the importance of being earnest and other plays oscar wilde

Along with Salome, his darkly decadent dramatization of the Bible story, these immortal plays continue to pack theatres and have been adapted for every kind of media., They remain among the most-loved and most-quoted, of all drama in the English language. It's one of few pre-20th century comedies able to have maintained its laugh factor to the present day.The four great comedies of Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Earnest, were all written at the height of the controversial Irish author's powers in his last, doomed decade, the 1890s. You'll delight at the witty banter, well-crafted jokes and insults at the expense of the upper classes and the ridiculousness of human behavior that have helped make The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde's most enduringly popular play.Ī mainstay of high school curriculum for decades this extremely clever and undeniably silly story about eccentric characters is a powerful social satire and criticism of Victorian high society's shallowness and materialism. This hilarious madcap farce about hidden and mistaken identities, secret engagements, lovers' entanglements, and the never-ending vanity and selfishness of high society members will have you laughing out loud. Set in late Victorian London, the play's major themes are the triviality with which it treats serious institutions like marriage, and the resulting satire of Victorian ways.

In this farcical comedy the protagonists maintain fictitious identities to escape burdensome social obligations. Jack and Algernon are best friends, both wooing ladies who think their names are Ernest, 'that name which inspires absolute confidence'. One of the wittiest plays ever, it is a buoyant comedy of manners celebrated for the lighthearted ingenuity of its plot and its inspired rapid-fire dialogue.įrom the play's vivacious opening in Algernon Moncrieff's London flat to its hilarious finale in the drawing room of Jack Worthing's country manor this comic masterpiece will keep you breathlessly awaiting each and every plot twist. Description This brilliant tour de force by Oscar Wilde has delighted millions around the world since the play's first production in1895.

The importance of being earnest and other plays oscar wilde