Oscar
Wilde remarks at the beginning of his work in the manner of preface that
" The Importance of Being Earnest " is " a trivial comedy for serious
people ".
I
must confess I disagree with him. As far as I concerned is " a serious
comedy for trivial people " . In fact, it was ordered by a famous actor,
which shows the play was written following the fashion of the epoch to
please an audience that looked down on the author, just for the fact he
was different.
On
the whole, it could be said ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ lacks
of a certain dramatic sense and theatricality, in spite of which , Wilde
compensates it spreading fine humour, intelligence, and ingenuity. The
agile and witty dialogues between the characters are brilliant and
sparkling, and remind us of the modern humour T.V. series. In some way,
Wilde got ahead of his time because of which his plays are still being
worthy. In my opinion, if he had lived nowadays he could have been a
successful scriptwriter.
This
play, apart from being written in a very good style, has a well resolved
plot, and the main character are perfectly defined as well. It has all
the ingredients that a comedy should have: humour, love, and even a
touch of intrigue as the best thrillers but, above all, it wastes fun.
It has been written as an entertaining to amuse people, which is
supposed to be the most important point in every work.
Wilde
ridicules his time with farcical situations, and besides speaks about
himself through his characters. Everybody would like to be earnest in
some occasions but, at the same time, would like not to be at all in
others. In this paradox resides the human nature, and Wilde describes it
so brilliantly that he makes us to laugh at ourselves, which seems to me
a laudable task.
Oscar
Wilde said there are three kinds of books: books to be read, books to be
re-read and books not to be read at all. I do believe, in conclusion,
that " The Importance of Being Earnest " is a book to be
re-read or, to be more
exact, the short of play to be played again and again.
