All Formats & Editions

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... Read Full Overview

Read & Co. Classics presents this brand new edition of Oscar Wilde's famous play, "The Importance of Being Earnest", first performed in London in 1895. The play questions the nature and purpose of the institution of marriage, poking fun at the morals, assumptions and constraints... Read Full Overview

The Importance of Being Earnest is a witty and satirical play by Oscar Wilde that has entertained audiences for over a century. This edition features the original text and a beautifully designed cover. Follow the hilarious misadventures of two friends as they navigate the... Read Full Overview

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 person to escape burdensome social obligations... Read Full Overview

The full text of Oscar Wilde's beloved comedy of manners, including exclusive commentary, selections from Wilde's correspondence, and excerpts from the original four-act version.

The Importance of Being Earnest shows a full measure of Oscar Wilde's legendary... Read Full Overview

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 person to escape burdensome social obligations... Read Full Overview

Oscar Wilde, arguably the wittiest writer in English, was at the height of this powers when he wrote The Importance of Being Earnest. Wilde wrote it quickly, but then extensively revised and shortened this work to create a gem. Despite its apparent humour, the play addresses... Read Full Overview

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 person to escape burdensome social obligations... Read Full Overview

"The truth is rarely pure and never simple," declares Algernon early in Act One of The Importance of Being Earnest, and were it either, modern literature would be "a complete impossibility." It is a moment of sly, winking self-regard on the part of the playwright, for... Read Full Overview