The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays

A universal favorite, The Importance of Being Earnest displays Oscar Wilde’s wit and theatrical genius at their brilliant best.

 

Subtitled A Trivial Comedy for Serious People, this hilarious attack on Victorian manners and morals turns a pompous world on its head, lets duplicity lead to happiness, and makes riposte the highest form of art. Written, according to Wilde, “by a butterfly for butterflies,” it is a dazzling masterpiece of comic entertainment.

 

Although it was originally written in four acts, The Importance of Being Earnest is usually performed in a three-act version. This authoritative edition features an appendix that restores valuable lines that appeared in the original.