The drama of Oscar Wilde : contesting Victorian gender dynamics

Abstract

This thesis will analyse Oscar Wilde’s dramatic characters and propose that he challenged the typical Victorian gender roles on the stage, and re-imagined more modern modes of masculinity and femininity in his plays. In his plays Wilde's unconventionally strong female characters and his often passive male characters satirise the essentialist Victorian perception of gender, and suggest the need for more liberating gender roles both on the stage and in Victorian society.