The Importance of Being Earnest; A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St Jamess Theatre in London; it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personas to escape burdensome social obligations. Working within the social conventions of late Victorian London; the plays major themes are the triviality with which it treats institutions as serious as marriage; and the resulting satire of Victorian ways. Contemporary reviews all praised the plays humour; though some were cautious about its explicit lack of social messages; while others foresaw the modern consensus that it was the culmination of Wildes artistic career so far. Its high farce and witty dialogue have helped make The Importance of Being Earnest Wildes most enduringly popular play.The successful opening night marked the climax of Wildes career but also heralded his downfall. The Marquess of Queensberry; whose son Lord Alfred Douglas was Wildes lover; planned to present the writer with a bouquet of rotten vegetables and disrupt the show. Wilde was tipped off and Queensberry was refused admission. Soon afterwards their feud came to a climax in court; where Wildes homosexual double life was revealed to the Victorian public and he was eventually sentenced to imprisonment. His notoriety caused the play; despite its early success; to be closed after 86 performances. After his release; he published the play from exile in Paris; but he wrote no further comic or dramatic work.The Importance of Being Earnest has been revived many times since its premiere. It has been adapted for the cinema on three occasions. In The Importance of Being Earnest (1952); Dame Edith Evans reprised her celebrated interpretation of Lady Bracknell; The Importance of Being Earnest (1992) by Kurt Baker used an all-black cast; and Oliver Parkers The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) incorporated some of Wildes original material cut during the preparation of the original stage production.
#354023 in eBooks 2015-05-11 2015-05-11File Name: B00P9SPZUS
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Good but Could have been BetterBy book beach bunnyOverall I liked the short stories and wasnt disappointed to read. The Angelica Kauffman story was the one that saved the book for me and I believe that was solely due to the subject matter of having lost someone you love and the situation that Im currently in. It was just one of those stories that you connect with and speaks to you more because of what youre going through. My problem with the other stories is I had a harder time getting into the minds of those characters.The last story Sincerity Yabuki Sibil is set in the future and the one that ties all the other artwork together and stories together and does so quite interestingly and strongly. I liked especially that it dealt with the way we looked at art and life and interconnection in the future. What happens when most of our lives is based in artificial reality? What happens when we never get to see real art but only representations? What if we could interact with works of art?But I didnt connect with any of the other stories as much as those or find any of them that interesting. The lack of quotations; as others have pointed out; was distracting and annoying. In some of the stories I would have liked a little more about the art itself. So I liked the book overall but only based on two stories and only for personal reasons did I connect with the one story so deeply.4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Richly textured portraits; impeccable proseBy Susan AndersonCant turn the page fast enough. In Girl Reading; a debut novel; Katie Ward paints seven portraits of girls reading--their lives; their conflicts; their passions; their griefs. The authors prose is rich; her syntax spare; exact; sometimes provocative; sometimes surprising; usually delightful. From the start we are caught up in the characters; the stories of the young women who read. We watch with them. We weep with them. We wonder; what comes next.On its skeletal level; the work yolks together two disciplines--painting and writing. As a painter uses tempera; oil; camera; or video to paint a picture that tells a story; so this author uses words to create the same. Seven stories--each one evocative of a unique dilemma; and the characters; almost flesh and blood; reflect their age. Seven ages of the human race flow from and ping back to seven images. In the end; a synchronicity: the last section knitting together all parts into a whole; and; with a start; we discover the story at its heart; the unity of the work.The reader comes to a deeper understanding of the early and late Renaissance; the Victorian era; the twentieth century; the present; and beyond. Themes include humanitys inability to see; to know the truth; given the social constructs and limitations which inhibit understanding. And the core image of a girl reading; in this context; is ironic.The book is a must for all serious readers interested in history and the direction of literary fiction.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A Portrait GalleryBy M E HunterHere are some things this book is not: a linear narrative; a short-story collection; a feminist manifesto; a treatise on art. Although it has much in common with all of these; it is something else entirely: a portrait gallery curated with a perceptive and inventive eye that is more than the sum of any of its constituent elements.Seven portraits of female figures reading are a jumping off point for vignettes that illustrate the context of each; introducing characters of their time and themes of balancing independence and love in the changing and eternal tides of life. Most leave the reader wondering what happens next; what happened when the subject closed the book and went on about her life? Because the story is of the picture; not the woman; nor the book. It is about the connection that art creates across centuries; the ways that modern viewers interpret and re-interpret the same image; about the ways our stories change and the ways they are always the same story.Wander through Katie Wards book like a small room in an art gallery. Consider each work in turn and the commonalities of the room. What; besides the subject matter; drew the curator to these pieces? What does each tell you about itself? About yourself? Your time in this gallery may not change your life; but it will open your eyes a bit wider.
