num_pages: 160
description: 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 wit, and embodies more than any of his other plays his decency and warmth. This edition contains substantial excerpts from the original four-act version which was never produced, as well as the full text of the final three-act version, selections from Wilde's correspondence, and commentary by George Bernard Shaw, Max Beerbohm, St. John Hankin, and James Agate. “It is exquisitely trivial, a delicate bubble of fancy and it has its philosophy; that we should treat all trivial things of life seriously, and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality.” –Oscar Wilde
language: English
title: The Importance Of Being Earnest
titlecomplete: The Importance Of Being Earnest
characters: Merriman, Miss Prism, Lady Bracknell, John Worthing, Lane, Gwendolen Fairfax, Cecily Cardew, Rev. Canon Chasuble, Algernon Montcrieff
genres: Fiction, Plays, Humor, Theatre, Classics, Drama, Comedy, Romance, Literature, School
ratings_count: 358567
places: London, England, England, Woolton, Hertfordshire, England
publisher: Turtleback Books