the dandies and the clowns finish their functions as critics and philosophers. Therefore, in terms of their functions in the comedies, the character dandy in essence is identical to the Shakespearian clown thus can be referred to as a sort of comic inheritance from Shakespearian comedies.