Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only €10,99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Importance of Being Earnest: A Play
    The Importance of Being Earnest: A Play
    The Importance of Being Earnest: A Play
    Ebook87 pages1 hour

    The Importance of Being Earnest: A Play

    By Oscar Wilde

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    The Importance of Being Earnest Was 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 personæ to escape burdensome social obligations. Working within the social conventions of late Victorian London, the play's major themes are the triviality with which it treats institutions as serious as marriage, and the resulting satire of Victorian ways. Some contemporary reviews praised the play's humour and the culmination of Wilde's artistic career.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDiamond Book Publishing
    Release dateDec 18, 2019
    ISBN9788835347989
    The Importance of Being Earnest: A Play
    Author

    Oscar Wilde

    Oscar Wilde was born on October 16, 1854, to the Irish nationalist and writer “Speranza” Wilde and the doctor William Wilde. After graduating from Oxford in 1878, Wilde moved to London, where he became notorious for his sharp wit and flamboyant style of dress. Though he was publishing plays and poems throughout the 1880s, it wasn’t until the late 1880s and early 1890s that his work started to be received positively. In 1895, Oscar Wilde was tried for homosexuality and was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison. Tragically, this downfall came at the height of his career, as his plays, An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Earnest, were playing to full houses in London. He was greatly weakened by the privations of prison life, and moved to Paris after his sentence. Wilde died in a hotel room, either of syphilis or complications from ear surgery, in Paris, on November 30, 1900.

    Read more from Oscar Wilde

    Related to The Importance of Being Earnest

    Titles in the series (3)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Humor & Satire For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Importance of Being Earnest

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde

      THE PERSONS IN THE PLAY

      Jack Worthing (Ernest), a young gentleman from the country, in love with Gwendolen Fairfax.

      Algernon Moncrieff, a young gentleman from London, the nephew of Lady Bracknell, in love with Cecily Cardew.

      Gwendolen Fairfax, a young lady, loved by Jack Worthing.

      Lady Bracknell, a society lady, Gwendolen's mother.

      Cecily Cardew, a young lady, the ward of Jack Worthing.

      Miss Prism, Cecily's governess.

      The Reverend Canon Chasuble, the priest of Jack's parish.

      Lane, Algernon's butler.

      Merriman, Jack's servant.

      THE SCENES OF THE PLAY

      ACT I. Algernon Moncrieff’s Flat in Half-Moon Street, W.

      ACT II. The Garden at the Manor House, Woolton.

      ACT III. Drawing-Room at the Manor House, Woolton.

      FIRST ACT

      SCENE

      Morning-room in Algernon’s flat in Half-Moon Street. The room is luxuriously and artistically furnished. The sound of a piano is heard in the adjoining room.

      [ Lane is arranging afternoon tea on the table, and after the music has ceased, Algernon enters.]

      Algernon. Did you hear what I was playing, Lane?

      Lane. I didn’t think it polite to listen, sir.

      Algernon. I’m sorry for that, for your sake. I don’t play accurately—any one can play accurately—but I play with wonderful expression. As far as the piano is concerned, sentiment is my forte. I keep science for Life.

      Lane. Yes, sir.

      Algernon. And, speaking of the science of Life, have you got the cucumber sandwiches cut for Lady Bracknell?

      Lane. Yes, sir. [Hands them on a salver.]

      Algernon. [Inspects them, takes two, and sits down on the sofa.] Oh! . . . by the way, Lane, I see from your book that on Thursday night, when Lord Shoreman and Mr. Worthing were dining with me, eight bottles of champagne are entered as having been consumed.

      Lane. Yes, sir; eight bottles and a pint.

      Algernon. Why is it that at a bachelor’s establishment the servants invariably drink the champagne? I ask merely for information.

      Lane. I attribute it to the superior quality of the wine, sir. I have often observed that in married households the champagne is rarely of a first-rate brand.

      Algernon. Good heavens! Is marriage so demoralising as that?

      Lane. I believe it is a very pleasant state, sir. I have had very little experience of it myself up to the present. I have only been married once. That was in consequence of a misunderstanding between myself and a young person.

      Algernon. [Languidly . ] I don’t know that I am much interested in your family life, Lane.

      Lane. No, sir; it is not a very interesting subject. I never think of it myself.

      Algernon. Very natural, I am sure. That will do, Lane, thank you.

      Lane. Thank you, sir. [ Lane goes out.]

      Algernon. Lane’s views on marriage seem somewhat lax. Really, if the lower orders don’t set us a good example, what on earth is the use of them? They seem, as a class, to have absolutely no sense of moral responsibility.

      [Enter Lane .]

      Lane. Mr. Ernest Worthing.

      [Enter Jack .]

      [ Lane goes out . ]

      Algernon. How are you, my dear Ernest? What brings you up to town?

      Jack. Oh, pleasure, pleasure! What else should bring one anywhere? Eating as usual, I see, Algy!

      Algernon. [Stiffly . ] I believe it is customary in good society to take some slight refreshment at five o’clock. Where have you been since last Thursday?

      Jack. [Sitting down on the sofa.] In the country.

      Algernon. What on earth do you do there?

      Jack. [Pulling off his gloves . ] When one is in town one amuses oneself. When one is in the country one amuses other people. It is excessively boring.

      Algernon. And who are the people you amuse?

      Jack. [Airily . ] Oh, neighbours, neighbours.

      Algernon. Got nice neighbours in your part of Shropshire?

      Jack. Perfectly horrid! Never speak to one of them.

      Algernon. How immensely you must amuse them! [Goes over and takes sandwich.] By the way, Shropshire is your county, is it not?

      Jack. Eh? Shropshire? Yes, of course. Hallo! Why all these cups? Why cucumber sandwiches? Why such reckless extravagance in one so young? Who is coming to tea?

      Algernon. Oh! merely Aunt Augusta and Gwendolen.

      Jack. How perfectly delightful!

      Algernon. Yes, that is all very well; but I am afraid Aunt Augusta won’t quite approve of your being here.

      Jack. May I ask why?

      Algernon. My dear fellow, the way you flirt with Gwendolen is perfectly disgraceful. It is almost as bad as the way Gwendolen flirts with you.

      Jack. I am in love with Gwendolen. I have come up to town expressly to propose to her.

      Algernon. I thought you had come up for pleasure? . . . I call that business.

      Jack. How utterly unromantic you are!

      Algernon. I really don’t see anything romantic in proposing. It is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal. Why, one may be accepted. One usually is, I believe. Then the excitement is all over. The very essence of romance is uncertainty. If ever I get married, I’ll certainly try to forget the fact.

      Jack. I have no doubt about that, dear Algy. The Divorce Court was specially invented for people whose memories are so curiously constituted.

      Algernon. Oh! there is no use speculating on that subject. Divorces are made in Heaven—[ Jack puts out his hand to take a sandwich. Algernon at once interferes.] Please don’t touch the cucumber sandwiches. They are ordered specially for Aunt Augusta. [Takes one and eats it.]

      Jack. Well, you have been eating them all the time.

      Algernon. That is quite a different matter. She is my aunt. [Takes plate from below.] Have some bread and butter. The bread and butter is for Gwendolen. Gwendolen is devoted to bread and butter.

      Jack. [Advancing to table and helping himself.] And very good bread and butter it is too.

      Algernon. Well, my dear fellow, you need not eat as if you were going to eat it all. You behave as if you were married to her already. You are not married to her already, and I don’t think you ever will be.

      Jack. Why on earth do you say that?

      Algernon. Well, in the first place girls never marry the men they flirt

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1