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.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Note on the Text
Select Bibliography
A Chronology of Oscar Wilde
LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN
SALOME
A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE
AN IDEAL HUSBAND
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
Appendix: Illustrations to Salome by Aubrey Beardsley
Explanatory Notes
by Oscar Wilde
Oxford University Press
Pub Date: June 12, 2025
1.0" H x 7.7" L x 5.1" W
496 pages
Paperback