'It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.' The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) proclaims that it is 'A Trivial Play for Serious People'. In fact, collected here alongside Lady Windermere's Fan (1892), Salome (1891, 1894), A Woman of No Importance (1893), and An Ideal Husband (1895), Earnest shows that the questions raised by Wilde's plays are anything but trivial. Witty and radical, they elegantly challenge Victorian social proprieties, featuring lies, blackmail, illicit ...
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'It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.' The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) proclaims that it is 'A Trivial Play for Serious People'. In fact, collected here alongside Lady Windermere's Fan (1892), Salome (1891, 1894), A Woman of No Importance (1893), and An Ideal Husband (1895), Earnest shows that the questions raised by Wilde's plays are anything but trivial. Witty and radical, they elegantly challenge Victorian social proprieties, featuring lies, blackmail, illicit desires, seductions, and double lives. This volume, edited by Kate Hext, positions Wilde's major plays in the context of Wilde's life, career, and late-Victorian culture. Its introduction provides a readable overview with stylistic analyses to help readers understand the plays and why they are still fresh and relevant today, followed by sections on each play which explain key figures, plot devices, and Wilde's evolution as a dramatist. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
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Add this copy of The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays (Signet to cart. $6.62, good condition, Sold by The Parnassus BookShop rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport, WA, UNITED STATES, published 1985 by Signet Classic/New American Library.
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Seller's Description:
Good. No Jacket. Size: 8vo-over 7? "-9? " tall; Signet Classic, 1985. Mass Market Paperback in Good Condition. Introduction by Sylvan Barnet. Bright and clean wrappers with light wear to extremities, sound glued binding, pages quite clean, no markings, toned. Other Plays included are: "Lady Windermere's Fan" and"Salome". Appendix includes the Gribsby episode from "The Importance of Being Earnest". Oscar Wilde, Irish born author and playwright, 1854-1900. 235 pages. Chronology, Appendix. 12mo. 1985, Signet Classic.
Add this copy of The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays to cart. $47.30, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1985 by Signet Classics.
