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A review by jenna_wolf1204
The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays by Oscar Wilde
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is such a great collection of Wilde's plays. The notes and intro are very insightful and help to contextualize parts of the plays that either don't make sense without knowing the context or would get lost on a reader not from that time period. My favorites were definitely The Importance of Being Earnest and A Woman of No Importance. Wilde's use of dramatic irony is masterful and makes for a very compelling play. Also his hints of criticism of the aristocracy, the very audience his plays were for, make me laugh -- he really knows how to write a ridiculous rich person. I also love his almost "feminist" view of women's issues -- acknowledging the double standards that existed between men and women and almost flipping them, especially in A Woman of No Importance when the mom ultimately comes out on top and it is the father who is shamed, the opposite of how society would view them . Overall definitely recommend giving this one a read.