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The Importance of Being Earnest - British Heritage Database Reader-Printable Edition with Study Materials

ebook
A new edition of one of the highlights of late Victorian theatre, edited by Dr Peter Buse with introduction, critical commentary, bibliography and hyperlinked explanatory notes. Oscar Wilde’s “Trivial Comedy for Serious People” manipulates magnificently the structures of farce and melodrama whilst transforming them beyond recognition, and incorporates ingenious and improbable plot twists, glittering wit and larger-than-life stage personalities. But while the play may be remembered primarily for its epigrams and seamless construction, Peter Buse’s commentary shows how it is also a crucial document of 1890s culture: “In Algernon and Jack we find blueprints for the decadent or aesthetic male, and in Gwendolen and Cecily parodic challenges to Victorian femininity. The play is trivial, but its triviality was an affront to the earnest-ness of its time.” This British Heritage Database title is based on the 1899 edition and may be printed for personal use.

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Publisher: Cultural Resources

OverDrive Read

  • ISBN: 1903807093
  • Release date: March 29, 2002

PDF ebook

  • ISBN: 1903807093
  • File size: 627 KB
  • Release date: March 29, 2002

Formats

OverDrive Read
PDF ebook

Languages

English

A new edition of one of the highlights of late Victorian theatre, edited by Dr Peter Buse with introduction, critical commentary, bibliography and hyperlinked explanatory notes. Oscar Wilde’s “Trivial Comedy for Serious People” manipulates magnificently the structures of farce and melodrama whilst transforming them beyond recognition, and incorporates ingenious and improbable plot twists, glittering wit and larger-than-life stage personalities. But while the play may be remembered primarily for its epigrams and seamless construction, Peter Buse’s commentary shows how it is also a crucial document of 1890s culture: “In Algernon and Jack we find blueprints for the decadent or aesthetic male, and in Gwendolen and Cecily parodic challenges to Victorian femininity. The play is trivial, but its triviality was an affront to the earnest-ness of its time.” This British Heritage Database title is based on the 1899 edition and may be printed for personal use.

Expand title description text