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The Judas Kiss by David Hare
Oscar Wilde
Lord Alfred Douglas (Bosie)
Robert Ross
Arthur Wellesley
Phoebe Cane
Sandy Moffatt
Galileo Masconi
ACT ONE: DECIDING TO STAY
London 1985
Scene One Lunchtime
Scene Two Teatime
ACT TWO: DECIDING TO LEAVE
Italy 1897
Scene One Dusk
Scene Two Dawn
Act One: Deciding to Stay
Scene One
-

“Romantic orchestral music
...
” → lighting symbolises
exposure of sordid activity, revelations
only room on stage → haven from criticisms of outside world, safe from bleak
future
“huge window is swagged in rich material” → blocking out opinions of
others, sense of concealment and hiding
importance of exits and entrances → well-made play
Ross vs
...
” → jealousy revealed
Ross represents practicalities of situation, Bosie symbolises romanticism
involved → emphasised by proxemics
Wilde drinking a lot by this point → decadence, deterioration of coherence
foreshadows imminent downfall, drinking for comfort and escape
importance of food → opulence, represents short-lived freedom, lack of both
in Act Two
Wilde’s fascination with “tales of suffering and murder” reveals fatalistic
attitude → irony in relation to content of Bible, supposed to epitomise
morality

-

describes Bible as “the essential companion to exile” → refinding Catholic
faith/sense of repentance due to sacrifice of wife and children
“Open that door and the real world comes into this room
...

society conflict, security and safety from social judgement, putting himself in
exile, reluctance to face real world
“he happens to hate my father almost as much as I do myself! → father vs
...
” → artistic temperament, emotionally
flamboyant, circumstances out of control
“Do I pour, sir?” → Arthur represents triviality, return to reality after Wilde’s
melodramatic outburst
“Do not confuse your life with your art
...
”
→ Bosie only with Wilde due to longing to literary association
“You think there’s some hideous glamour in letting Fate propel you down
from the heights!” → fate vs
...
Bosie conflict
“The money is there to fund you in exile
...
”, “Please allow us to live our own lives
...
I cannot eat it
...
His sole and single intention has
always been to make his father respond
...
I’m not for one second abandoning you
...
” →
sense of Ross deeply loving Wilde in a way that is not necessarily sexual
“For as long as we sleep we are in safety
...
” → used transitionally, dream-like quality,
mimics internal thoughts
light used to show passage of time, poetic and lyrical quality
“light comes again from the high window and sweeps round in a circle
...
” → revelation of
importance of Ross to Wilde, audience now understands
“You are at my side
...
” → first entrance that is not an interruption, highlights
sacred nature of relationship between Wilde and Ross, unexpected calm
“It is an image of the solidest Victorian contentment
...
Aristocracy
...
See stars, did you?” → ignored by Bosie, humour and word play
illustrates how mismatched Bosie and Wilde are intellectually
“We can expect a succession of sofa-bound Renaissance geniuses, can we?”
→ facetious about Bosie’s adultery, accepts it but begrudgingly
“Throw him another bun
...
” → display of intellectual
snobbery, Wilde’s dialogue embellished with philosophical insights
“I will look at it later” → arrival of letter = well-made play, external
interruption, delaying of opening results in accumulation of tension for
audience
“We have not a penny for tickets
...
Some coffee” → lack of food, symbol of Wilde’s
ruination

-

“Until one has suffered, until the great suffering, it is all guesswork” →
philosophical reference, highlights Wilde’s creativity
Wilde’s soliloquy disguised as a monologue → post-modernist, subversion of
soliloquy
“You promised to look after me
...
” →
irony, Wilde’s monosyllabic responses display his intellectual and emotional
superiority
“I am already the greatest non-narrative poet in England”, “Bosie is satisfied”
→ Bosie retains a need to justify himself, constantly seeking validation of
status
“my suffering has been the greater” → Bosie thinks of everything in relation
to himself and his own selfish feelings, suffering through judgement is worse
than any other kind of suffering
“But, you, Oscar, have not known the horror of not being heard, of being
disregarded, of being overlooked
...
” → impestuous, volatile character
“You have no courage”, “And you have no strategy” → recognition of each
other’s faults
“The light has begun to change” → lighting mimics power shift, Wilde is now
in control
“Have you heard that word?”, “Never” → Wilde uses poetry to manipulate
Bosie, creates an almost pupil-like relationship, power shift due to Wilde’s
understanding of Bosie
“ochre”, “primrose”, “topaz”, “saffron” → Wilde’s aptitude for lyrical
language
“I thought Christ died at three” → highlights Bosie’s naivety, introduction of
religious ideas relating to Wilde’s suffering, betrayal
entrance of Ross → mirrors Scene One, all three together at a difficult time
“paler and thinner than ever” → Bosie is the only one who hasn’t changed,
protected from suffering despite his claims
“My whole celebrity
...
Sitting still
...
You are doing it yourself” → idea of selfpunishment
“She is not my friend
...
” → audience understands Ross’
feelings towards Wilde, Ross would rather try to curb his feelings for Wilde in
order to be his friend

-

“Then get me some brandy
...
” → changing atmosphere, withdrawal from the truth
due to alcohol, mirrors corruption of Ross/Wilde relationship after brutality of
Wilde’s command
“Wilde has not moved from his chair
...
” → everything is suddenly unpredictable,
seeking solace in alcohol

Scene Two
-

“I was struck dumb by the fact that you came back alone
...
It is the same with love
...
” → uses his immaturity against Wilde, selfish,
never treats Wilde as someone he loves
“This is not the destiny of my family
...
” → highlights
preoccupation with prestige/status
“Wilde pauses, then speaks quietly, but Bosie does not hear him
...
I need to move
...
Wilde pulls himself upright
...
But of yours, it has been
power” → anagnorisis, tragedy concention, moment of realisation
“unnaturally close” → unexpected lack of affection, represents relationship
Judas kiss = “a rite enacted” → no love, solemnity of act, must be carried out
“The sun is coming up
...
Because John is the
man he loves most
...
”
→ reversion to a simpler, more true state, enriched by his art
“The sun rises, brilliant now over the sea

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