Reviews

The Essential Oscar Wilde by Oscar Wilde

tracie_nicole's review against another edition

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5.0

Currently in this compilation I have only read The Importance of Being Earnest, and I would like to individually review each play in addition to the book as a whole when I have finished reading all of the plays.

I thoroughly enjoyed Earnest. I found it to be witty and funny, and Wilde's plays on words and dialogue to be genus. I thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of the unique characters and how Wilde managed to connect them through a series of unfortunate meetings and believable coincidences.

I also think that although this was largely a satire on the Victorian conventions of marriage, manners and other such things, and although it made me and many others keel over with laughter, there was some brutal truthfulness to it and to human nature that can still ring true in today"s society.

Here are just a few of my favorite quotes from the play:

"The truth is rarely pure and never simple."

"All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That is his."

"If I am occasionally a little over-dressed, I make up for it by being always immensely over-educated."

mariaealdana's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
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