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Product Description
Product Description
Oscar Wilde was already one of the best known literary figures in Britain when he was persuaded to turn his extraordinary talents to the theatre. Between 1891 and 1895 he produced a sequence of distinctive plays which spearheaded the dramatic renaissance of the 1890s and retain their power today. The social comedies, Lady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of No Importance, and An Ideal Husband, offer a moving as well as witty dissection of society and its morals, with a sharp focus on sexual politics. By contrast, the experimental, symbolist Salome, written originally in French, was banned for public performance by the English censor. His final dramatic triumph was his `trivial' comedy for serious people, The Importance of Being Earnest' arguably the greatest farcical comedy in English. Under the General Editorship of Dr Michael Cordner of the University of York, the texts of the plays have been newly edited and are presented with modernized spelling and punctuation. In addition, there is a scholarly introduction and detailed annotation.
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First Sentence
Scene: Morning-room of Lord Windermere's house in Carlton House Terrace. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
Scene: Morning-room of Lord Windermere's house in Carlton House Terrace. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A brilliant collection from Oxford World's Classics, aesthetically pleasing as ever, it includes all of Wilde's 1890s "social masterpieces" as well as a flawless translation of 'Salome'.
The introductory notes are helpful if you're studying the text and interesting if just reading for pleasure. Every play is delightfully written, laugh-out-loud funny and clever, particularly 'An Ideal Husband' (thanks to the wonderful character Sir Robert Chiltern), though 'Earnest' also is always a crowd-pleaser. If you enjoy satire, late Victorian literature, like a laugh and appreciate Wilde's genius then this is perfect. Good on the page even though written to be seen - that surely is the mark of a good play!
The introductory notes are helpful if you're studying the text and interesting if just reading for pleasure. Every play is delightfully written, laugh-out-loud funny and clever, particularly 'An Ideal Husband' (thanks to the wonderful character Sir Robert Chiltern), though 'Earnest' also is always a crowd-pleaser. If you enjoy satire, late Victorian literature, like a laugh and appreciate Wilde's genius then this is perfect. Good on the page even though written to be seen - that surely is the mark of a good play!
Format:Paperback
Wilde was a great victorian character, like Dickens or Queen Victoria herself. This is perhaps the apex of Wilde's genious. His plays are a game of clever languaje, witticism, social satire and intellectual challenge.
Wilde was a gifted writer, and it is a wonder that in such a short time he could write so much, so varied and so well. But in these, his theatre pieces, you can get a feeling of this sense of language, his clever timing of action, displays of feeling and cunning structure. All the pieces make a clever puzzle. Besides, when you read all his plays, one after the other you can have an overall view of his evolution and developement as a creator.
Of course, "Earnest" is considered his greatest work, and has even spawned characters of its own (like Mr Bunbury), but all the plays have at least one very good idea, and one memorable moment. Perhaps Salome, so tragic (and also chronologically later work) should be placed in a different position in the book, but then some of this plays have a drop of melancholy thrown in. Wilde also used comedy to portrait a society where he didn't fit completely well, and that is easily seen.
A memorable read for the clever reader.
Wilde was a gifted writer, and it is a wonder that in such a short time he could write so much, so varied and so well. But in these, his theatre pieces, you can get a feeling of this sense of language, his clever timing of action, displays of feeling and cunning structure. All the pieces make a clever puzzle. Besides, when you read all his plays, one after the other you can have an overall view of his evolution and developement as a creator.
Of course, "Earnest" is considered his greatest work, and has even spawned characters of its own (like Mr Bunbury), but all the plays have at least one very good idea, and one memorable moment. Perhaps Salome, so tragic (and also chronologically later work) should be placed in a different position in the book, but then some of this plays have a drop of melancholy thrown in. Wilde also used comedy to portrait a society where he didn't fit completely well, and that is easily seen.
A memorable read for the clever reader.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Some plays are good, some are bad, it's classic Wilde overall. Don't buy it if you are not a fan.
What I really want to comment about is the font. I got headaches by reading this book. Maybe it's the combination with the yellowish paper, but I felt like a monk in the Dark Ages... not good...
What I really want to comment about is the font. I got headaches by reading this book. Maybe it's the combination with the yellowish paper, but I felt like a monk in the Dark Ages... not good...
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