Oscar Wilde

The Importance of Being Earnest - Unabridged (eBook, ePUB)

Redaktion: Theis, Kevin

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

"The Importance of Being Earnest" (subtitle: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People) by Oscar Wilde is considered by many to be the wittiest, most brilliant stage comedy ever written. Enormously successful when it was first produced, "Earnest" has gone on to become one of the most produced plays in history.

The plot satirizes Victorian society's obsession with appearances, marriage, and social status. The story follows two friends, Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, who both lead double lives to escape social obligations. Jack pretends to be a man named "Ernest" in the city, while Algernon invents a sick friend named "Bunbury" to avoid dull events. Complications arise when both men fall in love-Jack with Gwendolen Fairfax and Algernon with Cecily Cardew-each believing they are engaged to "Ernest." To make matters worse, they must contend with the wealthy, powerful and terrifying dowager Lady Bracknell, in whose approval lies their future happiness.

Through mistaken identities, sharp dialogue, and absurd situations, Wilde exposes the hypocrisy and triviality of upper-class manners. The dialogue is crackling, the epigrams brilliant and the play itself a towering achievement by an artist at the top of his game. The play is presented here in its original and unabridged format.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Ft. Raphael Publishing Company
• Seitenzahl: 134
• Erscheinungstermin: 9. Dezember 2025
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9798892822466
• Artikelnr.: 76091882

Autorenporträt

Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (1854-1900) was an Irish poet, novelist and playwright. Born to a pair of Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin, Wilde had a classical education and spoke fluent French and German even as a child. He attended Trinity College in Dublin and then transferred to Oxford to complete his studies. After graduation, Wilde moved to London to join the emerging "aesthetic" movement and begin life as one of his era's most important and infamous social and literary figures.Wilde almost immediately became a fixture in London high society, celebrated for his intellect and his razor-sharp wit. Unsure of what kind of writer he wanted to be, Wilde continued writing poetry - publishing a collection of verse in 1881 at age 27 - and traveled to America as a lecturer on aestheticism (an art movement that celebrated the simple beauty of art over the deeper or political themes behind it). His many essays and dialogues on this subject would eventually lead him to publish his first and only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1890.Eventually, Wilde was drawn to write for the stage, beginning with Salome in 1891, but swiftly transitioning to comedies, penning four of the era's most celebrated and enduring plays: A Woman of No Importance, Lady Windermere's Fan, An Ideal Husband and his triumph, The Importance of Being Earnest, which was still running in London when Wilde became embroiled in the legal drama that would lead to his downfall and eventual death. But his poems, plays and sole novel live on and Wilde is now considered one of the most accomplished writers of his era. His works continue to be performed around the world and have been adapted multiple times to the stage and screen.