The Importance of Being Earnest: A Reader's Guide
Wilde's perfect comedy — Ernest, buns, handbags, and Victorian nonsense.
Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) — Jack and Algernon bunbury, court Gwendolen and Cecily, battle Lady Bracknell, discover handbag origins.
Style
Every line a joke; satire of marriage market and morality.
Themes
Performance, identity, class, Wilde's coded rebellion.
Most produced comedy in English — read in one witty evening.