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4th out of 275 books
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The Importance of Being Earnest
by
Oscar Wilde
Witty and buoyant comedy of manners is brilliantly plotted from its effervescent first act to its hilarious denouement, and filled with some of literature's most famous epigrams. Widely considered Wilde's most perfect work, the play is reprinted here from an authoritative early British edition. Note to the Dover Edition.
Paperback, 64 pages
Published
July 1st 1990
by Dover Publications
(first published 1895)
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When I was quite young – I guess, if you were of a mind to, you might say it was a generation ago – I was listening to a radio program and for some reason they decided to do the handbag scene from The Importance of Being Earnest. I’d heard of the play before, obviously, but only the name. I had thought it would be some terribly dreary thing, having no idea just how funny a man Wilde was. The guy on the radio gave it quite a build up – saying something to the effect that this scene is not just...more
"Viviamo, mi spiace doverlo dire, in un'epoca superficiale."
E Oscar Wilde che fa, quindi? Scrive una commedia teatrale per prendere un po' in giro i suoi contemporanei. Con la loro mania dell'etichetta, del trovare il giusto consorte per i propri figli, e tutte le fissazioni superficiali degli inglesi dell'Ottocento. Con tanto di thé bevuto con molto garbo, ma quello non poteva mancare.
Io non impazzisco per Wilde, che diciamocelo, è uno degli autori "classici"...more
E Oscar Wilde che fa, quindi? Scrive una commedia teatrale per prendere un po' in giro i suoi contemporanei. Con la loro mania dell'etichetta, del trovare il giusto consorte per i propri figli, e tutte le fissazioni superficiali degli inglesi dell'Ottocento. Con tanto di thé bevuto con molto garbo, ma quello non poteva mancare.
Io non impazzisco per Wilde, che diciamocelo, è uno degli autori "classici"...more
Oscar Wildre was pretty darn quotable, wasn't he:
The only way to behave to a woman is to make love to her if she is pretty and to someone else if she is plain.
To lose one parent, Mr Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.
All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his.
In married life, three is company, and two is none.
I have always been of opinion that a ma...more
The only way to behave to a woman is to make love to her if she is pretty and to someone else if she is plain.
To lose one parent, Mr Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.
All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his.
In married life, three is company, and two is none.
I have always been of opinion that a ma...more
When the frivolous Jack Worthing visits the country, he disguises himself as “Ernest” to escape from London Society. Unfortunately, he loves Gwendolyn, but she will never marry him if he is not truly Earnest. Her mother, Lady Bracknell, has parallel concerns. She wants her daughter to marry a man of good family. Unfortunately, not only is Jack not “Earnest”, it also turns out that he is a foundling. He was found in a handbag in the left luggage department at Victoria Station, on the Worthing ...more
As a very big fan of Wilde myself, I have been dying to get my hands on this play and it was exactly like what I had in mind: smart and simply hilarious! I finished it in one day and then went back to it and read it again. No wonder why it's pretty famous the characters are just awesome and as usual the dialogue is clever. Loved the muffin's scene and how Jack and Algernon get along with each other.
In a few words, it's a very delightful play and it has plenty of funny\clever scenes. Oscar ...more
In a few words, it's a very delightful play and it has plenty of funny\clever scenes. Oscar ...more
Kara who
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Penguins, Ghandi, all the prim and proper American and English society
Plot Summary: Two friends get in trouble when they use the same pseudoname "Earnest" while trying to marry the women they love.
After rereading Mr. Oscar Wilde's "A Trivial Comedy for Serious People" I have learned that The Importance of Being Earnest is sorely needed to be written in modern times. We as a society need another satire to point out the problems in our lovely system, just as Wilde (and others, such as Voltaire) have done in their times.
...more
After rereading Mr. Oscar Wilde's "A Trivial Comedy for Serious People" I have learned that The Importance of Being Earnest is sorely needed to be written in modern times. We as a society need another satire to point out the problems in our lovely system, just as Wilde (and others, such as Voltaire) have done in their times.
...more
Well, actually... it's not a book. It's originally a play, I read the script. I also have the audio-book (available for free through LibriVox.org). Oscar Wilde is a genius, you will never guess how the story will end. It is very funny and witty, lots of irony and cynical remarks. My eyes were teary because I laughed so hard when I was reading the book. It's hilarious, by far the funniest book I ever read. It tells the story of mistaken identity and failing attempts to cover it up. Two young men ...more
A deliciously funny read and the perfect antidote to an overdose of Henry James, Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) is a madcap comedy of manners whose clever plot serves up some of Wilde's funniest and must cutting wit. Wilde is at his epigrammatic best satirizing the hypocrisy and pretense of the Victorian upper classes. He repeatedly suspends his drama so that his characters can deliver impudent and hilarious asides lampooning the trinity held most sacred by the fin de siècl...more
I learnt about this play from its continuous appearance on the best books lists. Before I began to read it I was a bit sceptical. I mean Oscar Wilde is so well known and therefore in my naive logic I figured it was therefore inaccessible. How wrong I was! I have never laughed so much at a book in my life. I managed to read the whole thing in one night and loved it. I would recommend it to anybody who enjoys humour!
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 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."...more
Kelly
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
everyone, fans of comedies of manners.
One of the best plays I've ever read/been in. This review is going to be remarkably short, because I think experiencing Oscar Wilde is really not something to be done except by actually doing so. The joke of it is ruined otherwise. I will say the play is fast, witty, extremely bright, and incredibly perverse. It is possible to /actually/ make people roll in the aisles on this one. I've read in several sources that even George Bernard Shaw did when he saw this for the first time. The muffins scen...more
I think my take on Oscar Wilde plays is this: He is a man who wrote mildly amusing (really -- when was the last time you guffawed during a Wilde play?) plays in which the Wilde character always said wittily epigrammatic things which no casual partygoer could ever pull off on the spur of the moment. I believe I read someplace that Wilde himself would create and then practice these epigrams for hours in preparation for sprinkling them into conversations.
In other works, when characters...more
In other works, when characters...more
The Importance of Being Earnest is, hands down, one of the best plays I’ve ever read. It’s witty and extremely bright, and my entire class was laughing out loud with every turn of the page, every line read. The play is essentially “a trivial comedy,” but The Importance of Being Earnest is a hilarious satire of nineteenth century society that posses a tone throughout is light and clever so that the entire play is simply a joy to watch or read.
We watched the 2002 version of The Importa...more
We watched the 2002 version of The Importa...more
I LOVE Oscar Wilde. He is absolutely hysterical, I had difficulty containing my laughter when we read the book aloud in class. We also watched the movie and I thought it was on par with the book (although I still would recommend reading the book first and then watching the movie). This play is overflowing with wit, satire, sarcasm, what-have-you. The characters are so completely ridiculous but at the same time they manage to utter some things that actually make sense. The play seems to be writte...more
I loved this farcical play, and I resolve to read more by Oscar Wilde. Two men, both posing as a man named Ernest, find that their respective loves will only accept affections from a man who is truly named Ernest.
Some of my favourite quotes:
Jack: Cecily and Gwendolen are perfectly certain to be extremely great friends. I'll bet you anything you like that half an hour after they have met, they will be calling each other sister.
Algernon: Women only do that when th...more
Some of my favourite quotes:
Jack: Cecily and Gwendolen are perfectly certain to be extremely great friends. I'll bet you anything you like that half an hour after they have met, they will be calling each other sister.
Algernon: Women only do that when th...more
One word? Hilarious. I laughed out loud. We have Jack and Algernon, friends, both of whom regularly assume different identities so as to easily move between town and country without causing a scene with their relatives. They both end up madly in love with women who can not possibly truly love them unless their name is Ernest.
Of course there are interfering aunties and squabbles over muffins - not to mention babies in handbags and private cigarette cases. Truly, the play is drip...more
I have to say that going into reading this play, I'd had no idea how truly funny and amazingly entertaining it would be. I'd never read any of Wilde's works before, so I had nothing to base this one off of other than my English teacher's assurance that it would be a very amusing read. So I have to say I wasn't disappointed! Oscar Wilde's play is rife with morals and lessons that reflect very human relations prevalent even today.
The characters' actions are not only the shallow imitation...more
The characters' actions are not only the shallow imitation...more
While Oscar Wilde himself tends to infuriate me, The Importance of Being Earnest had me in stitches. Even when Wilde annoys me he is incredibly quotable, and this play was no exception.
"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. If it did, it would ...more
"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. If it did, it would ...more
One word? Hilarious. I laughed out loud. We have Jack and Algernon, friends, both of whom regularly assume different identities so as to easily move between town and country without causing a scene with their relatives. They both end up madly in love with women who can not possibly truly love them unless their name is Ernest.
Of course there are interfering aunties and squabbles over muffins - not to mention babies in handbags and private cigarette cases. Truly, the play is dripping wit...more
Of course there are interfering aunties and squabbles over muffins - not to mention babies in handbags and private cigarette cases. Truly, the play is dripping wit...more
I was feeling in a rut this week, not sure what direction to read in and then I realized that what I was missing was a kind of comfort food: a classic that I read at some point, can barely remember but surely enjoyed. I have a bit of a crush on Oscar Wilde's mind so one thing led to another and I picked this up.
Somehow during the years between the ambiguous "then" and "now" I had forgotten how amusing this play is and crush aside, how witty Wilde can be. It's clever a...more
Somehow during the years between the ambiguous "then" and "now" I had forgotten how amusing this play is and crush aside, how witty Wilde can be. It's clever a...more
Oh how I love this play!! When I want a funny, quick, great read - this is what I pick up. I love everything that comes out of Lady Bracknell's mouth - and Algy's - and Gwendolen's - and Cecily's... Some of my favorite quotes:
"I don't play accurately - any one can play accurately - but I play with wonderful expression. As far as the piano is concerned, sentiment is my forte."
"Really, if the lower orders don't set us a good example, what on earth is the use of...more
"I don't play accurately - any one can play accurately - but I play with wonderful expression. As far as the piano is concerned, sentiment is my forte."
"Really, if the lower orders don't set us a good example, what on earth is the use of...more
Marriage is of paramount importance in The Importance of Being Earnest, both as a primary force motivating the plot and as a subject for philosophical speculation and debate. The question of the nature of marriage appears for the first time in the opening dialogue between Algernon and his butler, Lane, and from this point on the subject never disappears for very long. Algernon and Jack discuss the nature of marriage when they dispute briefly about whether a marriage proposal is a matter of “busi...more
People will often refer to something as a "biting" work of satire. This is not one of them. The Importance of Being Earnest is as polite as a british butler. Not that this is a bad thing. Far from it, in my opinion. The thing is that, when coupled with Wilde's perfectly developed sense of humor, the "soft" satire is all the more potent.
I don't enjoy reading plays half as much as I do watching them, but this is an exception. The truth is that I don't think I ...more
I don't enjoy reading plays half as much as I do watching them, but this is an exception. The truth is that I don't think I ...more
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 over. The very essence of romance is uncertainty. 7
The truth is rarely pure and never simple. Modern life would be very tedious if it were either... 18
-Good afternoon, dear Algernon, I hope you are behaving very well.
-I'm feeling very well, Au...more
I've been wanting to read this book for quite a while now and had I realized how short it was I would have read it a long time ago.
I thought this story was fun and clever. I enjoyed it quite a bit. The ending was a little cliche, but nonetheless fun and light hearted.
Admittedly I did get a little nervous when Gwendolyn and Cecily meet and think they are engaged to the same man!
It was a great read and a cute little love story!
I thought this story was fun and clever. I enjoyed it quite a bit. The ending was a little cliche, but nonetheless fun and light hearted.
Admittedly I did get a little nervous when Gwendolyn and Cecily meet and think they are engaged to the same man!
It was a great read and a cute little love story!
4.5 stars
Just lovely. Wilde is obviously the master of quotable awesomeness, with such lines as:
"I will wait for you all my life, if you are not too long."
“To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.”
“In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing.”
The Importance of Being Earnest is mad. It is a truly effervescent play -- full of life and craziness and m...more
Just lovely. Wilde is obviously the master of quotable awesomeness, with such lines as:
"I will wait for you all my life, if you are not too long."
“To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.”
“In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing.”
The Importance of Being Earnest is mad. It is a truly effervescent play -- full of life and craziness and m...more
"Truth is beautiful, without doubt; but so are lies." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
I didn't know anything about this play going in to it. After reading the first few pages it became evident pretty quickly that this was a comedy, and a pretty good one at that. There is a lot of witty banter and snide remarks throughout that make you laugh out loud. I imagine this is even funnier on the stage with the actors' body language, etc.
The play demonstrates how a couple of lie...more
I didn't know anything about this play going in to it. After reading the first few pages it became evident pretty quickly that this was a comedy, and a pretty good one at that. There is a lot of witty banter and snide remarks throughout that make you laugh out loud. I imagine this is even funnier on the stage with the actors' body language, etc.
The play demonstrates how a couple of lie...more
The wit oozing out of this Wilde play is smoother than the BlueBand margarine we get here in Tanzania. Another book preloaded onto my ebook and read during my ride through Iran, finishing it in the exciting city of Tehran, the action centres around the identity of an English... ummm... dandy purporting to be named Ernest. The book focuses on the disconnect between expected social behaviour in upper-class Victorian England and how people with no real job and plenty of money really do behave. The ...more
The Importance of Being Earnest doesn’t need me to describe how great it is; I think everyone has already heard about it. I was kind of afraid that I wouldn’t get the humor. The world’s sense of humor tends to change over a period of a hundred years, so I was kind of expecting the humor in this book to be irrelevant today. Fortunately, that is not the case. This book is just as funny today as it was in 1895.
Oscar Wilde essentially mocks the Victorian-era society that existed when he wrote...more
Oscar Wilde essentially mocks the Victorian-era society that existed when he wrote...more
I have seen the play many times. I love the witty (love the paradoxes), benevolent, insightful universe of Oscar Wilde. I am often shocked by the contrast with today's culture. Actors find this play funny too! I once saw the play, a professional production, in Crewe, England where the actor "got the giggles" for about half a minute (or was it a minute and a half?; it felt like a long time). He was set off by one actress who said the last few of her lines with repressed, joyful laughter...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Brilliance And Importance Of This Play | 22 | 101 | Feb 10, 2012 06:42am | |
| The Green Carnation: The Importance of Being Earnest | 1 | 1 | Jan 05, 2012 01:51pm |
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Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish playwright, poet and author of numerous short stories and one novel. Known for his biting wit, he became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era in London, and one of the greatest celebrities of his day. Several of his plays continue to be widely performed, especially The Importance of Being Earnest. As the result of a wide...more
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“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.”
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“All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does, and that is his.”
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