Project #2

Macro

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_R%C3%B6ntgen
Wilhelm Roentgen (Germany) discovers X-rays changing how we see medicine today.

http://myidol.americanidol.com/go/thread/view/86789/18577146/***ADAMS_FARM_ANIMALS***?post_id=474479337
Frederick E. Blaisdell patents the pencil


http://charleywag.wordpress.com/
1st cartoon comic strip is printed in a newspaper

http://www.jakvydelat.com/alfred-nobel/

Alfred Nobel establishes Nobel Prize

http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blmotionpictures.htm
Moving picture projector finally patented in 1895




http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2009/11/1102benz-duryea-first-gasoline-auto-race/
The first horseless car race took place in the year 1895.






1895 was the first year that they introduced the rolling bridge.



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1176040/Jack-Ripper-invented-win-tabloid-newspaper-war.html
During the late 1800s there was a man going around killing women making all women very cautious about the way they lived and where. This man went by the name of Jack the Ripper which was given to him by papers of the time.

An antique car from the late 1800s.

This is one of the many examples of what currency would have looked like from the year 1895.

Micro

This shows us how a room from this period and area would have looked at the time in a what we would call middle class house.

The trains was the main way of travel at the time and accidents such as this would have effected the time and frequency of going back and forth between town and the country life that Jack was so accustom to doing.


This would have been the type of journal the little Miss Cecily would have kept all of her personal thoughts in.

This was refereed to as a dog-cart at the time due to the fact it was smaller then an actual cart
.

Perambulator what would have been used to take babies out into the market or from place to place.

Period men's costumes that would have been worn by all of the men at the time with the exception of the butlers who would have been in a more strict dress code.
The dress that would have been worn by Gwendolen or her mother.


http://thevictorianist.blogspot.com/2010_11_01_archive.html
This was one of the many gas factories in London at the time that would have created the fog and haze the London is known for.



http://cgi.ebay.com/QUALITY-ANTIQUE-RUSSIAN-SILVER-CIGARETTE-CASE-c1895-/120566319443
This is the type of cigarette case that Jack would have carried with him.



http://www.davidshure.com/silverware/salvers/d8602.html
This would have been the salver from 1895 that would have been used by the butlers of the time.

The World of the Play

During the time of The Importance of being Earnest it was a completely different world then what we know today. This play takes place during the late 1800s which is just a distant memory. We have many things today that were not even thought possible back then as well as many other things that were invented and still live on in today’s life. During the time of Earnest it was a much simpler life in some ways more difficult in others.

When it came to travel during this time it was a longer process then what we go through today. Where today it may take an hour or so to get from a town out to the country it might have taken them a couple hours if not more depending on where they were traveling too at the time. Such as in this show we have two men that are traveling between town and the country side. However it must not be too far of a distance seeing as they are making the trip with in hours instead of days which would have been common during those days as well. At this point in time we are see most travel being on a train or a ship cars are just now being invented and most people do not even know what they are yet. This is why we see reference to taking the train back to town once Jack has realized that Algernon is at his country home. As for getting to the train station they use what was referred to as dog-carts. These were similar to what we many still see today in the Amish communities; it is a smaller version of the horse drawn carriage.

While everyone knows that technology we different well over 100 years ago many other things were different too. Such as the way social status was viewed within families as well as when it came to marriage and who could marry whom. During this time we see that families with young women that are ready to be married are very picky as to whom they will allow them to marry. In most cases they have to marry someone of the same class or higher. This keeps the wealth in certain families while not allowing those bellow them to marry up just for money. For this reason it is important to know where Jack stands when it comes to social class seeing as he is hoping to get married to Gwendolen who is obviously of a slightly high social status. Where today we see social status as a thing that can be earned and not necessarily what you inherit. Back in the 1800s it was decided by what family you were born into and what that family owned the more you owned as well as what it was could decide whether or not you could marry a certain person.

Another thing that makes the world we live in vs. the world of the play different is which conflicts are going on at the time and what part of the world. Such as wars, murders, or natural disasters; today we have much more of all three then they had back in the 1800s although they did have their fair share of issues. At the time in London most of the women were actually scared for their lives every time they went out and most would not go out unaccompanied due to Jack the Ripper who is now a famous serial killer. This made everyday life for many very hard not knowing where he was at the time or if he was right around the corner. Where today we can track people like that and have an idea of their whereabouts back then they really had no way of telling.

So in many ways while technology changes and people become more accepting of new and different things they had to deal with many things that are still in our society today. This makes this a great play for all time period and geographical areas. Where there are many plays that should not be moved to a different time period because they just would not make since this is not one of those. For directors that want to play with the time line of this show it is very possible to make it just as popular and successful without keeping it in the original time and place.