The Importance of Being Earnest – Black Cat Reading Classics

Oscar Wilde wrote The Importance of Being Earnest at the height of his success and ever since its debut in 1895, it has been a literary and theatrical success. Its absurdity, ambiguity and social criticism, along with the brilliance of the witty conversation, has never ceased to delight and entertain.

It tells the story of two men and two women and how, through a combination of lies and misunderstandings, there arises a great importance of having the name Ernest.

But beneath its ironic humor lies great social criticism of Victorian society.

The Importance of Being Earnest is generally acknowledged as Wilde’s most perfect comedy, his masterpiece.

This title includes…

• Full biographical and critical introduction
• Wide range of activities focusing on comprehension and analyzing Wilde’s language and characterization.
• Numerous detailed footnotes to guide understanding, with phonetic transcriptions of some difficult words
• Includes and appendix of ‘The Gribsby Episode’ from the original four act version of the play

Available with Audio CD.