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The Importance of Being Earnest: And Other Plays (Modern Library Classics)

by Oscar Wilde

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Oscar Wilde created his final and most lasting play, comic masterpieces of all time, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, in 1895. Considered one of the greatest THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST is a farce, playing with love, religion, and truth as it tells the tale of two men. Jack, Worthing and Algernon Mon crieff, who bend the truth in order to add excitement to their lives.Jack invents an imaginary brother, Ernest, whom he uses as an excuse to escape from his dull country home and gallavant in town. Meanwhile, Algernon follows Jack's scam, but his imaginary friend, Bumbury, provides a convenient method of adventuring in the country. However, their deceptions eventually cross paths, resulting in a series of crises that threaten to spoil their romantic pursuits.Hailed as the first modern comedy in England, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST is Wilde's most famous work. This collection also features two other plays that Wilde penned earlier in his career, LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN and AN IDEAL HUSBAND, that also display his ability to convey warmth and wit through his hilarious characters and their outlandish situations.… (more)
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In this comedy of errors and manners, Wilde, with his signature wit, effectively lampoons high society and the games of love. Yet what makes Earnest so astounding is that the author slyly winks at his reader, hinting that he himself plays into the very games he skewers. Unfolding on the page like lovely flowers are lines that drip with sarcasm and banter - arguably some of the best ever written - and outrageous events that the audience knows will inevitably sort themselves out. The characters at times feel like paper cutouts and the women especially are vapidly drawn, but perhaps that is the point Wilde is attempting to make. Nevertheless, it is the clever wordplay that carries it, and one can assume that the play, performed live, is likely more amusing than to read it to oneself. ( )
3 vote threnodymarch | Apr 12, 2009 |
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This is the Modern Library Classics edition; do not combine with other works of the same name, as they contain different combinations of plays.
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Oscar Wilde created his final and most lasting play, comic masterpieces of all time, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, in 1895. Considered one of the greatest THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST is a farce, playing with love, religion, and truth as it tells the tale of two men. Jack, Worthing and Algernon Mon crieff, who bend the truth in order to add excitement to their lives.Jack invents an imaginary brother, Ernest, whom he uses as an excuse to escape from his dull country home and gallavant in town. Meanwhile, Algernon follows Jack's scam, but his imaginary friend, Bumbury, provides a convenient method of adventuring in the country. However, their deceptions eventually cross paths, resulting in a series of crises that threaten to spoil their romantic pursuits.Hailed as the first modern comedy in England, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST is Wilde's most famous work. This collection also features two other plays that Wilde penned earlier in his career, LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN and AN IDEAL HUSBAND, that also display his ability to convey warmth and wit through his hilarious characters and their outlandish situations.

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Legacy Library: Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde has a Legacy Library. Legacy libraries are the personal libraries of famous readers, entered by LibraryThing members from the Legacy Libraries group.

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