Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collections
Publication
Dover Publications (1990), Paperback, 64 pages
Description
Drama. Fiction. HTML: The Importance of Being Earnest is the last play Oscar Wilde ever wrote, and remains his most enduringly popular. It makes fun of social graces in the late Victorian era. Two seemingly unrelated parties are thrown into ridiculous entanglement when their fake identities, maintained in order to escape social responsibilities, grow ever more complicated to uphold..
User reviews
LibraryThing member ncgraham
Oscar Wilde, besides being a rather infamous person himself, was an incredibly prolific author during his lifetime. Today he is known almost exclusively for two of his works—The Picture of Dorian Gray, his only novel, and The Importance of Being Earnest, his final play. On the face of things, the
The principal characters of Earnest are Jack Worthing, a country gentleman of mysterious origin, who has created a fictional brother by the name of Ernest as a means of escaping his responsibilities; Algernon “Algy” Moncrieff, his urbane, city-dwelling friend; Algy’s cousin Gwendolen Fairfax, who is in love with Jack; her mother, the imperious Lady Bracknell; and Cecily Cardew, Jack’s ward. To say any more would be to risk spoiling the story, and anyway the plot is almost too even set up in a review. Let us simply say that because of these five persons’ conflicting goals and interests, both hilarity and chaos ensues.
Some of the lines in this play reminded me deliciously of P. G. Wodehouse (although I’ve only read one book by that master), especially the opening interaction between the spoiled, indolent Algy and his butler Lane (“I don’t play accurately—anyone can play accurately—but I play with wonderful sentiment”). Throughout I found myself absolutely crowing at some of the situations, particularly when Lady B. was involved.
However, I came away from my reading feeling rather empty, and perhaps that is the main connection with Dorian Gray; both left me cold. The great, laugh-inducing lines aside, there really isn’t much here aside from thinly veiled satire. What Wilde offers here has none of Austen’s depth and little of Wodehouse’s endearing qualities; even Kaufmann and Hart provided more real, human characters than he does.
It is good entertainment, so the few hours spent reading it are not used in vain, but it provides little food for thought afterward. I think, though, that it is probably better experienced in the theater.
Show More
two works could not be more different. The first is a dark work of Victorian “horror” fiction that reveals the evil lurking behind an attractive human face, whereas the latter is a sparkling comedy that satirizes the social order.The principal characters of Earnest are Jack Worthing, a country gentleman of mysterious origin, who has created a fictional brother by the name of Ernest as a means of escaping his responsibilities; Algernon “Algy” Moncrieff, his urbane, city-dwelling friend; Algy’s cousin Gwendolen Fairfax, who is in love with Jack; her mother, the imperious Lady Bracknell; and Cecily Cardew, Jack’s ward. To say any more would be to risk spoiling the story, and anyway the plot is almost too even set up in a review. Let us simply say that because of these five persons’ conflicting goals and interests, both hilarity and chaos ensues.
Some of the lines in this play reminded me deliciously of P. G. Wodehouse (although I’ve only read one book by that master), especially the opening interaction between the spoiled, indolent Algy and his butler Lane (“I don’t play accurately—anyone can play accurately—but I play with wonderful sentiment”). Throughout I found myself absolutely crowing at some of the situations, particularly when Lady B. was involved.
However, I came away from my reading feeling rather empty, and perhaps that is the main connection with Dorian Gray; both left me cold. The great, laugh-inducing lines aside, there really isn’t much here aside from thinly veiled satire. What Wilde offers here has none of Austen’s depth and little of Wodehouse’s endearing qualities; even Kaufmann and Hart provided more real, human characters than he does.
It is good entertainment, so the few hours spent reading it are not used in vain, but it provides little food for thought afterward. I think, though, that it is probably better experienced in the theater.
Show Less
LibraryThing member TadAD
There's not a lot of depth to this play. Though Wilde does take on the Victorian notions of responsibility, respectability and...well...earnestness, you won't find strikingly real characters that will stay with you, nor any deep and revelatory social messages. What you will find, however, is one of
The invented relatives, the mistaken identities, the long-lost foundling, the Tartar of an aunt who controls the purse strings—all of them are sewn together in a way that seems so familiar because they've been a part of our comedic vocabulary ever since Shakespeare. Yet, Wilde's gift is that they don't seem hackneyed nor trite. I think the only downside is that the lawsuits over the play stopped Wilde from writing any more, and that's a loss.
Show More
the best assemblies of laugh out oud moments in the English language. Lady Bracknell, alone, had me in stitches for the entire play with her observations on orphans ("To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose both looks like carelessness.") to her theories of education ("I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance.").The invented relatives, the mistaken identities, the long-lost foundling, the Tartar of an aunt who controls the purse strings—all of them are sewn together in a way that seems so familiar because they've been a part of our comedic vocabulary ever since Shakespeare. Yet, Wilde's gift is that they don't seem hackneyed nor trite. I think the only downside is that the lawsuits over the play stopped Wilde from writing any more, and that's a loss.
Show Less
LibraryThing member cameling
One of Oscar Wilde's best works, in my opinion. Great comedy about 2 men, friends, who share the same fake identity while trying to woo 2 women. Then there's the governess and the pastor who can't seem to do anything except yearn for each other from a distance, and a draconian dowager who may just
Show More
upset everyone's plans for happiness. Show Less
LibraryThing member ctpress
“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.”
A play should of course for maximum benefit be expereinced in the theatre. The next best thing would be to buy an audiobook - the L.A. Theatre Works performing The Importance of Being Earnest
It’s such a delight - have there been written a more funnier play? With Oscar Wilde’s famous quips and witty remarks - this story of mistaken identities in upper class british society display
an exuberance of life and high spirits.
“Never speak disrespectfully of Society, Algernon. Only people who can’t get into it do that.”
I think everyone in this production is in top form - and specially Lady Bracknell played by Margaret Scudamore.
“I really don't see anything romantic in proposing. It is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal. Why, one may be accepted. One usually is, I believe. Then the excitement is all over. The very essence of romance is uncertainty. If ever I get married, I'll certainly try to forget the fact.”
A play should of course for maximum benefit be expereinced in the theatre. The next best thing would be to buy an audiobook - the L.A. Theatre Works performing The Importance of Being Earnest
Show More
with live audience. It’s such a delight - have there been written a more funnier play? With Oscar Wilde’s famous quips and witty remarks - this story of mistaken identities in upper class british society display
an exuberance of life and high spirits.
“Never speak disrespectfully of Society, Algernon. Only people who can’t get into it do that.”
I think everyone in this production is in top form - and specially Lady Bracknell played by Margaret Scudamore.
“I really don't see anything romantic in proposing. It is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal. Why, one may be accepted. One usually is, I believe. Then the excitement is all over. The very essence of romance is uncertainty. If ever I get married, I'll certainly try to forget the fact.”
Show Less
LibraryThing member snat
I have come to a basic conclusion: Oscar Wilde was the man. And this play proves it. Full of zingers, witty banter, the well-crafted insult, and all things that make Wilde, well, Wilde, the play had me laughing out loud at lines like "The only way to behave to a woman is to make love to her, if she
Also characteristic of Wilde is that there is a lot more going on here than comedy. With a sharp eye, Wilde cleverly satirizes all aspects of aristocratic life. For all their cleverness, these are despicable people. They are petty, vain, arrogant, and vapid. And hysterical.
Show More
is pretty, and to someone else if she is plain" or, as a resigned Jack realizes none of them may be married, "Then a passionate celibacy is all that any of us can look forward to."Also characteristic of Wilde is that there is a lot more going on here than comedy. With a sharp eye, Wilde cleverly satirizes all aspects of aristocratic life. For all their cleverness, these are despicable people. They are petty, vain, arrogant, and vapid. And hysterical.
Show Less
LibraryThing member varwenea
As Wilde’s last completed play before his world came crumpling down upon him effectively ending his career and possibly his life (oh to live through that humiliation), this work is widely recognized as Wilde’s best published and wittiest piece. (Supposedly, he’s even wittier in person.)
Two
In the Introduction of this book, I find “… this comedy is the fullest embodiment of Wilde’s lifelong assault upon commonplace life and commonplace values.” and “Wilde’s defiance, it should be understood, was deeply personal. It was not at all the product of any seriously considered social criticism, but, rather it stemmed from an individualism supported by a philosophy of art for art’s sake.”
(Side note: The latter explains ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ character when Dorian rejected Sibyl who had rejected her art as an actress.)
So… what is wrong with me? I didn’t find the assault or the defiance to the extent described. I must not be reading the book correctly. I liked it, but I didn’t love it. I smiled as I read, and if I was in the theater, I’m certain that I’d be laughing. I can readily visualize the exaggerated speech and gesture of each actor. But it was mostly so obvious. Both Jack and Algernon are trouble getting themselves into more trouble. Both Gwendolen and Cecily are in love, cat fight with each other over ‘Ernest’, get upset at the men, forgive them, and love them again. Throw in the unnamed twist (dun dun dun!), and it’s not hard to guess the ending.
I found George Bernard Shaw’s review of this play at the end of my book; the review was titled “An Old New Play”. Ouch. He wrote much of how I felt in words better than mine:
“I cannot say that I greatly cared for TIoBE. It amused me, of course; but unless comedy touches me as well as amuses me, it leaves me with a sense of having wasted my evening. I go to the theatre to be moved to laughter, not to be tickled or bustled into it; and that is why, though I laugh as much as anybody at a farcical comedy, I am out of spirits before the end of the second act, and out of temper before the end of the third, my miserable mechanical laughter intensifying these symptoms at every outburst. If the public ever becomes intelligent enough to know when it is really enjoying itself and when it is not, there will be an end of farcical comedy.”
Quotes – as assaults on the ordinary:
On Marriage:
“She will place me next Mary Farquhar, who always flirts with her own husband across the dinner-table. That is not very pleasant. Indeed, it is not even decent… and that sort of thing is enormously on the increase. The amount of women in London who flirt with their own husbands is perfectly scandalous. It look so bad. It is simply washing one’s clean linen in public…”
On Knowledge – After Jack replied he knows nothing (vs. everything) to Lady Bracknell:
LB: “I am pleased to hear it. I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever…”
That last sentence made me laugh out loud as my current boss was educated in England.
Two
Show More
bachelor friends, Jack and Algernon, have their eyes on two lovely ladies, Gwendolen and Cecily, both of whom are in love with an Ernest, the non-existent brother of Jack (for Cecily) and alter ego of Jack (for Gwendolen). Add a stuffy Lady Bracknell, mother of Gwendolen, and a Miss Prism, tutor for Cecily, and we have a comedy of he said, she said, who are you, no you are not, a tidy little twist, all wrapped up with multiple hugs – and the proclamation that it’s important to be earnest! In the Introduction of this book, I find “… this comedy is the fullest embodiment of Wilde’s lifelong assault upon commonplace life and commonplace values.” and “Wilde’s defiance, it should be understood, was deeply personal. It was not at all the product of any seriously considered social criticism, but, rather it stemmed from an individualism supported by a philosophy of art for art’s sake.”
(Side note: The latter explains ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ character when Dorian rejected Sibyl who had rejected her art as an actress.)
So… what is wrong with me? I didn’t find the assault or the defiance to the extent described. I must not be reading the book correctly. I liked it, but I didn’t love it. I smiled as I read, and if I was in the theater, I’m certain that I’d be laughing. I can readily visualize the exaggerated speech and gesture of each actor. But it was mostly so obvious. Both Jack and Algernon are trouble getting themselves into more trouble. Both Gwendolen and Cecily are in love, cat fight with each other over ‘Ernest’, get upset at the men, forgive them, and love them again. Throw in the unnamed twist (dun dun dun!), and it’s not hard to guess the ending.
I found George Bernard Shaw’s review of this play at the end of my book; the review was titled “An Old New Play”. Ouch. He wrote much of how I felt in words better than mine:
“I cannot say that I greatly cared for TIoBE. It amused me, of course; but unless comedy touches me as well as amuses me, it leaves me with a sense of having wasted my evening. I go to the theatre to be moved to laughter, not to be tickled or bustled into it; and that is why, though I laugh as much as anybody at a farcical comedy, I am out of spirits before the end of the second act, and out of temper before the end of the third, my miserable mechanical laughter intensifying these symptoms at every outburst. If the public ever becomes intelligent enough to know when it is really enjoying itself and when it is not, there will be an end of farcical comedy.”
Quotes – as assaults on the ordinary:
On Marriage:
“She will place me next Mary Farquhar, who always flirts with her own husband across the dinner-table. That is not very pleasant. Indeed, it is not even decent… and that sort of thing is enormously on the increase. The amount of women in London who flirt with their own husbands is perfectly scandalous. It look so bad. It is simply washing one’s clean linen in public…”
On Knowledge – After Jack replied he knows nothing (vs. everything) to Lady Bracknell:
LB: “I am pleased to hear it. I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever…”
That last sentence made me laugh out loud as my current boss was educated in England.
Show Less
LibraryThing member MeditationesMartini
Dear, dear Oscar. I don't know a play that gets away with being less a story than a collection of quips and epigrams and skewerings of the attitudes held by heavily bearded and/or crinolined people in dark clothes as handily as this one does. NB, apparently contemporary with publication "Is he
Show More
earnest?" was gay slang for "Is he gay?" (later replaced by "Is he musical?"), but Sir John Gielgud assures us that any queer readings are only in our sex-obsessed imaginations. Everybody, treat the serious trivially and the trivial seriously today. Show Less
LibraryThing member gbill
Wilde’s last completed play, written in 1895, before his world tragically came crashing down. As always, he’s irreverent and witty in satirizing the institutions of society, most notably love and marriage in this play. Two bachelors use deception and the alter ego “Earnest” in the attempt
Just a couple of quotes, on marriage:
“I really don’t see anything romantic in proposing. It is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal. Why, one may be accepted. One usually is, I believe. Then the excitement is all over. The very essence of romance is uncertainty. If I ever get married, I’ll certainly try to forget the fact.”
“To speak frankly, I am not in favour of long engagements. They give people the opportunity of finding out each other’s character before marriage, which I think is never advisable.”
Show More
to woo a couple of ladies who are under the watchful eye of a protector, Lady Bracknell. Irony pervades the play; to be earnest of course is to be sincere, which the men are anything but. Wilde’s mission was to make light of everything society holds dear, to point out that ‘serious matters’ are in reality trivial, and it’s silly to pretend otherwise. In this he was successful, and I find that his humor really stands the test of time.Just a couple of quotes, on marriage:
“I really don’t see anything romantic in proposing. It is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal. Why, one may be accepted. One usually is, I believe. Then the excitement is all over. The very essence of romance is uncertainty. If I ever get married, I’ll certainly try to forget the fact.”
“To speak frankly, I am not in favour of long engagements. They give people the opportunity of finding out each other’s character before marriage, which I think is never advisable.”
Show Less
LibraryThing member rizeandshine
I just watched a movie version of this play the other day and, although I like Rupert Everett, Colin Firth and Dame Judi Dench, I found some of the embellishments for film too fanciful and distracting. The music was fun but didn't quite fit the period. I decided to read the play in order to really
Show More
enjoy the language and wit as penned by the author, although I'd much rather spend an evening at the theater watching the original. If you've never experienced it, I cannot overstate the importance of seeing "Earnest". Show Less
LibraryThing member villemezbrown
I found the play amusing, so I'm giving the book three stars. However, I have to give one star to the homophobic creator biography and literary analysis that is contained in the edition I actually read, a 1959 book in the Barron's Educational Series. When it wasn't offensive, the literary analysis
Show More
was just boring as hell and written in dry, tortured, overly academic prose that contrasted greatly with the witty dialogue in Wilde's play. Wilde's work stands the test of time, while the introductory matter is best left in the past. Show Less
LibraryThing member susiesharp
This L.A. Theater Works production was so much fun. Starring James Marsters, Charles Busch, Emily Bergl, Neil Dickson, Jill Gascoine, Christopher Neame & Matthew Wolf. I’ve seen the a couple different versions of this movie but never read the book and this was probably still closer to seeing the
- it's free to audible members
- it's Hilarious
- it has James Marsters
What more could a girl ask for??
I could just picture James Marsters as Earnest now I want a new movie made with him in the starring role! Just like I think maybe The Dresden Files TV show could have made it with him in lead, I’m just sayin’! Ok I’ll stop being all James Marsters fangirl now. Because the rest of the cast was great too when I’m done I have to go to the L.A. Theater Works site and see what the other people look like because I have an image in my head by their voices and I would like to see if I’m even close!
I also enjoyed the epilogue with a little history lesson on Oscar Wilde and his plays it was very interesting.
This was just so much fun I highly recommend getting this version! If you are looking for a Short, Fun, Hilarious, Full-Cast audiobook this one is a winner!
4 Stars
Show More
movie but it was so much fun!- it's free to audible members
- it's Hilarious
- it has James Marsters
What more could a girl ask for??
I could just picture James Marsters as Earnest now I want a new movie made with him in the starring role! Just like I think maybe The Dresden Files TV show could have made it with him in lead, I’m just sayin’! Ok I’ll stop being all James Marsters fangirl now. Because the rest of the cast was great too when I’m done I have to go to the L.A. Theater Works site and see what the other people look like because I have an image in my head by their voices and I would like to see if I’m even close!
I also enjoyed the epilogue with a little history lesson on Oscar Wilde and his plays it was very interesting.
This was just so much fun I highly recommend getting this version! If you are looking for a Short, Fun, Hilarious, Full-Cast audiobook this one is a winner!
4 Stars
Show Less
LibraryThing member MsNikki
I bought this on a whim, I recognised the name and decided "Why not".
I loved it, it was sharp, funny and oh so relevant.
I loved it, it was sharp, funny and oh so relevant.
LibraryThing member Exiled
I had to read this for my AP Lit class. It was the first book for the class, and I was a bit skeptical of it at first. As it turns out, it was hilarious! I could rarely find a page where I was not laughing. Nothing better than a good Victorian satire! ;)
LibraryThing member frazier193
The Importance of Being Earnest is play by Oscar Wilde. He tells the story of the mistaken identities that confuse young Victorian lovers. The play is delightfully witty and humorous. Oscar Wilde's wordplay and quips brilliantly shine. Amid the humor, Wilde comments on marriage and the morals of
Oscar Wilde's play is very enjoyable. Watching the play, either at a theater or on film, is rewarding after reading the script. It is gem.
Show More
the social classes. It seems the major debate of The Importance of Being Earnest is whether marriage is satisfying or not.Oscar Wilde's play is very enjoyable. Watching the play, either at a theater or on film, is rewarding after reading the script. It is gem.
Show Less
LibraryThing member subbobmail
Do I really have to tell you about The Importance of Being Earnest, or about Oscar Wilde, fer chrissake? If so, you are hopeless. Please do something about your dreadful and appalling ignorance of all that is delightful.
I've read this play at least three times now, and seen it performed twice. To
My new favorite quote from this endlessly quotable confection: Miss Prism, upon hearing that a lamentably pleasure-seeking relation is unmarried, grumbles "People who live entirely for pleasure usually are." Hee!
I've read this play at least three times now, and seen it performed twice. To
Show More
tire of it is (as Johnson said of London) to tire of life. My new favorite quote from this endlessly quotable confection: Miss Prism, upon hearing that a lamentably pleasure-seeking relation is unmarried, grumbles "People who live entirely for pleasure usually are." Hee!
Show Less
LibraryThing member alexdaw
Ah where to begin? A lifetime of quotes. Oh to be Lady Bracknell in my dotage. "To lose one parents, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness. " or "Hesitation of any kind is a sign of mental decay in the young, of physical weakness in the old." and
Show More
finally "Three addresses always inspire confidence, even in tradesmen." Show Less
LibraryThing member afderrick
A splendidly funny book. If I wasn't at work while reading this (through e-mail from dailyreader.net) I would have found myself laughing quite loudly. The only thing I wish it had done better is not ended. I hope one day to get to see this on stage perhaps. Great play, funny stuff.
LibraryThing member quoddy
This book is fantastic. If you leave it's entire contents in your mind unspoiled, it is a very good read. Excellent play, fantastic humour, and nice use of neologisms - "bunburying".
LibraryThing member yonitdm
Very funny cleverly written. It's a dry humor with great dialogue.
LibraryThing member Stbalbach
One of the greatest plays ever written. Not only a non-stop roller-coaster laughs a minute ride, but satire of Victorian culture so spot on it's hard to tell it wasn't written by a 21st century author writing a period piece. Indeed many of his observations still hold true. Wit and wisdom - the
Show More
trivial and profound - merge in trademark Wilde ways. I can't wait to see it performed on stage. Show Less
LibraryThing member KLmesoftly
This farce follows the entanglements of two men, each posing as a man named "Earnest" in order to woo a woman. It's the only written work that's ever had me laughing out loud in public--Oscar Wilde is an incredibly witty man. He makes great use of snappy banter, the occasional satirical reference
If you've never read Wilde before, this is an excellent place to start.
Show More
to real-world social issues, and puns (such as the one in the title itself), but never comes on too strong, as many comedies can tend to do. If you've never read Wilde before, this is an excellent place to start.
Show Less
LibraryThing member BeeQuiet
One of my favourite plays, you can't beat Wilde for acerbic wit tied in with social commentary. I was in this play as the darling Miss Cecily Cardew, and remember the great problems we all had at first in managing to get through our lines without laughing!
LibraryThing member bleached
One of my favorite plays. A wonderful comedy about society, appearance, and the importance of earnest.
LibraryThing member salisb27
A play about the importance of being earnest in life and in love. A humorous travesty on the social roles and standards of men and women in the Victorian Era.
A great way to humorously introduce students to Victorian era standards and regulations for both men and women.
A great way to humorously introduce students to Victorian era standards and regulations for both men and women.
LibraryThing member mbmackay
The short three act play of Oscar Wilde, known more for the title than by being read. I was motivated to read the play after watching a recent movie adaption (with Colin Firth as Ernest/Jack). A nice little farce with plenty of opportunity for Wilde to show-off with his bon mots and carefully
Show More
cynical witticisms. But, good fun, and pleasing to see how closely the movie had stuck to the original intentions of Wilde's creation. Read January 2012. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Audie Award (Finalist — 2011)
ALA Outstanding Books for the College Bound (Drama — 1999)
Original publication date
1895
Physical description
64 p.; 8 inches
ISBN
0486264785 / 9780486264783
Local notes
Set in late Victorian England in 1895, stars characters maintaining fictitious identities to escape unwelcome social obligations.
Other editions
The Importance of Being Earnest (Illustrated Edition) by Oscar Wilde (Hardcover)