Book Review

The Importance of Being Earnest
A Trivial Comedy for Serious People

By Sol Moure

This title does not belong to a book, but to a play. A most distinguished play, as it is, by an equally distinguished writer, Oscar Wilde. He was born in Ireland, but lived most of his life in England. Wilde wrote typically plays and novels that somehow depicted the complex nature of the society he lived in, the so-called Victorian Society, in honour to Queen Victoria.

In The Importance of Being Earnest the main characters have all an almost child-like innocence, while embroiled in the most paradoxical situations; John Worthing, a solemn gentleman with a most comical past, and Algernon Moncrieff, his cheerful cynic friend, have both lived deceitful lives in order to maintain some of their liberty and, more often than not, to avoid responsibilities. This has never bothered them, but lies have the very annoying habit of revealing themselves in a bad moment, which is, in this case, when two charming young ladies came across. The succession of events is such that they soon find that, to win their fair ladies’ hearts, they both ought to be Christianized as Ernest!

In this play the nine roles are developed just brilliantly, so that even the butler, with two or three interventions, has a personality of his own.

Oscar Wilde’s genius can be appreciated in three levels in this his last play:
First: on his indisputable dexterity with dialogs and characterization, and his sharp sense of humour. This in itself makes the comedy a good one, and this first level is evident for any reader.
Second: From the subtitle of the play ‘A Trivial Comedy for Serious People’ we get the first evidence about the deeper significance of this writing: the critique of the Victorian Society. We find that the people in the play exhibit each mannerism, behavior and ideology of that conservative society that believed itself modern. What Wilde actually did was to present the audience a mirror and let them laugh freely at themselves. That was a very Wilde-ish thing to do: to mock your public, and to hear it cheer you in response.

And Three: Though Oscar Wilde fancies himself an immoral man, his play does teach us a lesson, and it is self-evident from the main title to the last sentence of the play: the vital importance of being earnest, or in more common words, the importance of being sincere.

This is the kind of reading recommended for people who wants deep, serious critics on society in a funny, witty and easily read play.

For more information on Oscar Wilde, click here.

For more information on Victorian Society, click here.