위철리의 솔직한 사람 읽기: 과연 ‘솔직한 사람’은 있는가?
Reading William Wycherley’s The Plain-Dealer: Is There a Plain-Dealer?
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In The Plain-Dealer(1676) William Wycherley makes an ironic attempt through Manly the Plain-Dealer to depict hypocrisy in Restoration society. In this study, I try to answer the question “Is there a Plain-Dealer?” in The Plain-Dealer(1676). To achieve this I’ll show that Wycherley dramatizes the ironic world through the play. Wycherley dedicated The Plain Dealer to Mother Bennet, a famous bawd, to lampoon hypocrisy in aristocratic society. By signing ‘The Plain Dealer’ at the end of the dedication, the dramatist seems to identify himself with his protagonist, Manly. Furthermore, in the prologue Wycherley confirms his satiric view on society through Manly and proclaims that he would dramatize the world where ‘plain-dealing’ is rewarded. This play is composed of Manly plot and Freeman plot. The two are united in the fact that both Manly and Freeman know hypocritical qualities the aristocratic society possesses. But they are different because Freeman seems to be an aristocratic parasite and Manly is at best the illusionary Plain-Dealer. It is in Westminster Hall that Manly starts to reveal his affinities with the society he rejects. He becomes ironically a complete hypocrite by making the disguised Fidelia a pimp for raping Olivia in the name of revenge. Finally Manly and Freeman received beyond what they deserve. Fidelia’s ‘virtue’ saves Manly and reconciles him with the World. However, the problem with this final solution is that it is based upon the unrealistic Fidelia. In the end Wycherley ironically contributes to the established social order while he reveals double ironies, asserting aristocratic ideology only to demonstrate its fictionality, proclaiming aristocratic values only to disclose the fact that the genuine Plain-Dealer can’t live in the established society. Consequently, it can be said that Wycherley as a courtly playwright lives within the discourse of the times and is anxious to maintain the status quo, but he cannot unconsciously help revealing the change of paradigm.
Abstract
In The Plain-Dealer(1676) William Wycherley makes an ironic attempt through Manly the Plain-Dealer to depict hypocrisy in Restoration society. In this study, I try to answer the question “Is there a Plain-Dealer?” in The Plain-Dealer(1676). To achieve this I’ll show that Wycherley dramatizes the ironic world through the play. Wycherley dedicated The Plain Dealer to Mother Bennet, a famous bawd, to lampoon hypocrisy in aristocratic society. By signing ‘The Plain Dealer’ at the end of the dedication, the dramatist seems to identify himself with his protagonist, Manly. Furthermore, in the prologue Wycherley confirms his satiric view on society through Manly and proclaims that he would dramatize the world where ‘plain-dealing’ is rewarded. This play is composed of Manly plot and Freeman plot. The two are united in the fact that both Manly and Freeman know hypocritical qualities the aristocratic society possesses. But they are different because Freeman seems to be an aristocratic parasite and Manly is at best the illusionary Plain-Dealer. It is in Westminster Hall that Manly starts to reveal his affinities with the society he rejects. He becomes ironically a complete hypocrite by making the disguised Fidelia a pimp for raping Olivia in the name of revenge. Finally Manly and Freeman received beyond what they deserve. Fidelia’s ‘virtue’ saves Manly and reconciles him with the World. However, the problem with this final solution is that it is based upon the unrealistic Fidelia. In the end Wycherley ironically contributes to the established social order while he reveals double ironies, asserting aristocratic ideology only to demonstrate its fictionality, proclaiming aristocratic values only to disclose the fact that the genuine Plain-Dealer can’t live in the established society. Consequently, it can be said that Wycherley as a courtly playwright lives within the discourse of the times and is anxious to maintain the status quo, but he cannot unconsciously help revealing the change of paradigm.
참고문헌 (21)
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