Importance Be Earn Nce PA

by Wilde,Oscar

• ISBN13: 9780393927535
• ISBN10: 0393927539
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-11-22
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Summary

The text of this Norton Critical Edition ofThe Importance of Being Earnestis the established three-act version. Originally in four acts, Wilde shortened it to three at the urging of George Alexander, the owner of the St. James Theatre and first actor to play Jack Worthing. The play is accompanied by explanatory annotations and by an appendix of excised portions. "Backgrounds"includes essays on Wilde and the 1890s by prominent cultural critics Joseph Donohue, Regenia Gagnier, and Karl Beckson. "Reviews and Reactions"collects contemporary responses to The Importance of Being Earnest, among them George Bernard Shaw's famous dissenting view and the American assessment by H. F. "Essays in Criticism" includes six diverse assessments of Wilde and the play by E. H. Mikhail, Camille Paglia, Christopher Craft, Michael Patrick Gillespie, Peter Raby, and Richard Haslam. A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included. About the Series: No other series of classic texts equals the caliber of theNorton Critical Editions. Each volume combines the most authoritative text available with the comprehensive pedagogical apparatus necessary to appreciate the work fully. Careful editing, first-rate translation, and thorough explanatory annotations allow each text to meet the highest literary standards while remaining accessible to students. Each edition is printed on acid-free paper and every text in the series remains in print. Norton Critical Editions are the choice for excellence in scholarship for students at more than 2,000 universities worldwide.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
The Text of The Importance of Being Earnest	1	(202)
Excised Portions of the Play	61	(10)
Backgrounds
London in the 1890s	71	(7)
Karl Beckson
Wilde and the Idea of a Theatre	78	(7)
Joseph Donohue
Creating the Audience	85	(12)
Regenia Gagnier
Criticism
Reviews and Reactions
On The Importance of Being Earnest	97	(2)
William Archer
On The Importance of Being Earnest	99	(1)
On The Importance of Being Earnest	99	(2)
George Bernard Shaw
On The Importance of Being Earnest	101	(1)
H. G. Wells
Essays in Criticism
The Four-Act Version of The Importance of Being Earnest	102	(4)
E. H. Mikhail
From Faltering Arrow to Pistol Shot: The Importance of Being Earnest	106	(10)
Eva Thienpont
Oscar Wilde and the English Epicene	116	(20)
Camille A. Paglia
Alias Bunbury: Desire and Termination in The Importance of Being Earnest	136	(30)
Christopher Craft
From Beau Brummell to Lady Bracknell: Re-viewing the Dandy in The Importance of Being Earnest	166	(17)
Michael Patrick Gillespie
The Genesis of the Play	183	(12)
Peter Raby
Oscar Wilde and the Imagination of the Celt	195	(8)
Richard Haslam
Oscar Wilde: A Chronology	203	(4)
Selected Bibliography	207