The Comedies: Lady Windermere's Fan, An Ideal Husband, A Woman of No Importance, and The Importance of Being Earnest

Oscar Wilde

sen, 2018 · Open Road Media

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Experience the wit of Wilde in these four delightfully satiric plays—including his masterpiece, The Importance of Being Earnest.
 
In the late nineteenth century, Oscar Wilde’s plays were the toast of London, celebrated for the Irish playwright’s mischievous wit, pointed social satire, and gift for energetic farce.
 
Lady Windermere’s Fan: Gossip leads Lady Windermere to believe her husband is having an affair, and when the woman in question appears at her party, she makes an impulsive choice that threatens to destroy her reputation.
 
An Ideal Husband: When a femme fatale blackmails prestigious politician Sir Robert Chittern, his wife is forced to re-evaluate her standards for “an ideal husband.”
 
A Woman of No Importance: Young Gerald Arbuthnot is honored to be chosen as secretary to the sophisticated—and flirtatious—Lord Illingworth. So why does Gerald’s mother oppose the appointment?
 
The Importance of Being Earnest: In the playful sendup of Victorian courtship and manners, bachelors Jack and Algernon each woo ladies using the ironic alias of “Ernest.”

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Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) was an Irish playwright, novelist, essayist, and poet. Celebrated on both sides of the Atlantic for his wit, he is rumored to have informed a customs agent upon his arrival in America, “I have nothing to declare but my genius.” Wilde’s health and reputation were destroyed by his imprisonment for “gross indecency” in 1895, and he died in poverty a few years after his release. Today, his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and his play, The Importance of Being Earnest, are recognized as masterpieces of English literature.