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The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (Play of the Season Lecture) (Patreon)

Published:
2023-07-28 20:06:46
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

'To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.'

'The Importance of Being Earnest' by Oscar Wilde is a masterpiece of nineteenth-century comedy that continues to make us laugh today.

We're discussing art for art's sake, aestheticism, irony, satire, social critiques, nonsense, the famous trials, telling the truth in jokes, the genius of Oscar Wilde, and much more.

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 Oscar Wilde’s rise and fall
  • 3:00 on the Oscar Wilde trials
  • 7:00 the preface to Dorian Gray
  • 9:00 the Victorian audience
  • 11:00 ‘all art is quite useless’
  • 13:00 the Aesthetic Movement
  • 18:00 Wilde on modern culture
  • 21:00 Oscar Wilde vs the critics
  • 23:00 on Wilde’s imprisonment
  • 25:00 on the double-life motif
  • 27:00 Shakespeare & Wilde
  • 30:00 on the name Earnest
  • 34:00 on Wilde’s social satire
  • 36:00 the divine Lady Bracknell
  • 38:00 ‘the line is immaterial’
  • 40:00 nonsense & absurdity
  • 43:00 telling truth in jokes
  • 45:00 marriage & morality
  • 48:00 Wilde’s social critique
  • 50:00 lying in polite society
  • 51:00 the dance of decorum
  • 53:00 Bracknell vs Bunbury
  • 55:00 the genius of Oscar Wilde
  • 57:00 what do you make of the play?

Questions to Consider:

1) What do you make of Oscar Wilde's social criticism?

2) Do you find this kind of theatre rewarding?

3) What lines from the play resonate most with you?

Happy reading, everybody!

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Comments

Gonzalo Broto

I first met Oscar Wilde as a novelist and he seduced me, then as a play writer and he amused me; now I am acquainting myself with his essays and he is stimulating and challenging me to think differently about art and ethics. What a multifaceted and talented writer he was!

Anonymous

I have just finished listening to the Stephen Fry production (he plays Lady Bracknell to perfection) and I’m so looking forward to the Sydney Theatre Company’s production in a week’s time, which has got very good reviews. There really is so much going on here. I love the wit, the sharpness, the humour and the contemporary relevance. I wouldn’t be the first to say the Wilde was a genius, and in many ways he would fit in so well with modern society, although I fear he would miss the wit, the sharpness and the humour which was clearly an everyday facet of his extraordinary life. Thinking about his last few years breaks my heart. My favourite line would have to be Gwendoline: “In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity is the vital thing.” Which doesn’t of course mean that one can’t be sincere when one is stylish, but without the style nobody is going to take much notice of the sincerity.

Mary

Finished this play a bit late but it was my first Oscar Wilde play and it surpassed my expectations ! I was laughing out loud throughout the whole play and cannot wait to explore more of his works. I’d love to see this play live as well, I think it would be such a treat.

Callum Siddall

I love the line where gwendolen says: it becomes more than a moral duty to speak ones minds. It becomes a pleasure.