The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People
by Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
- Free to read
- 1 hour to read
- 3 chapters
- Reading level: 7th grade
"The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People" by Oscar Wilde is a play first performed in 1895. Two young gentlemen lead double lives, each pretending to be named Ernest to escape social duties and win the hearts of their beloveds. Filled with sharp wit and clever wordplay, the farcical comedy gently mocks Victorian society through memorable characters including the formidable Lady Bracknell. The play parodies theatrical conventions while exploring themes of identity, deception, and the absurdities of proper society.
- Comedy plays
- England
- Identity (Psychology)
- Foundlings
Read the opening
First Act
SCENE
Morning-room in Algernon’s flat in Half-Moon Street. The room is luxuriously and artistically furnished. The sound of a piano is heard in the adjoining room.
[Lane is arranging afternoon tea on the table, and after the music has ceased, Algernon enters.]
ALGERNON.
Did you hear what I was playing, Lane?
LANE.
I didn’t think it polite to listen, sir.
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About this edition
This free edition of The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People by Oscar Wilde comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #844, released 1997-03-01. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Plays/Films/Dramas, British Literature.
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