Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.17 AVERAGE
4.17 AVERAGE
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I usually don’t find books funny. Amusing? Yes. Thought provoking? Yes. Entertaining? Most definitely. But funny? Not really. But The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde was absolutely hilarious to the point that it had me laughing out loud. Wilde’s sardonic voice and the absurdity of the situation worked perfectly to caricature high society of the time. In fact, I found this play to be clever almost to a fault.
Wilde’s writing is one of the most interesting parts of the play. His biting tone runs through the whole work, and at times you are unsure as to who is being criticized, the characters for being frivolous or you for not being frivolous enough. It is also very quotable, a fact that is widely acknowledged about Wilde’s writing, but had never been so obvious to me as a reader. It felt like I was underlining every other sentence. I think this is in part because the medium of play requires lines to be much more self-contained in the way a novel does not, as inherently you only have lines in a play, while in a novel they exist inside a wider text structure. I also think it is because of his tendency towards very self-referential sentence structures that are then entirely self contained, and allow for subversion. This can be seen in quotes such as “If I am occasionally a little over-dressed, I make up for it by being always immensely over-educated”, where we can see the self-referential structure of the sentence, through the surprising use of juxtaposition, as well as his subversion of the expected under-educated being instead an over-educated. This style of self-contained subversive writing is continued in other passages such as “One must be serious about something if one wants to have any amusement in life” where Wilde contrasts out views on frivolity and amusement by again subverting the readers expectations as we do not necessarily tend to associate seriousness with amusement. I find this very amusing to read, and it also makes you as a reader be confronted by your own assumptions as what you are really encountering when reading these sentences is your very own assumptions and ideas of how things “should” be. I think this is a really interesting and surprisingly direct way to explore a theme in a written work.
I do think that this text is one that is best read in one sitting to really feel the emotional impact of the work, as this is how it is intended to be experienced. It’s quite short, even for a play, with my edition being only 67 pages, and thus should be quite an attainable goal. I think that this is especially important because this text centered around the reader quite actively, requiring them to play a role in the interpretation of the text beyond simply reading the text. In a live action rendition the director and actors play a role in interpreting the text and bringing it to life, a job the reader must do if simply reading the play. I would actually be quite interested in seeing a production of The Importance of Being Earnest and seeing how others interpret the text and characters differently from me.
I’m glad I read this text, because I have wanted to engage in more mediums of literature other than the traditional novel, and because it was an amusing and entertaining read. I would highly recommend it as it is very engaging, and epigrammatic.
If you enjoyed my review consider checking out my Substack to stay up to date with my reviews and bookish opinions!
Wilde’s writing is one of the most interesting parts of the play. His biting tone runs through the whole work, and at times you are unsure as to who is being criticized, the characters for being frivolous or you for not being frivolous enough. It is also very quotable, a fact that is widely acknowledged about Wilde’s writing, but had never been so obvious to me as a reader. It felt like I was underlining every other sentence. I think this is in part because the medium of play requires lines to be much more self-contained in the way a novel does not, as inherently you only have lines in a play, while in a novel they exist inside a wider text structure. I also think it is because of his tendency towards very self-referential sentence structures that are then entirely self contained, and allow for subversion. This can be seen in quotes such as “If I am occasionally a little over-dressed, I make up for it by being always immensely over-educated”, where we can see the self-referential structure of the sentence, through the surprising use of juxtaposition, as well as his subversion of the expected under-educated being instead an over-educated. This style of self-contained subversive writing is continued in other passages such as “One must be serious about something if one wants to have any amusement in life” where Wilde contrasts out views on frivolity and amusement by again subverting the readers expectations as we do not necessarily tend to associate seriousness with amusement. I find this very amusing to read, and it also makes you as a reader be confronted by your own assumptions as what you are really encountering when reading these sentences is your very own assumptions and ideas of how things “should” be. I think this is a really interesting and surprisingly direct way to explore a theme in a written work.
I do think that this text is one that is best read in one sitting to really feel the emotional impact of the work, as this is how it is intended to be experienced. It’s quite short, even for a play, with my edition being only 67 pages, and thus should be quite an attainable goal. I think that this is especially important because this text centered around the reader quite actively, requiring them to play a role in the interpretation of the text beyond simply reading the text. In a live action rendition the director and actors play a role in interpreting the text and bringing it to life, a job the reader must do if simply reading the play. I would actually be quite interested in seeing a production of The Importance of Being Earnest and seeing how others interpret the text and characters differently from me.
I’m glad I read this text, because I have wanted to engage in more mediums of literature other than the traditional novel, and because it was an amusing and entertaining read. I would highly recommend it as it is very engaging, and epigrammatic.
If you enjoyed my review consider checking out my Substack to stay up to date with my reviews and bookish opinions!
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes