The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde

 

A hilarious play from Oscar Wilde, circling the life of two young men, friends - Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff. One another English classics that reveal the idleness within the old Victorian families, especially amongst the younger folks. The play revolves around the witty escapades of these two gentlemen from their monotonous life by inventing and playing the part of two imaginary characters - Jack goes by Ernest (his waywardly outcast brother) in London, and Algy's alibi - an invalid best friend named Bumbury who is on his deathbed.  

It’s a short play with just two ACTS, ACT I sets the scene and ACT II is where all the action is. The plot takes a twist in ACT II in an interesting turn of event when these young lads pursuit the love of their lives and cross each other’s path. The play ends on a good note with a pair of happy young hearts in love and their satisfied guardians. 

The general mood throughout the book is, of course a light read with occasional humor that amuses us. The play ends, as well in a good mood, overall, a fast read best fit for light, happy casual reading. The title is pun-intended and aptly fits the story.

The book will not disappoint an Oscar Wilde reader – it’s a combination of subtle sarcasm, satirical situational comedies, laugh out loud moments and some points, dressed up as humors, but which will plunge us into serious thinking. The situations and characters may seem overly sophisticated, dramatic and a bit too far from real, especially the last part; that is the beauty of it though - especially for an Indian reader, having no connection with the background theme, the story is even more interesting, from an alien perspective, one we can read quite carefree soaking in only the fun part.

I rated the book 4 stars as it met my expectation of a light read.

One best part about such plays are a couple of strong powerful statements slipped easily within casual conversations. Some we can relate, some that needs second thoughts and some serious philosophies. Here is one such example:

When Lady Bracknell (Algy’s aunt) gets to know about his engagement she wants to rush the marriage for the reason “To speak frankly, I am not a fan of long engagements. They give people the opportunity of finding out each other’s character before marriage, which I think is never advisable.”