The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest, a Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae to escape burdensome social obligations. Working within the social conventions of late Victorian London, the play's major themes are the triviality with which it treats institutions as serious as marriage and the resulting satire of Victorian conformity. Some contemporary reviews praised the play's humour as the culmination of Wilde's artistic career, while others were cautious about its lack of social messages. Its high farce and witty dialogue have helped make The Importance of Being Earnest a very popular play.
Original production, 1895 Allan Aynesworth as Algernon (left) and George Alexander as Jack
Oscar Wilde in 1889
Allan Aynesworth, Evelyn Millard, Irene Vanbrugh and George Alexander in the 1895 premiere
Mrs. George Canninge as 'Miss Prism', and Evelyn Millard as 'Cecily Cardew' in the premiere
Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is best remembered for his epigrams and plays, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, and his criminal conviction for gross indecency for homosexual acts.
1882 photograph
The Wilde family home on Merrion Square
Oscar Wilde at Oxford in 1876
Photograph by Elliott & Fry of Baker Street, London, 1881