The Importance of Being Earnest. A Trivial Comedy for Serious People

By Oscar Wilde

The Importance of Being Earnest is a play written by Oscar Wilde in 1895. It is a satirical comedy that mocks the Victorian society's rigid social norms and values. The play follows the lives of two friends, Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, as they navigate their way through the complex social etiquette of the time.


One of the central themes of the play is the idea of identity and self-discovery. Both Jack and Algernon lead double lives, assuming false identities to escape their mundane lives. However, they soon realize that their deceitful ways have consequences, and they must confront their true selves to find happiness.


Another significant theme of the play is the role of women in Victorian society. Wilde uses the characters of Gwendolen Fairfax and Cecily Cardew to highlight the absurdity of the expectations placed on women during this time. Both women are portrayed as intelligent and independent, yet they are still confined to the narrow roles assigned to them by society.


The play's humor is derived from Wilde's witty dialogue and clever wordplay. He uses puns, paradoxes, and epigrams to poke fun at the hypocrisy and superficiality of the upper class. The play's plot is also filled with farcical elements, such as mistaken identities, secret engagements, and absurd misunderstandings.


The Importance of Being Earnest is a masterpiece of Victorian satire. Wilde's sharp wit and keen observations of society are on full display in this play. It remains a timeless classic that continues to entertain audiences today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Aegitas
• Release date: Jun 25, 2023
• ISBN: 9780369409447

Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) was a Dublin-born poet and playwright who studied at the Portora Royal School, before attending Trinity College and Magdalen College, Oxford. The son of two writers, Wilde grew up in an intellectual environment. As a young man, his poetry appeared in various periodicals including Dublin University Magazine. In 1881, he published his first book Poems, an expansive collection of his earlier works. His only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, was released in 1890 followed by the acclaimed plays Lady Windermere’s Fan (1893) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895).

Book preview

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST:

A TRIVIAL COMEDY FOR SERIOUS PEOPLE

Oscar Wilde

The Importance of Being Earnest is a play written by Oscar Wilde in 1895. It is a satirical comedy that mocks the Victorian society's rigid social norms and values. The play follows the lives of two friends, Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, as they navigate their way through the complex social etiquette of the time.

One of the central themes of the play is the idea of identity and self-discovery. Both Jack and Algernon lead double lives, assuming false identities to escape their mundane lives. However, they soon realize that their deceitful ways have consequences, and they must confront their true selves to find happiness.

Another significant theme of the play is the role of women in Victorian society. Wilde uses the characters of Gwendolen Fairfax and Cecily Cardew to highlight the absurdity of the expectations placed on women during this time. Both women are portrayed as intelligent and independent, yet they are still confined to the narrow roles assigned to them by society.

The play's humor is derived from Wilde's witty dialogue and clever wordplay. He uses puns, paradoxes, and epigrams to poke fun at the hypocrisy and superficiality of the upper class. The play's plot is also filled with farcical elements, such as mistaken identities, secret engagements, and absurd misunderstandings.

The Importance of Being Earnest is a masterpiece of Victorian satire. Wilde's sharp wit and keen observations of society are on full display in this play. It remains a timeless classic that continues to entertain audiences today.

The Importance of Being Earnest

A Trivial Comedy for Serious People

By Oscar Wilde

This edition was created and published by Aegitas

2023

Get more books at aegitas.com

Reader Reactions

From Umut

This was an absolute delight! I read The Picture Of Dorian Gray from Oscar Wilde before. If you haven't read, it's a very good book too. But, I had no idea he wrote such hilarious plays somehow.

I'm so happy I discovered it and I'll keep reading his plays for sure.

If you're looking for really well written, funny plays with charming characters, please read this.

From Vimal Thiagarajan

One of those timeless plays that still retains its original charm after innumerable conscious and unconscious repetitions of varying degrees in Indian movies. A splendid critique on not just Victorian society but almost any modern society, cooked up in the most palatable form with plenty of wit and irony. Best thing about it is that none of the characters seem to be aware of their hypocrisies, which creates an amplifying mirror of the real world. Will have to read more of Wilde.

From Ravi Prakash

As far as I can recall, this is the second most entertaining drama after Pygmalion by Shaw, that I read ever. Dialogues are the soul of Comedy, I think, and the style in which Wilde has put it would make you laugh now and then while reading.

This can also be termed as a work of Satire on the societal snobbery of late Victorian era. Paradoxes, wit, and humor, elegantly intertwined with sentences give a Wow feeling.

This Comedy is just in three acts, and the plot is so hilarious, amusing and suspenseful that you can't leave without finishing it. Characters may seem you ridiculous, but the snobbery shown by them might be genuine in accordance to the time-period.

After reading this I watched the movie made on this play in 1952. The dialogue delivery of Edith Evans as Lady Bracknell amused me much.

From Kelly

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 scene is among the most perfect in English comedies.

From Gabrielle Dubois

It is a firework of witty words, sharp sentences, comical situations and mastered coups de theatre.

This Importance of being earnest is a jewel and Wilde a goldsmith who was killed by the hypocrites.

There's so much to say about being earnest. Men are always earnest. Only their earnestness changes.

What can I say? Everyone knows the story, and nearly each sentence can be noticed! So just read it if you haven’t done it yet, and savour!

The Importance of Being Earnest

A Trivial Comedy for Serious People

By Oscar Wilde

THE PERSONS IN THE PLAY

John Worthing, J.P.

Algernon Moncrieff

Rev. Canon Chasuble, D.D.

MERRIMAN, Butler

Lane, Manservant

Lady Bracknell

Hon. Gwendolen Fairfax

Cecily Cardew

Miss Prism, Governess

THE SCENES OF THE PLAY

ACT I. Algernon Moncrieff’s Flat in Half-Moon Street, W.

ACT II. The Garden at the Manor House, Woolton.

ACT III. Drawing-Room at the Manor House, Woolton.

TIME: The Present.

FIRST ACT

SCENE

Morning-room in Algernon’s flat in Half-Moon Street. The room is luxuriously and artistically furnished. The sound of a piano is heard in the adjoining room.

[Lane is arranging afternoon tea on the table, and after the music has ceased, Algernon enters.]

ALGERNON.

Did you hear what I was playing, Lane?

LANE.

I didn’t think it polite to listen, sir.

ALGERNON.

I’m sorry for that, for your sake. 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. I keep science for Life.

LANE.

Yes, sir.

ALGERNON.

And, speaking of the science of Life, have you got the cucumber sandwiches cut for Lady Bracknell?

LANE.

Yes, sir. [Hands them on a salver.]

ALGERNON.

[Inspects them, takes two, and sits down on the sofa.] Oh!… by the way, Lane, I see from your book that on Thursday night, when Lord Shoreman and Mr. Worthing were dining with me, eight bottles of champagne are entered as having been consumed.

LANE.

Yes, sir; eight bottles and a pint.

ALGERNON.

Why is it that at a bachelor’s establishment the servants invariably drink the champagne? I ask merely for information.

LANE.