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Lady Windermere's Fan / A Woman of No Importance / An Ideal Husband / The Importance of Being Earnest / Salomé
This Penguin collection contains Oscar Wilde's five wittiest and best known plays. He himself described Lady Windermere's Fan his first great stage success, as 'one of those modern drawing-room plays with pink lampshades'. Its combination of polished social drama and corruscatingly with dialogue was repeated in A Woman of No Importance and An Ideal Husband both of which were enthusiastically received by the public but savaged, much to Wilde's delight, by affronted critics. His greatest play, The Importance of Being Earnest was first produced in 1895. Wilde wrote of it : 'It is exquisitely trivial, a delicate bubblue of fancy, and it has its philosophy... that we should treat all the trivial things of life seriously, and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality.'
This volume also includes Lord Alfred Douglas's translation of Salomé a short drama which Wilde wrote in French.
This volume also includes Lord Alfred Douglas's translation of Salomé a short drama which Wilde wrote in French.
348 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1954
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2487 people want to read
About the author
Oscar Wilde
5,482 books38.8k followersOscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is best remembered for his epigrams and plays, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, and his criminal conviction for gross indecency for homosexual acts.
Wilde's parents were Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. In his youth, Wilde learned to speak fluent French and German. At university, he read Greats; he demonstrated himself to be an exceptional classicist, first at Trinity College Dublin, then at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with the emerging philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles.
Wilde tried his hand at various literary activities: he wrote a play, published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on "The English Renaissance" in art and interior decoration, and then returned to London where he lectured on his American travels and wrote reviews for various periodicals. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversational skill, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. At the turn of the 1890s, he refined his ideas about the supremacy of art in a series of dialogues and essays, and incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, and beauty into what would be his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). Wilde returned to drama, writing Salome (1891) in French while in Paris, but it was refused a licence for England due to an absolute prohibition on the portrayal of Biblical subjects on the English stage. Undiscouraged, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, which made him one of the most successful playwrights of late-Victorian London.
At the height of his fame and success, while An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) were still being performed in London, Wilde issued a civil writ against John Sholto Douglas, the 9th Marquess of Queensberry for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The libel hearings unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and criminal prosecution for gross indecency with other males. The jury was unable to reach a verdict and so a retrial was ordered. In the second trial Wilde was convicted and sentenced to two years' hard labour, the maximum penalty, and was jailed from 1895 to 1897. During his last year in prison he wrote De Profundis (published posthumously in abridged form in 1905), a long letter that discusses his spiritual journey through his trials and is a dark counterpoint to his earlier philosophy of pleasure. On the day of his release, he caught the overnight steamer to France, never to return to Britain or Ireland. In France and Italy, he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life.
Wilde's parents were Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. In his youth, Wilde learned to speak fluent French and German. At university, he read Greats; he demonstrated himself to be an exceptional classicist, first at Trinity College Dublin, then at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with the emerging philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles.
Wilde tried his hand at various literary activities: he wrote a play, published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on "The English Renaissance" in art and interior decoration, and then returned to London where he lectured on his American travels and wrote reviews for various periodicals. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversational skill, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. At the turn of the 1890s, he refined his ideas about the supremacy of art in a series of dialogues and essays, and incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, and beauty into what would be his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). Wilde returned to drama, writing Salome (1891) in French while in Paris, but it was refused a licence for England due to an absolute prohibition on the portrayal of Biblical subjects on the English stage. Undiscouraged, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, which made him one of the most successful playwrights of late-Victorian London.
At the height of his fame and success, while An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) were still being performed in London, Wilde issued a civil writ against John Sholto Douglas, the 9th Marquess of Queensberry for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The libel hearings unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and criminal prosecution for gross indecency with other males. The jury was unable to reach a verdict and so a retrial was ordered. In the second trial Wilde was convicted and sentenced to two years' hard labour, the maximum penalty, and was jailed from 1895 to 1897. During his last year in prison he wrote De Profundis (published posthumously in abridged form in 1905), a long letter that discusses his spiritual journey through his trials and is a dark counterpoint to his earlier philosophy of pleasure. On the day of his release, he caught the overnight steamer to France, never to return to Britain or Ireland. In France and Italy, he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 152 reviews
May 8, 2020
oscar wilde got mad jokes
March 6, 2021
So far, I've only read the first play in this volume, The Importance of Being Earnest. I was assigned to read it for my English Lit class, and thankfully it was a play I've always had an interest in reading.
It did not disappoint! It was full of so many hypocrisies and coincidences, but it all made for a very enjoyable and comical reading experience. Not a single character is what I'd describe as "likable" but they were amusing in their inconsistencies and prideful attitudes (particularly Lady Bracknell - she's the wOorst). It will also always startle me how marriages between cousins were not at all thought to be weird or incestuous like they are now! So happy our society has advanced beyond that lol
It did not disappoint! It was full of so many hypocrisies and coincidences, but it all made for a very enjoyable and comical reading experience. Not a single character is what I'd describe as "likable" but they were amusing in their inconsistencies and prideful attitudes (particularly Lady Bracknell - she's the wOorst). It will also always startle me how marriages between cousins were not at all thought to be weird or incestuous like they are now! So happy our society has advanced beyond that lol
May 18, 2017
Reading The Importance of Being Earnest for the Victorians! group.
Finished The Importance of Being Earnest (loved it!) and putting it back on the to-read shelf until I read the others.
Having read all the plays in this volume, Earnest is my favorite. Three of the other plays are also comedies. Lady Windermere's Fan and A Woman of No Importance both have a fallen woman theme and are a bit melodramatic, particularly the latter. There is a lesson here, as certain other characters, who start out a bit priggish and moralistic, end up learning greater tolerance. I enjoyed them, but the witty repartee that delights me in Earnest was a bit lacking. An Ideal Husband was my favorite of the three. An interesting plot, with some surprises (an unexpected twist with the brooch/bracelet), enjoyable characters, and lots of witty repartee! Once again, a character learns that her standards have been a bit too high; guess this was a major theme for Wilde. I particularly liked Lord Goring, a fop and a dandy, but with brains and heart beneath all the nonsense.
The last play, Salomé, is totally different from the others. It is a one-act tragedy that Wilde originally wrote in French (translated into English by his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas). I don't know quite how to describe it -stylized, maybe, almost surreal. It actually reminded me a bit of Lorca. It was not staged in England when Wilde wrote it, due to a ban on depicting religious figures, as I understand it, but Sarah Bernhardt played the lead in a French production.
I really enjoyed reading the best of Wilde's plays, especially having seen movies of several of them already.
Finished The Importance of Being Earnest (loved it!) and putting it back on the to-read shelf until I read the others.
Having read all the plays in this volume, Earnest is my favorite. Three of the other plays are also comedies. Lady Windermere's Fan and A Woman of No Importance both have a fallen woman theme and are a bit melodramatic, particularly the latter. There is a lesson here, as certain other characters, who start out a bit priggish and moralistic, end up learning greater tolerance. I enjoyed them, but the witty repartee that delights me in Earnest was a bit lacking. An Ideal Husband was my favorite of the three. An interesting plot, with some surprises (an unexpected twist with the brooch/bracelet), enjoyable characters, and lots of witty repartee! Once again, a character learns that her standards have been a bit too high; guess this was a major theme for Wilde. I particularly liked Lord Goring, a fop and a dandy, but with brains and heart beneath all the nonsense.
The last play, Salomé, is totally different from the others. It is a one-act tragedy that Wilde originally wrote in French (translated into English by his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas). I don't know quite how to describe it -stylized, maybe, almost surreal. It actually reminded me a bit of Lorca. It was not staged in England when Wilde wrote it, due to a ban on depicting religious figures, as I understand it, but Sarah Bernhardt played the lead in a French production.
I really enjoyed reading the best of Wilde's plays, especially having seen movies of several of them already.
April 17, 2015
Note: Though this is a collection of Oscar Wilde's plays, I only read The Importance of Being Ernest. All I have to say, is that I was a bit disappointed.
I LOVED Picture of Dorian Gray, and I was expecting this play to be the comedy that people profess it to be. I'm not sure whether I was pressured to reading this, because this was a school-assigned read, or what, but I just had a bit of a hard time, especially with trying to connect to the characters, who acted so selfish and naive. I might give it a go in the future, but I clearly prefer his novel over his plays, so far.
I LOVED Picture of Dorian Gray, and I was expecting this play to be the comedy that people profess it to be. I'm not sure whether I was pressured to reading this, because this was a school-assigned read, or what, but I just had a bit of a hard time, especially with trying to connect to the characters, who acted so selfish and naive. I might give it a go in the future, but I clearly prefer his novel over his plays, so far.
January 12, 2018
So I read Earnest again. Second time in a month. Absolutely love it, of course, though I think it is better performed rather than read. Also the footnotes in this particular version aren't terribly informative.
February 25, 2022
a lot funnier than i thought it would be. may never get over josh's rendition of lady bracknell.
June 7, 2025
Two men are posing as Ernest for different reasons and want to marry but hidden identities and prejudices prevent them. This was filled with many quirky lines and laughable moments. It was entertaining. I think I would really enjoy seeing a stage performance of this play.
September 19, 2013
Este libro abarca las 4 obras más importantes de Wilde, o aparentemente, las que tuvieron mayor éxito. Habiéndolas leído, no puedo mas que desear verlas en teatro, pero eso resulta imposible en la práctica. Muchos diálogos ágiles, brillantes. Los personajes como Henry Wotton de
El retrato de Dorian Gray
se multiplican: hombres y mujeres con un enorme cinismo llenan con aforismos de fina ironía las escenas, siempre ambientadas en la aristocracia británica. Las primeras cuatro obras tienen todo eso en común, pero Salomé se distingue completamente de ellas, por su fuerte simbolismo. Ésta última y Un marido ideal fueron mis favoritas. Es notable que sean los personajes femeninos los de mayor fuerza, sin que eso signifique que los masculinos carezcan de ella. Seguramente he leído poco teatro, pues únicamente las hallo similares a
Casa de muñecas
de Henrik Ibsen.
March 4, 2024
Ok Oscar, I see u. Real recognises real.
April 7, 2021
I find these plays highly entertaining. I've never encountered wit this dagger-sharp, repartee this dazzling, and a sense of irony this splendid in another author before. It's not an exaggeration to say that in almost every page, there is an epigram, passage, or even an entire conversation that one can't help but write down, like this gem for instance:
No wonder so many book and theater enthusiasts swear by him. When, upon arriving on the shores of America, he said that he had nothing to declare but his genius, he wasn't exaggerating. I had a capital time with these plays, and while some are manifestly better than others, not a single one was a waste of time.
Though Salome is stylistically the most divergent among the plays here, it is nevertheless my favorite. The metaphors it employs are exquisite. Herod's narration of his hidden stash of jewels is sumptuously baroque. It reminds me of that surreal, magniloquent chapter in The Picture of Dorian Gray where the comely lead indulged in a surfeit of sensuousness à la Huysmans's Des Esseintes in his À Rebours.
Yes it's ornate and decadent beyond words, but that is very much a part of its charm. It revels in drama and excess, like the lovestruck captain who kills himself to literally get in the way of Salome and Jokanaan. And yes, even with the purple poesy and mixed metaphors, it all works rather superbly. As Wilde wrote in another play of his:
It is not historically accurate however. In real life, Salome didn't die on that fateful night; she went on to marry another tetrarch relative and live in splendor. Like mother, like daughter, I guess.
A Woman of No Importance ranks a close second, showing us the airy viciousness and veiled injustices in Victorian high society. One can't help but admire the phenomenal wordplay of these bored aristocrats, though at the same time one can see how hollow and shallow it all is. In contrast, while Mrs. Arbuthnot's remonstrance against her son was devoid of any pretensions to elegance, it remains the most powerful piece there.
Even if Wilde lambasts purity as dreary and uninhibited virtue to be a ghastly thing, I think he believes that goodness of heart and honor is still paramount, or that they should at least triumph in the end. Witness what happened to the blackmailer in The Ideal Husband and the corruptors in Lady Windermere. I guess he's not the incorrigible cynic that he poses as, though maybe he's simply pandering to his audience's tastes?
Wilde can pile absurdities and contradictions and yet one doesn't really mind as long as one's entertained. In a way this does validate his theory of the preeminence of matter over form although it'd be a mistake to take this too far. His characters may be delightfully witty but they're ultimately vapid, and howevermuch he stands as the darling of his cause, one feels that he is subtly criticizing its superfluity.
I can make do without getting acquainted with any of the fops in these plays, except perhaps for Lord Goring in The Ideal Husband who, while posing as an irredeemable dandy, is surprisingly a man of stalwart integrity and maturity. There are many similarities between Wilde's plays and yet he is anything but one-note. I do take note of a maxim that I encountered in both A Woman of No Importance and The Importance of Being Earnest:
One caveat though. The pieces here are best imbibed in measured draughts. I made the mistake of reading two plays in a row and the latter one became rather tedious.
I'm hesitant to admit that I'm an aestheticist myself, though I'm far from being a coxcomb. A questionable thing gorgeously written appeals to me more than a crude missive of impeccable morality. But of course, nothing can beat a work that is both pleasurable and sagacious - for these extend beyond the mundane to the sublime.
8.5/10; 4 stars.
LORD ILLINGWORTH: Men marry because they are tired; women because they are curious. Both are disappointed.
GERALD: But don’t you think one can be happy when one is married?
LORD ILLINGWORTH: Perfectly happy. But the happiness of a married man, my dear Gerald, depends on the people he has not married.
GERALD: But if one is in love?
LORD ILLINGWORTH: One should always be in love. That is the reason one should never marry.
GERALD: Love is a very wonderful thing, isn’t it?
LORD ILLINGWORTH: When one is in love one begins by deceiving oneself. And one ends by deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance.
No wonder so many book and theater enthusiasts swear by him. When, upon arriving on the shores of America, he said that he had nothing to declare but his genius, he wasn't exaggerating. I had a capital time with these plays, and while some are manifestly better than others, not a single one was a waste of time.
Though Salome is stylistically the most divergent among the plays here, it is nevertheless my favorite. The metaphors it employs are exquisite. Herod's narration of his hidden stash of jewels is sumptuously baroque. It reminds me of that surreal, magniloquent chapter in The Picture of Dorian Gray where the comely lead indulged in a surfeit of sensuousness à la Huysmans's Des Esseintes in his À Rebours.
Yes it's ornate and decadent beyond words, but that is very much a part of its charm. It revels in drama and excess, like the lovestruck captain who kills himself to literally get in the way of Salome and Jokanaan. And yes, even with the purple poesy and mixed metaphors, it all works rather superbly. As Wilde wrote in another play of his:
Moderation is a fatal thing, Lady Hunstanton. Nothing succeeds like excess.
It is not historically accurate however. In real life, Salome didn't die on that fateful night; she went on to marry another tetrarch relative and live in splendor. Like mother, like daughter, I guess.
A Woman of No Importance ranks a close second, showing us the airy viciousness and veiled injustices in Victorian high society. One can't help but admire the phenomenal wordplay of these bored aristocrats, though at the same time one can see how hollow and shallow it all is. In contrast, while Mrs. Arbuthnot's remonstrance against her son was devoid of any pretensions to elegance, it remains the most powerful piece there.
Even if Wilde lambasts purity as dreary and uninhibited virtue to be a ghastly thing, I think he believes that goodness of heart and honor is still paramount, or that they should at least triumph in the end. Witness what happened to the blackmailer in The Ideal Husband and the corruptors in Lady Windermere. I guess he's not the incorrigible cynic that he poses as, though maybe he's simply pandering to his audience's tastes?
Wilde can pile absurdities and contradictions and yet one doesn't really mind as long as one's entertained. In a way this does validate his theory of the preeminence of matter over form although it'd be a mistake to take this too far. His characters may be delightfully witty but they're ultimately vapid, and howevermuch he stands as the darling of his cause, one feels that he is subtly criticizing its superfluity.
I can make do without getting acquainted with any of the fops in these plays, except perhaps for Lord Goring in The Ideal Husband who, while posing as an irredeemable dandy, is surprisingly a man of stalwart integrity and maturity. There are many similarities between Wilde's plays and yet he is anything but one-note. I do take note of a maxim that I encountered in both A Woman of No Importance and The Importance of Being Earnest:
All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That is his.
One caveat though. The pieces here are best imbibed in measured draughts. I made the mistake of reading two plays in a row and the latter one became rather tedious.
I'm hesitant to admit that I'm an aestheticist myself, though I'm far from being a coxcomb. A questionable thing gorgeously written appeals to me more than a crude missive of impeccable morality. But of course, nothing can beat a work that is both pleasurable and sagacious - for these extend beyond the mundane to the sublime.
8.5/10; 4 stars.
February 26, 2024
Este es un libro recopilatorio de obras teatrales del escritor irlandés Oscar Wilde, publicados entre 1892 y 1896. Específicamente contiene cinco obras teatrales: “La Importancia de Llamarse Ernesto” (1895); “El abanico de Lady Windermere” (1892); “Una Mujer sin Importancia” (1893); “Un Marido Ideal” (1895); y “Salomé” (1896). La primera edición recopilatoria de esta colección fue publicada por Porrúa en 1973.
En líneas generales, es una excelente recopilación que nos da una claridad sobre el estilo y las obras teatrales más relevantes del escritor irlandés. Temáticas como el amor, la fidelidad, las posiciones sociales, los prejuicios y roles de género, y ese humor sarcástico y picante de Oscar Wilde es posible identificarlo en cada una de estas obras, a la par de sus agudas reflexiones sobre las relaciones humanas. Son muy agradables de leer y su traducción a cargo de Monserrat Alfau me parece muy acertada e ilustrativa, pues en varios pasajes se da el tiempo de explicar aquellos fragmentos de significado que se pierden en la traducción a nuestro idioma (como en La Importancia de Llamarse Ernesto donde es muy relevante la palabra earnest). Esta edición además trae un excelente prólogo, cronología y fotografías del autor, un extra muy bienvenido.
Una breve reseña/comentario de cada obra:
- “La Importancia de llamarse Ernesto" (1895) es una obra graciosa, con situaciones jocosas principalmente por Archibaldo quien, a mi parecer, tiene los diálogos más ingeniosos y cómicos. La historia trata de dos “amigos” (Archibaldo y Mr. Worthing) y sus eventuales relaciones amorosas donde el nombre Ernesto se presentará como fundamental para el éxito de estas relaciones, las cuales se entrecruzarán con resultados hilarante.
- “El abanico de Lady Windermere" (1892) trata de los prejuicios, del rol de la mujer y del hombre; y la relevancia del matrimonio en la sociedad inglesa de la época; un texto dotado de agudas reflexiones acerca de la fidelidad, los valores y los prejuicios. La historia propiamente tal trata de Lady Windermere, una joven casada y asolada por la aparente infidelidad de su marido y de como ella se terminará relacionado con esta misteriosa amante.
- “Una mujer sin importancia" (1893) trata de la alta sociedad británica, las discriminaciones y modos, el pasado y los pecados. Un miembro de la alta sociedad ofrece a un joven un trabajo como su secretario, abriendo las puertas a un futuro mejor, pero también abriendo las de su remoto pasado. Gran obra, llena de crítica al machismo y las clases sociales, con la sátira de Wilde.
- "Un marido ideal" (1895) trata de un juego de poder, el pasado de un hombre público pende de un hilo entre negocios y extorsiones, a la par que su posición y su esposa lo conminan a ser recto incluso en su oscuro pasado. Es una obra muy entretenida, hay bastante absurdo, aunque algunos diálogos quedan muy lejos de la moral actual. Fue una obra entretenida con gran ritmo.
- “Salomé” (1896) es una interpretación (o reinterpretación) de Wilde sobre la historia bíblica de Salomé y Juan Bautista, a quien mandan a decapitar por petición de Salomé y su madre. Hay diferencias claras en motivos y desenlaces, además de cambiar el nombre de uno de sus protagonistas. Muy interesante.
En líneas generales, es una excelente recopilación que nos da una claridad sobre el estilo y las obras teatrales más relevantes del escritor irlandés. Temáticas como el amor, la fidelidad, las posiciones sociales, los prejuicios y roles de género, y ese humor sarcástico y picante de Oscar Wilde es posible identificarlo en cada una de estas obras, a la par de sus agudas reflexiones sobre las relaciones humanas. Son muy agradables de leer y su traducción a cargo de Monserrat Alfau me parece muy acertada e ilustrativa, pues en varios pasajes se da el tiempo de explicar aquellos fragmentos de significado que se pierden en la traducción a nuestro idioma (como en La Importancia de Llamarse Ernesto donde es muy relevante la palabra earnest). Esta edición además trae un excelente prólogo, cronología y fotografías del autor, un extra muy bienvenido.
Una breve reseña/comentario de cada obra:
- “La Importancia de llamarse Ernesto" (1895) es una obra graciosa, con situaciones jocosas principalmente por Archibaldo quien, a mi parecer, tiene los diálogos más ingeniosos y cómicos. La historia trata de dos “amigos” (Archibaldo y Mr. Worthing) y sus eventuales relaciones amorosas donde el nombre Ernesto se presentará como fundamental para el éxito de estas relaciones, las cuales se entrecruzarán con resultados hilarante.
- “El abanico de Lady Windermere" (1892) trata de los prejuicios, del rol de la mujer y del hombre; y la relevancia del matrimonio en la sociedad inglesa de la época; un texto dotado de agudas reflexiones acerca de la fidelidad, los valores y los prejuicios. La historia propiamente tal trata de Lady Windermere, una joven casada y asolada por la aparente infidelidad de su marido y de como ella se terminará relacionado con esta misteriosa amante.
- “Una mujer sin importancia" (1893) trata de la alta sociedad británica, las discriminaciones y modos, el pasado y los pecados. Un miembro de la alta sociedad ofrece a un joven un trabajo como su secretario, abriendo las puertas a un futuro mejor, pero también abriendo las de su remoto pasado. Gran obra, llena de crítica al machismo y las clases sociales, con la sátira de Wilde.
- "Un marido ideal" (1895) trata de un juego de poder, el pasado de un hombre público pende de un hilo entre negocios y extorsiones, a la par que su posición y su esposa lo conminan a ser recto incluso en su oscuro pasado. Es una obra muy entretenida, hay bastante absurdo, aunque algunos diálogos quedan muy lejos de la moral actual. Fue una obra entretenida con gran ritmo.
- “Salomé” (1896) es una interpretación (o reinterpretación) de Wilde sobre la historia bíblica de Salomé y Juan Bautista, a quien mandan a decapitar por petición de Salomé y su madre. Hay diferencias claras en motivos y desenlaces, además de cambiar el nombre de uno de sus protagonistas. Muy interesante.
March 8, 2021
I have only read "The Importance of being Earnest".
This is a light hearted read filled with humour and satire. The play consists of almost 100 pages or less. The plot revolves around two friends who goes by different names inorder to maintain their reputation while having fun and roaming freely within the society.
Victorian era is all about art, fashion, status and hedonism, the portrayal is quite visible in Wilde's stories/plays. The black briefcase plays an important part in this play. It totally shifts the momentum of the story.
"The Importance of being Earnest" was first performed in London (1895), on Valentine's Day. As the theme revolves around love, marriage and courtship which made it perfect for the occasion then.
I enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to those who love classics.
This is a light hearted read filled with humour and satire. The play consists of almost 100 pages or less. The plot revolves around two friends who goes by different names inorder to maintain their reputation while having fun and roaming freely within the society.
Victorian era is all about art, fashion, status and hedonism, the portrayal is quite visible in Wilde's stories/plays. The black briefcase plays an important part in this play. It totally shifts the momentum of the story.
"The Importance of being Earnest" was first performed in London (1895), on Valentine's Day. As the theme revolves around love, marriage and courtship which made it perfect for the occasion then.
I enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to those who love classics.
January 12, 2023
I've been wanting to read more Oscar Wilde plays for a while now after having read The Importance of Being Earnest a few years back. I think the consensus is right and Earnest is some of the best of his work. It's cheeky, well written, and doesn't tangent as much as some of the other plays do. Overall I enjoy the way Wilde captures the Victorian aristocrat society in his dialogue while also pushing various political agendas creating a bit of tension between characters. A lot of them are incredibly poor communicators which adds to a lot of the comedy/fun.
My ranking for the plays go Earnest, An Ideal Husband, Solome, and A Woman of No Importance. I think in both Ideal Husband and No Importance there were a bit too many characters and would at times tangent in monologues that were necessarily pertinent to the overall story.
My ranking for the plays go Earnest, An Ideal Husband, Solome, and A Woman of No Importance. I think in both Ideal Husband and No Importance there were a bit too many characters and would at times tangent in monologues that were necessarily pertinent to the overall story.
April 14, 2025
I just really enjoy this play. It's my favorite work of his that my classic book club has read. I really enjoy the quips and observations about life at that time. I enjoy the drama that plays out and admire the sacrifice of a character to protect the other.
June 18, 2021
this is a book that’s mandatory for me to read for school. but regardless it was still good and intriguing and i liked it. 🤷🏾♀️
February 6, 2023
Amazing plays; hilarious, dramatic and filled with vivid, fleshed out characters. I will read everything Wilde has published!
February 23, 2023
Directing this play in the spring. Might as well add it to my reading challenge.
March 11, 2023
God do I love Oscar Wilde
December 31, 2023
Lady Windermere’s Fan was silly and a little sordid
February 17, 2024
i giggled the whole time
May 2, 2024
Honestly this was absolutely hilarious and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
January 4, 2025
What I’d give to have even a drop of Oscar Wilde’s humor and wit.
“She is more than a mystery - she is a mood.”
“She is more than a mystery - she is a mood.”
October 18, 2021
Five of Wilde’s best known plays, two of which really stand out from the others, those two being:
“The Importance of Being Earnest” - the wit is superb and the plot and characters are absurd, in this case it makes for a winning combo. It’s also the only one of the collection that could be described as straight forward comedy.
“Salome” – much briefer than the others, a very stylized tragedy.
The other three, “Lady Windermere’s Fan”, “A Woman of No Importance” and “An Ideal Husband” have comic elements, particularly the abundance of ironic or cynical epigrams which make up a fair amount of the dialogue, along with dramatic plots that border somewhat on melodrama, and a sentimentality that wouldn’t seem to be Wilde’s style at all. Nor mine.
“The Importance of Being Earnest” - the wit is superb and the plot and characters are absurd, in this case it makes for a winning combo. It’s also the only one of the collection that could be described as straight forward comedy.
“Salome” – much briefer than the others, a very stylized tragedy.
The other three, “Lady Windermere’s Fan”, “A Woman of No Importance” and “An Ideal Husband” have comic elements, particularly the abundance of ironic or cynical epigrams which make up a fair amount of the dialogue, along with dramatic plots that border somewhat on melodrama, and a sentimentality that wouldn’t seem to be Wilde’s style at all. Nor mine.
July 31, 2018
I immensely enjoyed listening to the audiobook version of this play. Though the plays are short, they are very insightful and hilarous!!!
July 31, 2022
This was my first taste of Oscar Wilde's work, and I loved it so much. I am definitely going to read more of his poems and plays.
Reread: July 2022
Reread: July 2022
March 30, 2025
The Drawing Room Plays
Salomé
The Importance of Being Earnest naturally titles the collection. It’s undoubtedly the best of them. I picked it up after seeing a clip of the National Theatre’s fantastic production with Ncuti Gatwa and Hugh Skinner online that I am so devastated that I cannot see in full. It’s so fun and silly. It’s truly the best of Wilde’s humour.
Lady Windermere’s Fan felt dull, I’m afraid, but it was destined to as it followed up Earnest. However, both it and A Woman of No Importance very beautifully show the unfairness of judgement and morality and the humility of mothers. Mrs Arbuthnot’s monologue in Act IV of the latter was absolutely devastating: “How could I repent of my sin when you, my love, were its fruit” (p. 225).
An Ideal Husband ups the ante with a web of political schemes and blackmail. It was written at the same time as Earnest, and I believe this period represents the height of Wilde’s ability. Also occurring at this time was the climax of Wilde’s affaire with Bosie Douglas, which makes, as critics have suggested, a biographical reading very compelling:
"the most autobiographical of Wilde's plays, mirroring, as it does, his own situation of a double life and an incipient scandal with the emergence of terrible secrets. Whilst Lord Goring is a character with much of Wilde's own wit, insight and compassion, Gertrude Chiltern can be seen as a portrait of Constance [his wife].”
As meritable as the collection is, I could not help getting somewhat bored with it. The plays are banal characteristically: a mystery of birth/past, Wilde’s certain style of humour, the same banter about the badness of good people and the goodness of bad people, and, of course, the dandy self-insert character of Wilde (Algernon, Darlington, Illingworth, Goring) that seemed to make its way into every play only to make the same nonsense witticisms—and one can only handle so many Wildean witticisms before they go from charming to annoying. The prevailing theme of each play also appears to be generally the same: to beware the unjustness of judgement and morality. I enjoyed each work, but as I read the same content over and over again, I could not but roll my eyes.
Salomé
Salomé holds a very special place in my heart. It’s one of the first pieces of literature that I freely read, and I always become a little nostalgic when I hear her brought up. I was positively obsessed. I absolutely loved the absurdity and the melodrama of the work. I think the illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley perfectly illustrate the artistic vision. Indeed, I think it is rather the artistic vision that I am taken with than the text itself. Wilde’s choice to rewrite this biblical tale of filial duty as, instead, a demented and perverse infatuation is… odd, but I’m not sure if it’s necessarily disagreeable. It’s been much praised for granting agency to Salomé, who might otherwise be viewed as only a pawn. It is also what adds the signature Decadent touch to the story. Agreeable or not, I’ll always love this play, if not for its own merits, then at least for the nostalgia.
March 10, 2021
It was a good read. I picked up fiction after years I believe. It was hilarious at times, while I also realized even in 100 years things haven't changed much. If Cecily and Gwendolen existed in 21st century, instead of carrying a diary and jotting down their thoughts and relevant information they would be updating their insta stories every minute. While Algernon and Jack would be busy making fake IDs, I meant modern day bunburying with name Earnest on various social media pages. The plot was good. Algernon's interrogative and logical nature reminded me of one my bosses who would ask lots of questions starting with "Whys" and series of why are really funny to hear when someone else is answering it.
Few of my favorite quotes:
Algeron:
"We should treat all the trivial things in life seriously, and all the serious things in life with sincere triviality."
Algernon called marriage a proposal business. He also says, "It's isn't easy to be anything these days".
"Things were made for arguing about."
"All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No men become like theirs. That is their tragedy.
"The fools, they talk about clever people of course"
"Doing nothing is very hard work. However, I don't mind very hard work if there is nothing definite to do. "
"One must be serious about something if one want to enjoy one's life."
Algernon was my favorite. I would definitely pay to watch a play someday for sure.
Jack was the first one who said "I know nothing"
Lady Bracknell:
"When you are engaged to someone I or your father will inform you of the fact. An engagement should come as a surprise to young girl. A pleasant surprise or an unpleasant surprise. It is not something that she is allowed to arrange for herself. " This is so true at Indian arrange marriage system level. I wonder why is it true even after 100 years!
"I do not approve of long engagements. They give people chance to find out about each other's character before marriage, which I think is never advisable.
Is Lady Bracknell, 21st century's Indian version of mom back in 1895!!!
Again Lady Bracknell: "I approve of ignorance. I don't approve of modern education. Fortunately in England, education has no effect at all"
Thanks for reading if you did. :)
Few of my favorite quotes:
Algeron:
"We should treat all the trivial things in life seriously, and all the serious things in life with sincere triviality."
Algernon called marriage a proposal business. He also says, "It's isn't easy to be anything these days".
"Things were made for arguing about."
"All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No men become like theirs. That is their tragedy.
"The fools, they talk about clever people of course"
"Doing nothing is very hard work. However, I don't mind very hard work if there is nothing definite to do. "
"One must be serious about something if one want to enjoy one's life."
Algernon was my favorite. I would definitely pay to watch a play someday for sure.
Jack was the first one who said "I know nothing"
Lady Bracknell:
"When you are engaged to someone I or your father will inform you of the fact. An engagement should come as a surprise to young girl. A pleasant surprise or an unpleasant surprise. It is not something that she is allowed to arrange for herself. " This is so true at Indian arrange marriage system level. I wonder why is it true even after 100 years!
"I do not approve of long engagements. They give people chance to find out about each other's character before marriage, which I think is never advisable.
Is Lady Bracknell, 21st century's Indian version of mom back in 1895!!!
Again Lady Bracknell: "I approve of ignorance. I don't approve of modern education. Fortunately in England, education has no effect at all"
Thanks for reading if you did. :)
July 14, 2018
More often than not, when people carry inflated egos and view themselves as geniuses, they are highly over-valuing their skill and ability; but perhaps Oscar Wilde was an arrogant arse precisely because he knew how brilliant he was. His plays are masterful, skillfully toying with irony, gender, morality, and convention-- building plots and weaving characters through the mirages of appearance and the manipulation of surfaces. Wilde accomplishes something wildly (haha) contrarian to the conventional Victorian principles of the time-- he allows morality to exist in the grey areas, and blows to pieces the binary of "right" and "wrong." The opening play here, "Being Earnest," is one of the funniest things you will ever read, as Wilde parodies the Victorian obsession with appearances and rank, as well as the romantic ideal perpetuated by the novels of the time. "Lady Windermere's Fan" is a genius tale of redemption, sacrificial love, and humility. Another highlight, "Salomé," is a surrealist and aestheticist interrogation of desire, and who gets to "look" and who pays the price for "looking." If you have never delved into Wilde's plays, do so as soon as you can~~
The Importance of Being Earnest-- 10/10
Lady Windermere's Fan-- 8/10
A Woman of No Importance -- 6/10
An Ideal Husband -- 7/10
Salomé -- 7/10
Overall: 7.5/10
The Importance of Being Earnest-- 10/10
Lady Windermere's Fan-- 8/10
A Woman of No Importance -- 6/10
An Ideal Husband -- 7/10
Salomé -- 7/10
Overall: 7.5/10
May 26, 2019
The five plays are:
* The Importance of Being Earnest
* Lady Windermere's Fan
* An Ideal Husband
* A Woman of No Importance
* Salome
The stories are fine; you read or watch Wilde's plays not for the plot, but for the wit. Peak Wilde is 3 couples sitting at a party, bickering about the customs of Society (anthropomorphized) with strongly-held, hypocritical opinions. If you've read one and didn't like it, you probably won't like the rest. They all follow roughly the same beats and have roughly the same tone.
The one-liners are legendary though:
* “All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does, and that is his.”
* “If I am occasionally a little over-dressed, I make up for it by being always immensely over-educated.”
* “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
* “I can resist anything except temptation.”
* “Scandal is gossip made tedious by morality.”
* “Good heavens! how marriage ruins a man! It's as demoralizing as cigarettes, and far more expensive.”
* “To get into the best society, nowadays, one has either to feed people, amuse people, or shock people - that is all!”
* The Importance of Being Earnest
* Lady Windermere's Fan
* An Ideal Husband
* A Woman of No Importance
* Salome
The stories are fine; you read or watch Wilde's plays not for the plot, but for the wit. Peak Wilde is 3 couples sitting at a party, bickering about the customs of Society (anthropomorphized) with strongly-held, hypocritical opinions. If you've read one and didn't like it, you probably won't like the rest. They all follow roughly the same beats and have roughly the same tone.
The one-liners are legendary though:
* “All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does, and that is his.”
* “If I am occasionally a little over-dressed, I make up for it by being always immensely over-educated.”
* “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
* “I can resist anything except temptation.”
* “Scandal is gossip made tedious by morality.”
* “Good heavens! how marriage ruins a man! It's as demoralizing as cigarettes, and far more expensive.”
* “To get into the best society, nowadays, one has either to feed people, amuse people, or shock people - that is all!”
April 11, 2023
I purchased this book in approximately 2014 and I'm honestly not sure I even opened it until this year. I had always been under the impression I would like Oscar Wilde (plus The Importance of Being Earnest is the play that MJ is in in Spider-man 2..) but I was intimidated by reading not just 1 but 5 19th century plays.
I regret waiting so long!
I read these plays out of order so that I could start with the shortest/least exciting and end with The Importance of Being Earnest and I'm really glad I did that because ending on Salome would have been a real downer. Salome is... fine. I have nothing negative to say and there were a couple interesting things that the endnotes clued me into, but if I read it separately I probably would have given it a 2-2.5. The other four were great though - full of snark, intrigue, and lots the iconic lines that I had been introduced to as Oscar Wilde quotes. I thought I was going to be bored reading the drama of rich British people, but honestly he's satirizing them most of the time. I think A Woman of No Importance was probably my favorite, but all four of the comedies would get 4-5 stars from me.
4.5
I regret waiting so long!
I read these plays out of order so that I could start with the shortest/least exciting and end with The Importance of Being Earnest and I'm really glad I did that because ending on Salome would have been a real downer. Salome is... fine. I have nothing negative to say and there were a couple interesting things that the endnotes clued me into, but if I read it separately I probably would have given it a 2-2.5. The other four were great though - full of snark, intrigue, and lots the iconic lines that I had been introduced to as Oscar Wilde quotes. I thought I was going to be bored reading the drama of rich British people, but honestly he's satirizing them most of the time. I think A Woman of No Importance was probably my favorite, but all four of the comedies would get 4-5 stars from me.
4.5
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