Lady Windermere's fan
Subtitle: Salome ; A woman of no importance ; An ideal husband ; The importance of being earnest
By: Oscar Wilde ; edited with an introduction by Peter Raby ; general editor, Michael Cordner ; associate general editors, Peter Holland, Martin Wiggins.
Contributors: Raby, Peter.
Series: Oxford drama library
Publisher: Clarendon Press; Oxford University Press
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Oxford; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 368
Other titles: Lady Windermere's fan ; Salome ; A woman of no importance ; An ideal husband ; The importance of being earnest; Importance of being earnest and other plays
Description: This series presents students with a library of outstanding plays, many of which are otherwise unobtainable, or available only in out-of-date or unannotated editions. The texts are newly edited, with modernized spelling and punctuation where appropriate; and there are scholarly introductions and annotation. Oscar Wilde was already one of the best-known literary figures in Britain when he was persuaded to turn his extraordinary talents to the theatre. Between 1891 and 1895 he produced a sequence of distinctive plays which spearheaded the dramatic renaissance of the 1890s, and retain their power today. The social comedies, Lady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of No Importance, and An Ideal Husband, offer a moving as well as witty dissection of society and its morals, with a sharp focus on sexual politics. By contrast, the experimental, symbolist Salome, written originally in French, was banned for public performance by the English censor. Wilde's final dramatic triumph was his 'trivial' comedy for serious people, The Importance of Being Earnest, arguably the greatest farcical comedy in English.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. xxviii-xxx).