兒戲人生：王爾德的《不可兒戲》

Toy with that Tiger Life: The Carnivalesque in Oscar Wilde's 'The Importance of Being Earnest'

本論文擬借用巴赫汀的「嘉年華」論述再探王爾德的《不可兒戲》，呈現劇中「嘉年華」的特色和意義。第一部分指出王爾德的創作原則，以「顛倒」的方法達到「顛覆」的目的，建立一個混亂脫序的世界，這也是嘉年華歡笑運行的方式和造就的時空。顛倒/顛覆的手法主要運用在語言和角色塑造上。和「嘉年華」語言一樣，《不可兒戲》的語言極具嘲弄、顛覆的力量，對於維多利亞時期的意識形態、傳統信念和價值觀，無所不扭曲、攻訐。在角色個性方面，男性的陽剛特質顯現在女性身上，男性則被動、陰柔；該劇模糊了性別界線，演繹嘉年華中的性別越界。第二部分探討劇中人物的雙重身分：他們或扮演或虛構他人，擺脫身分和階級的設限，領略不同的經驗和樂趣，和嘉年華中配戴面具、扮演他人一樣，獲得解放和歡樂。第三部分則分析巴赫汀之「詭異的寫實主義」如何見於放縱食慾的年輕肉體、機械化且一致性的動作舉止、以及男性化的女性形象。第四部分闡釋《不可兒戲》之政治內涵，即它和王爾德〈社會主義下的人類靈魂〉中之政治理念的共通點，以及劇中愛爾蘭幽默對英國殖民霸權的嘲弄、挑釁；如同嘉年華之歡笑烏托邦，王爾德的鬧劇世界亦具政治性的顛覆力量。藉由巴赫汀的「嘉年華」理論，作者希望張顯《不可兒戲》中向被忽略的政治意涵。

This essay attempts to offer a Bakhtinian reading of Oscar Wilde's ”The Importance of Being Earnest”, presenting the carnivalesque in it. The first part points out that Wilde's principle of creating the farce is to invert so as to subvert, which is also the way laughter operates in carnival. The method of inversion/subversion is mainly employed in language and characterization. The second part explores the multiple identities in the farce; like people wearing masks and playing others in carnival, the characters fictionalize or assume different identities to liberate themselves from the responsibilities and limitations imposed by the society and have different experiences and pleasures. The third part focuses on the young bodies indulging in eating and drinking, the mechanical and symmetrical movements, and the monstrous female image, all of which portray the ”grotesque realism” in carnival. The fourth part argues that ”Earnest” is a political farce by elaborating on the parallels between it and Wilde's political writing, ”The Soul of Man under Socialism,” and exposing Wilde's mockery of and challenge to British hegemony with his Irish humor. By using Bakhtin's theorization of carnival, the author hopes to provide a research work on the carnivalesque in the renowned and popular farce, with an emphasis on its political subversion.