The Importance of Being Earnest

Wilde's trivial comedy for serious people: double lives, a lost handbag, and a name that turns out to be true.

Specifications & Metrics

author

Oscar Wilde

type

Farce / comedy of manners

era

Late Victorian (1895)

language

English

setting

London and the Hertfordshire countryside

source text

Wilde's own bunburying in Victorian society

acts

3 acts

Relative Scale in Plays

Core Principles & Analysis

• Premiered at St James's Theatre, London, on Valentine's Day 1895.
• Wilde's arrest that spring ended its run after 86 performances.
• Lady Bracknell's 'handbag' interrogation is farce's most quoted exchange.

Sources

• Wikipedia: The Importance of Being Earnest