The Importance of Being Earnest

Book Description

This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Edition includes a glossary and reader,s notes to help the modern reader appreciate Wilde's wry wit and elaborate plot twists.

Oscar Wilde's madcap farce about mistaken identities, secret engagements, and lovers' entanglements still delights readers more than a century after its 1895 publication and premiere performance. The rapid-fire wit and eccentric characters of The Importance of Being Earnest have made it a mainstay of the high school curriculum for decades.

Cecily Cardew and Gwendolen Fairfax are both in love with the same mythical suitor. Jack Worthing has wooed Gewndolen as Ernest while Algernon has also posed as Ernest to win the heart of Jack's ward, Cecily. When all four arrive at Jack's country home on the same weekend—the "rivals" to fight for Ernest's undivided attention and the "Ernests" to claim their beloveds—pandemonium breaks loose.

Only a senile nursemaid and an old, discarded hand-bag can save the day!

Customer Reviews:

Best play I've ever read.......2007-05-27

The wit in which Wilde writes is incredible. It's a quick short play so you should definitely read it if you love plays. It's funny, and just quite great!

the importance of being earnest.......2007-01-09

this book came in great condition, as promised, and arrived on time. thank you very much!

Essential Wilde.......2006-12-15

Funnier and more entertaining than you ever thought reading a play could be, and absolutely more relevant now than ever, The Importance of Being Earnest is Oscar Wilde at his best. Thankfully short ( you can read it in an hour or so ) and filled with brilliant, biting humor.

Great version of the Classic Play.......2005-10-17

The Importance of Being Earnest is a fantastic play. It is an easy read, and is not only well thought out, but hilarious.

I liked this book of the play especially, because it includes helpful notes in the beginning, but more because it has a glossary of difficult terms in the back. Every time I came to a word that I did not know, it was sure to be defined in the back.

If you love theatre, this is a great play to read. I would highly suggest this book.

Wilde's wittiest.......2005-07-14

One thing happens when you read Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest"; you are amazed to remember that this play was authored over 100 years ago. For most plays of that era, the average reader tends to lose references and it tends to be stodgy and irrelevant. Not so Earnest, due to the brilliance and imagination of it's playwright.

The Importance of Being Earnest is a tour de force of comedy, misidentifications, and farce. Algernon and Jack are friends, and each has invented an imaginary person as an excuse of getting out of engagements. Jack's person is Ernest, a brother with a wild past. The two conspire to woo the ladies that they love, and through a series of happenstances, must gently deceive to get want they want. The end result is a play of uncomperable quality, chock full of witticisms that are highly quotable out of context. In fact, I dare suggest the entire play is quotable, such its brilliance.

Wilde pulled no punches when writing Earnest. Often, when a play is filled with memorable quotes, it takes away from the realism of the scenes because the characters then become merely conduits for the writer's intellect. Not so in Earnest. Wilde manages to make the characters say exactly what they would say in each situation, true to their persona. That alone is quite an accomplishment, one not often seen.

Misidentities, witty banter, love, all conspire to one of English's most brilliant comedies ever to have seen the stage. We should be so lucky the world had Oscar Wilde in it, and even more so, that he wrote at all.

The Importance of Being Earnest (Dover Thrift Editions)

Average customer rating:

Honestly...
Brilliant and Witty
Audio CD is abridged on one CD
Timeless Wit
amazing play

The Importance of Being Earnest (Dover Thrift Editions)
Oscar Wilde
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0486264785

Book Description

Witty and buoyant comedy of manners is brilliantly plotted from its effervescent first act to its hilarious denouement, and filled with some of literature's most famous epigrams. Widely considered Wilde's most perfect work, the play is reprinted here from an authoritative early British edition. Note to the Dover Edition.

Customer Reviews:

Honestly..........2007-03-24

I still smile when I think about this play. It was my first sampling of Oscar Wilde, and I found it pretty enjoyable. It's also been my only sampling of Oscar Wilde. I've been meaning to get into some more of his work, I really have. It's a tale of mistaken identity, of love, of three volume novels, of "Bunburyists" and of fashion. Everyone claims to be Earnest, but they're all rather trivial about it. It's pretty funny too, with a lot of wit and the like through it.

This particular edition is particularly cheap, and it seems like its worth a look.

Brilliant and Witty.......2006-05-06

I love this play. I love Oscar Wilde. The wit and humor of this play is astounding, and yet at the same time, it is so intelligent. I love it.

Audio CD is abridged on one CD.......2006-04-23

I have not listened to this audio CD version. I purchased it and returned it without listening to it. I opened the case and realized that this is an abridged radio play version on one CD. The play itself is delightful. I don't care for abridged versions of most material, certainly not a play that takes less than 90 minutes in its entirety. I urge Amazon to update the catalog entry to indicate that this is abridged. An unabridged version is available from other vendors. Thank-you.

Timeless Wit.......2006-01-14

This is an undeniable classic that I've enjoyed seeing over the years in both theatrical and film productions. Upon reading the work, I find that it doesn't suffer in the reading as well. Wilde is likely the most witty person to have ever lived. He claimed he was at least. His works, of course, reflect that genius. In particular, "The Importance of Being Ernest" does. If you're going to experience only one of Wilde's plays, this is the one. The plot is delightfully silly and turns on itself several times. And the word-play is hilarious, and still fresh after more than a century. I'm pretty sure that this play will never grow old.

amazing play.......2005-08-05

Oscar Wilde never fails to intrest me. This is his most acclaimed and recognized work. The plot was everyday and trite, but with meticulous details Wilde was able to overplay the happily ever after concept-of-a-plot. I'd definitely read this again. If I could only pick one play to read by Wilde, this one would be it.

Average customer rating:

Practically Useless

CliffsNotes Importance of Being Earnest
Susan Van Kirk
Manufacturer: Cliffs Notes
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0764544616

Book Description

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer a look into critical elements and ideas within classic works of literature. The latest generation of titles in this series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format.

CliffsNotes on The Importance of Being Earnest offers a concise look at this Victorian farce, which tweaks the complacency and aristocratic attitudes prevalent among the wealthy upper class of the time. Hidden identities, fierce repartee, underlying passions, and surprises punctuate this lively play.

This study guide shows, through its expert commentaries, just how three sets of lovers clear up mishap and misunderstandings and end up happily ever after. Other features that help you figure out this survey of Victorian social issues include

A close look at the author's life, which itself was rife with scandal and ruin
Summaries and commentaries, act by act
Descriptive character analyses
A character map that reveal key relationships
Critical essays on Victorian views on compassion, religion, marriage, and more
A review section that tests your knowledge, and suggested essay topics

Classic literature or modern-day treasure — you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

Customer Reviews:

Practically Useless.......2007-01-13

When I told my mom that we were reading The Importance of Being Earnest in our English class, she thought it would be a good idea to pick up the Cliff Notes for me to study. I appreciate the guesture, but it was completely unncecessary.

The play itself is only about 80 pages long, just 10 pages more than the Cliff Notes. So don't expect to save any time by reading Cliff Notes instead of the play.

Also, the play isn't really that confusing at all. There are only a handful of characters and the dialouge is not hard to understand (though it isn't written in a modern dialect). While reading this play (I finished it in one night), I never once was confused or lost.

Cliff Notes can be useful for long, boring, confusing works such as The Scarlet Letter. But something as short and simple as The Importance of Being Earnest stands fine on it's own. Skip the Cliff Notes and just read the play. It's actually pretty funny and you'll probably enjoy it. I did.

The Importance of Being Earnest (Norton Critical Editions)

Average customer rating:

The Importance of Being Earnest (Norton Critical Editions)
Oscar Wilde
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0393927539

Book Description

The text of this Norton Critical Edition of The Importance of Being Earnest is the established three-act version. Originally in four acts, Wilde shortened it to three at the urging of George Alexander, the owner of the St. James Theatre and first actor to play Jack Worthing. The play is accompanied by explanatory annotations and by an appendix of excised portions.

"Backgrounds" includes essays on Wilde and the 1890s by prominent cultural critics Joseph Donohue, Regenia Gagnier, and Karl Beckson.

"Reviews and Reactions" collects contemporary responses to The Importance of Being Earnest, among them George Bernard Shaw's famous dissenting view and the American assessment by H. F. "Essays in Criticism" includes six diverse assessments of Wilde and the play by E. H. Mikhail, Camille Paglia, Christopher Craft, Michael Patrick Gillespie, Peter Raby, and Richard Haslam.

A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included.

About the Series: No other series of classic texts equals the caliber of the Norton Critical Editions. Each volume combines the most authoritative text available with the comprehensive pedagogical apparatus necessary to appreciate the work fully. Careful editing, first-rate translation, and thorough explanatory annotations allow each text to meet the highest literary standards while remaining accessible to students. Each edition is printed on acid-free paper and every text in the series remains in print. Norton Critical Editions are the choice for excellence in scholarship for students at more than 2,000 universities worldwide.

The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays (Enriched Classics)

Average customer rating:

Partying and Good times and thoughtless happy endings... satirically?

The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays (Enriched Classics)
Oscar Wilde
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 1416500421

Book Description

Enduring Literature Illuminated by Practical Scholarship

Wilde's classic comedy of manners, The Importance of Being Earnest, and his other popular plays -- Lady Windermere's Fan, An Ideal Husband, and Salome -- challenged comtemporary notions of sex and sensibility, class and cultural identity.

This Enriched Classic Edition includes:

• A concise introduction that gives readers important background information

• A chronology of the author's life and work

• A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context

• An outline of key themes and plot points to help readers form their own interpretations

• Detailed explanatory notes

• Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work

• Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction

• A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience

Enriched Classics offer readers affordable editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and insightful commentary. The scholarship provided in Enriched Classics enables readers to appreciate, understand, and enjoy the world's finest books to their full potential.

Series edited by Cynthia Brantley Johnson

Customer Reviews:

Partying and Good times and thoughtless happy endings... satirically? .......2006-07-18

This fellow gives new meaning to irreverence and "farce".
His views on the virtues of having a satirically empty head
as written by one appears to be the well written best example?
His characterization of the English upper class as both idle
and clueless came too close to the truth.
Yet he mostly has happy endings and a good laugh for all.

The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays: Salome; Lady Windermere's Fan (Signet Classics)

Average customer rating:

Not so funny
THE BEST EDITION OF THE PLAYS...
The Importance of the whole Text
It Is Impotant To Be Earnest
The importance of reading these plays!

The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays: Salome; Lady Windermere's Fan (Signet Classics)
Oscar Wilde
Manufacturer: Signet Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0451525051

Book Description

To mark the centenary of Wilde's death, The Stratford Festival of Canada staged this unique production of the original, complete four-act version of his famous play. This does not replace the well-known three-act version, but does give the audience an opportunity to enjoy the play that Wilde originally wrote, with its extra characters, more pointed social commentary, additional scenes and new dialogue. This play remains perhaps Wilde's wittiest and most loved romantic comedy.

Customer Reviews:

Not so funny.......2007-04-19

I have decided that since so many people are obviously blind to how dumb this play is, I should write a review to enlighten anyone that might read it. The humor is dated and because of that, very boring. The situations are completely inconceivable and it makes no sense! The characters are flat and serve no real purpose. I suggest that no one else ever ever read this play.

THE BEST EDITION OF THE PLAYS..........2005-11-23

All you Wildeans take note: this is the only edition of the plays wherein the lines are properly numbered for specific citation and easy reference: very, very important!!

The Importance of the whole Text.......2004-11-09

An extraordinary play; witty, profound and beautiful. And even better if you read all of it. Which you won't if you buy the Penguin copy with Edith Evans on the front, since this version is heavily abridged. Which is fine except the publishers make no mention of this at all in the volume. And cultural vandalism of this kind should, I feel at least be acknowledged.

It Is Impotant To Be Earnest.......2003-10-06

I had no knowledge of Oscar Wilde and had only seen ten minutes of the movie, The Importance of Being Earnest, as I flipped through the cable channels on my television. However, due to a class that I am enrolled in, not only do I now know who he is but I am blessed to have been introduced to his work.

The Importance of Being Earnest, makes a very humorous yet profound commentary on money, marriage, status and image as it pertains to the aristocracy of that time. It seems that Oscar Wilde utilized this medium of artistic expression to cleverly expose the twisted way that those with wealth perceived themselves and the lengths they would go to the preserve that perception. It has been referred to as a "comedy of manners" because so much of what defined or distinguished the aristocracy from the common man was not necessarily the wealth that they actually had but what men and women did to appear like they had it.

Ernest, who is the main character in the play, has done all of what is necessary to appear as though he comes from wealth. He wears the clothing, keeps the company and talks the talk of the aristocrat. However what he soon finds out is that all of those whom he is trying to impress and fit in with, have more unresolved issues in their closet than he does. I believe Wilde addresses this social paradox with impeccable wit and an amazing sense of human psychology. He not only challenged those who belonged to the aristocracy to examine what they placed value in, but continues to challenge each reader today, that these superficial values might not stand as valuable at all.

The importance of reading these plays!.......2003-09-07

While Oscar Wilde is not Shakespeare unarguably the best playwright, he is incredibly good and all three plays show it. Salome is a short 'biblical' play, Lady Windermere's Fan is a bit longer and with the exception of the naivete suffered by the Lady of the title incredibly well written as well. However, The Importance of Being Earnest is by far the best play in this collection. Two men whom are trying to get away with pulling a fast one on their girlfriends and two women who think they know whats going on. Throw in a misplaced bag with a baby inside, an overbearing British matriarch, and a Governess with a past and you have a laugh out loud comedy. Who knew the British could be so funny...when written about anyway.

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

Average customer rating:

Bunburying!

The Importance of Being Earnest: And Other Plays (Modern Library Classics)
Oscar Wilde
Manufacturer: Modern Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0812967143
Release Date: 2003-12-09

Customer Reviews:

Bunburying!.......2006-03-23

I think that there is nothing that I can say about Oscar Wilde that has not already been said by others (and probably in a more eloquent way). So why should I bother to review this book?

Because I want to tell you that I like it. Before picking up this Modern Library edition of `The Importance of Being Earnest' I had no experience with Wilde at all, save for the fact that `The Portrait of Dorian Gray' bears the distinction of being on my book shelf, unread, in the neighborhood of 8 years. That is really no distinction at all.

So why is it that upon finishing this book I immediately picked that one up and tore through it?

Because Wilde is that good.

Wilde was the original bigger-than-life-gay-man entertainer (someone compared him to an early Elton John). He lived with flamboyance and, more importantly, wrote with it. His plays exude humor, the characters fighting out delicate word-sword-plays using finely honed wits that jab, stab, and pirouette away, leaving the audience (in this case, the reader) feeling dizzy and delighted. There are classic one-liners ("But I don't like German. It isn't at all a becoming language. I know perfectly well that I look quite plain after my German lesson") or more witty exchanges between characters (Cecily: "I hope your hair curls naturally, does it?" Algernon: "Yes, darling, with a little help from others.") Of course, these are all the more funny when piled upon one another; I can guarantee you that by the end of `Earnest' you will be rolling on the floor.

Each of the plays is great, each in its own right. `Lady Windermere's Fan' is an almost cloak and dagger play, with people dodging out of sight while others step forward to take their fall in the spotlight, proving their worth perhaps only to the audience, who is able to appreciate what they've done, if no other can. `An Ideal Husband' illustrates the two sides of judgment; that it can be reversed in such a quick manner that you may wish to watch yourself and your opinions of others. `Earnest' probably needs no explaining; it is, quite simply, one of the best plays written in our language.

Content aside (shame on me for saying that others said better and there I go, talking...) the Modern Library indeed delivers on it's namesake: this book is handsomely bound and the introduction by Terrance McNally helps to introduce the new reader (me!) to this prolific writer, orienting him/her to be able to tell whether they would rather read `Dorian Gray' or `De Profundis' next. It also gives a sketch of the writer's life, filling in the details that might not be known to those who have never had a proper introduction to the writer.

Bottom Line: Some form of this play belongs in any serious literary collection. Get it!

-LP

Average customer rating:

Not too shabby
How to ruin a classic

The Importance of Being Earnest
Oscar Wilde
Manufacturer: Highbridge Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 1565116771
Release Date: 2002-05-09

Customer Reviews:

Not too shabby.......2007-09-05

I mainly appreciated this version of the play in audio format because of its length. It runs just under 2hrs as compared to one of the other ones that is almost 40 minutes longer. I was having to read the play again (I've read it several times for different theatre classes), and it was a great way to refresh myself with the text and to shine new light on some of the ideas. I enjoyed Lady Bracknell and Jack's performances more than the rest of the company, but overall, I feel it was true to the text of the play itself.

How to ruin a classic.......2003-08-19

Wilde's play has taken a turn for the worse in the last 20 years. It appears that people have forgotten how to act comedy. The Importance of Being Earnest has admittedly been cast in the shadow of the famous 1952 movie for all eternity. Edith Evans's lady Bracknell in that movie is a hard act to follow but the eccentric British actress Miriam Margoyles is the only one of the cast in this sorry new recording to understand and be able to play a part in a famous play that is performed in words only.
The male characters both whine their words with little understanding of how to make them fall into place and become part of the larger whole in fact it sounds like a recording of a first run through with the scripts.
What really kills this recording is the director's decision to have a narrator read the stage directions. As if we are half wits who can't work out what's going on without being told that "an electric bell rings" when immediately after a character will respond and explain what the noise is and what is signifying - Duh!!!
This is not the way to make an audio recording of a play and even though it is the only recording of Earnest on CD this is not the one to have. John Gielgud directed himself and Edith Evans in a classic (but cut) version for EMI in the 1950's which has been occasionally available on cassette and Harper Collins have re-issued the 1960's Caedmon recording on cassette which is also an excellent production. It was a sad event in Caedmon's history when Harper Collins acquired them, the incredible collection of spoken word recordings all but disappeared from sight but now a few have been released on cassette and even a few have seen new life on compact disc. Better wait for the EMI set or look out for the Caedmon, either are better than this pathetic attempt.

The Importance of Being Earnest (Classic Drama)

Average customer rating:

Radio show version very good - but the unreleased studio is great

The Importance of Being Earnest (Classic Drama)
Oscar Wilde
Manufacturer: Naxos Audiobooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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The Importance of Being Earnest - Criterion Collection

ASIN: 9626343427

Customer Reviews:

Radio show version very good - but the unreleased studio is great.......2006-07-16

This is the Theater Guild on the Air condensed version with this great cast, but there is a double LP box set on Angel in America that is perhaps the greatest audio recording of an English comedy, and it should be issued at once. It makes you pine for Gielgud in the movie. This set does include some poetry recordings by Gielgud and Evans, which is a wonderful bonus, but why the perfect sound and complete version wasn't issued is no doubt a legal issue. Get over it, someone, please.

The Importance of Being Earnest (Penguin Popular Classics)

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The Importance of Being Earnest (Penguin Popular Classics)
Oscar Wilde
Manufacturer: Penguin Books Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140621725

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