IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, The. If one were to select a single one of Oscar Wilde's plays which should best ex emplify his contribution to English drama, one might well choose 'The Importance of Be ing Earnest,' although it is neither the most important nor the best known of them. This apparent contradiction is explained by the fact that, being a farce (his only one), the artificial conventionality of plot and the unreality of the characters which so obviously mar his come dies, are not conspicuous faults in this gay trifle. Consequently one can give oneself up unreservedly to the enjoyment of the play of brilliant wit and delicate satire of which Wilde was a master. Here is °literary farce,D par excellence. The dialogue is a continuous suc cession of sparkling epigrams, witty para doxes, quick repartee and delightful, unex pected turns of phrase. Even the title is a clever pun.
In plot and technical structure also, Wilde shows himself less conventional and more in genious in this play, slight as it is, than in most of his others. In a very amusing scene between two young gentlemen in the first act it transpires that Jack, who lives in the country and is constrained to lead a very decorous life there on account of a young ward who lives in his household, has invented a scapegrace brother, named Ernest, whose supposed es capades furnish the excuse for Jack's fre quent visits to town. Algernon, on the other
hand, has invented an elderly invalid friend in the country to whom he is touchingly devoted whenever in wishes to escape a tiresome en gagement n town. These imaginary characters are utilized to build up a series of delightfully absurd situations in the second act for which the audience has been skilfully prepared but which are nevertheless unexpected.
'The Importance of Being Earnest) was written in 1895, shortly before its author's sensational trial and imprisonment, and was the last play that he wrote. It was first pro duced at the Saint Tames Theatre in London in February 1895, and later in the same year at the Empire Theatre in New York.