num_pages: 76
description: 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 Gwendolen 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!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.
language: English
title: The Importance of Being Earnest
titlecomplete: The Importance of Being Earnest
characters: Cecily Cardew, Algernon Montcrieff, Gwendolen Fairfax, Miss Prism, Lane, Rev. Canon Chasuble, Lady Bracknell, Merriman, John Worthing
genres: Theatre, School, Drama, Plays, Literature, Comedy, Classics, Romance, Fiction, Humor
ratings_count: 358535
places: England, London, England, Woolton, Hertfordshire, England
publisher: Prestwick House