The Importance Of Being Earnest And Other Plays

By (author) Wilde, Oscar; Edited by Hext Kate
Short description/annotation:
A new edition of Oscar Wilde''s witty and radical major plays that elegantly challenge Victorian conceptions of social propriety. It contains an accessible and comprehensive new introduction that positions the plays in the context of Wilde''s life, career, and the late-Victorian stage.
Description:
''It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.'' The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) proclaims that it is ''A Trivial Play for Serious People''. In fact, collected here alongside Lady Windermere''s Fan (1892), Salome (1891, 1894), A Woman of No Importance (1893), and An Ideal Husband (1895), Earnest shows that the questions raised by Wilde''s plays are anything but trivial. Witty and radical, they elegantly challenge Victorian social proprieties, featuring lies, blackmail, illicit desires, seductions, and double lives. This volume, edited by Kate Hext, positions Wilde''s major plays in the context of Wilde''s life, career, and late-Victorian culture. Its introduction provides a readable overview with stylistic analyses to help readers understand the plays and why they are still fresh and relevant today, followed by sections on each play which explain key figures, plot devices, and Wilde''s evolution as a dramatist. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
Table of contents:
IntroductionNote on the TextSelect BibliographyA Chronology of Oscar WildeLADY WINDERMERE''S FANSALOMEA WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCEAN IDEAL HUSBANDTHE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNESTAppendix: Illustrations to Salome by Aubrey BeardsleyExplanatory Notes
Biographical note:
Kate Hext is an Associate Professor of Decadent Literature and the Arts at the University of Exeter and Visiting Professor of English at Ewha Womans University. Her publications include Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies (OUP), Walter Pater: Individualism and Aesthetic Philosophy, and, as co-editor, Decadence in the Age of Modernism. She is founding co-editor of the journal Cusp: Late 19th-/Early 20th-Century Cultures.
Publisher’s notice:
Edited by Kate HextKate Hext is an Associate Professor of Decadent Literature and the Arts at the University of Exeter and Visiting Professor of English at Ewha Womans University. Her publications include Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies (OUP), Walter Pater: Individualism and Aesthetic Philosophy, and, as co-editor, Decadence in the Age of Modernism. She is founding co-editor of the journal Cusp: Late 19th-/Early 20th-Century Cultures.
Version history:
A new edition of Oscar Wilde''s major plays: The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Windermere''s Fan, Salome, A Woman of No Importance, and An Ideal HusbandContains a comprehensible and accessible introduction that guides the reader through an understanding of the plot, character, and style of each play, as well as its cultural history and contemporary relevanceIncludes revised and expanded explanatory notes to elucidate historical details and Biblical referencesFeatures an up-to-date guide to further research and adaptations