The Importance of Being Earnest: A play by Oscar Wilde (unabridged edition)

The Importance of Being Earnest A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St Jamess Theatre in London it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personæ to escape burdensome social obligations. Working within the social conventions of late Victorian London the plays major themes are the triviality with which it treats institutions as serious as marriage and the resulting satire of Victorian ways. Some contemporary reviews praised the plays humour and the culmination of Wildes artistic career while others were cautious about its lack of social messages. Its high farce and witty dialogue have helped make The Importance of Being Earnest Wildes most enduringly popular play.The successful opening night marked the climax of Wildes career but also heralded his downfall. The Marquess of Queensberry whose son Lord Alfred Douglas was Wildes lover planned to present the writer with a bouquet of rotten vegetables and disrupt the show. Wilde was tipped off and Queensberry was refused admission. Their feud came to a climax in court where Wildes homosexuality was revealed to the Victorian public and he was sentenced to imprisonment. Despite the plays early success Wildes notoriety caused the play to be closed after 86 performances. After his release from prison he published the play from exile in Paris but he wrote no further comic or dramatic work.The Importance of Being Earnest has been revived many times since its premiere. It has been adapted for the cinema on three occasions. In The Importance of Being Earnest (1952) Dame Edith Evans reprised her celebrated interpretation of Lady Bracknell; The Importance of Being Earnest (1992) by Kurt Baker used an all-black cast; and Oliver Parkers The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) incorporated some of Wildes original material cut during the preparation of the original stage production.