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The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays: Salome; Lady Windermere's Fan (Signet classics)
 
 
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The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays: Salome; Lady Windermere's Fan (Signet classics) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Sylvan Barnet (Introduction) "THE YOUNG SYRIAN. How beautiful is the Princess Salome to-night!..." (more)
Key Phrases: kiss thy mouth, silver charger, sombre look, Aunt Augusta, Miss Fairfax, Uncle Jack (more...)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

Price: $4.95 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
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Amazon Price New from Used from
  Kindle Edition, January 1, 1995 $3.96 -- --
  Hardcover, March 29, 1995 $99.00 $85.11 $36.00
  Paperback, March 9, 1985 $4.95 $1.44 $0.01
  Mass Market Paperback, July 25, 2005 $4.95 $2.43 $2.15
  Audio, CD, Abridged, Audiobook $12.44 $10.57 $11.92

Frequently Bought Together

The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays: Salome; Lady Windermere's Fan (Signet classics) + Hamlet (The New Folger Library Shakespeare) + Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Price For All Three: $21.02

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  • This item: The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays: Salome; Lady Windermere's Fan (Signet classics) by Alyssa Harad

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  • Hamlet (The New Folger Library Shakespeare) by William Shakespeare

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  • Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard

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Editorial Reviews

Review


"In short, there is material aplenty here for the average reader and considerable matter for the specialist."--English Literature in Transition 1880-1920
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


Product Description

Three classic plays, including Wilde's most famous play which attacks Victorian manners and morals.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Signet Classics (March 10, 1985)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0451525051
  • ISBN-13: 978-0451525055
  • Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #742,786 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #43 in  Books > Literature & Fiction > Drama > British & Irish > 19th Century

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16 Reviews
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 (6)
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Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars It Is Impotant To Be Earnest, October 5, 2003
By Darnese Daniels (Jersey City, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
I had no knowledge of Oscar Wilde and had only seen ten minutes of the movie, The Importance of Being Earnest, as I flipped through the cable channels on my television. However, due to a class that I am enrolled in, not only do I now know who he is but I am blessed to have been introduced to his work.

The Importance of Being Earnest, makes a very humorous yet profound commentary on money, marriage, status and image as it pertains to the aristocracy of that time. It seems that Oscar Wilde utilized this medium of artistic expression to cleverly expose the twisted way that those with wealth perceived themselves and the lengths they would go to the preserve that perception. It has been referred to as a "comedy of manners" because so much of what defined or distinguished the aristocracy from the common man was not necessarily the wealth that they actually had but what men and women did to appear like they had it.

Ernest, who is the main character in the play, has done all of what is necessary to appear as though he comes from wealth. He wears the clothing, keeps the company and talks the talk of the aristocrat. However what he soon finds out is that all of those whom he is trying to impress and fit in with, have more unresolved issues in their closet than he does. I believe Wilde addresses this social paradox with impeccable wit and an amazing sense of human psychology. He not only challenged those who belonged to the aristocracy to examine what they placed value in, but continues to challenge each reader today, that these superficial values might not stand as valuable at all.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars THE BEST EDITION OF THE PLAYS..., November 22, 2005
By Sébastien Melmoth (Beaulieu-sur-Mer, FRANCE) - See all my reviews
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All you Wildeans take note: this is the only edition of the plays wherein the lines are properly numbered for specific citation and easy reference: very, very important!!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The Importance of the whole Text, November 9, 2004
By Tusker (Notts, UK) - See all my reviews
An extraordinary play; witty, profound and beautiful. And even better if you read all of it. Which you won't if you buy the Penguin copy with Edith Evans on the front, since this version is heavily abridged. Which is fine except the publishers make no mention of this at all in the volume. And cultural vandalism of this kind should, I feel at least be acknowledged.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Not so funny
I have decided that since so many people are obviously blind to how dumb this play is, I should write a review to enlighten anyone that might read it. Read more
Published on April 18, 2007 by Still Bored

4.0 out of 5 stars Partying and Good times and thoughtless happy endings... satirically?
This fellow gives new meaning to irreverence and "farce".
His views on the virtues of having a satirically empty head
as written by one appears to be the well written... Read more
Published on July 17, 2006 by R. Bagula

5.0 out of 5 stars The importance of reading these plays!
While Oscar Wilde is not Shakespeare unarguably the best playwright, he is incredibly good and all three plays show it. Read more
Published on September 7, 2003 by Sassi Angel

5.0 out of 5 stars very funny
i know this book is supposed to be a satire of the british gentry, but that was a hundred years ago and those people are dead. Read more
Published on July 20, 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Hip-hip-hooray
Perhaps it is my unique sense of humor, but I found this book incredibly funny. I wasn't rolling on the floor or anything, but it is funny in an Oscar Wilde way. Read more
Published on November 15, 2002 by Mandie Joy

5.0 out of 5 stars Wit of the Brit
"All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his.
Is that clever?
It's perfectly phrased! Read more
Published on August 24, 2002 by Yan Timanovsky

4.0 out of 5 stars Love is a funny thing
Jack Worthing is engaged to lady named Gwendolyn and they are soon to get married. Jack had to find away to escape from Miss Prism because she disapproved of him so he created a... Read more
Published on May 1, 2002 by Chris Cunningham

5.0 out of 5 stars The Importance of Being Ernest, the Funniest Book Around
Oscar Wilde's terrific comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest, jokes on serious human themes, such as love, religion, and truthfulness. Read more
Published on December 6, 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't judge a book...
By looking at the cover I didn't think I would like this book : a dirty brown with an Old English illustration. But once I read the first few pages I was hooked. Read more
Published on September 6, 2000 by S.Srikanthan

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Wonderful
A wonderful collection! One could sit down and read this book from start to finish in one sitting and remain enthralled. You will find yourself quoting Wilde for weeks. Read more
Published on April 3, 2000 by Zoe

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