The Importance of Being Earnest

Publisher Marketing: 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 James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae to escape burdensome social obligations. Working within the social conventions of late Victorian London, the play's 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 play's humour, though some were cautious about its explicit lack of social messages, while others foresaw the modern consensus that it was the culmination of Wilde's artistic career so far. Its high farce and witty dialogue have helped make The Importance of Being Earnest Wilde's most enduringly popular play. The successful opening night marked the climax of Wilde's career but also heralded his downfall. The Marquess of Queensberry, whose son Lord Alfred Douglas was Wilde's 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 Wilde's 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." Review Citations: Kliatt 07/01/2007 pg. 56 (EAN 9780792747093, Compact Disc) Kliatt 09/01/2002 pg. 53 (EAN 9781565116764, Analog Audio Cassette) Contributor Bio:  Wilde, Oscar Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin in 1856. In the years following his graduation from Oxford in 1878 he published poems and stories which included "The Picture of Dorian Gray". "Lady Windermere's Fan" was produced in 1892, "A Woman of No Importance" in 1893 and "An Ideal Husband" and "The Importance of Being Earnest" in 1895. Later work included "De Profundis" and "The Ballad of Reading Gaol". He died in 1900.