TO ROBERT BALDWIN ROSS IN APPRECIATION IN AFFECTION Dedication of The Importance of Being Earnest [50] The Importance of Being Earnest

t The Importance of Being Earnest For other uses, see The Importance of Being Earnest (disambiguation). The Importance of Being Earnest The original production of The Importance of Being Earnest in 1895 with Allan Ay nesworth as Algernon (left) and George Alexander as Jack (right) Written by Date premiered 1895 Place premiered St James's Theatre, London, England, UK Original languageEnglish Genre Comedy, farce Setting London and an estate in Hertfordshire The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play b y Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in Lon don, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious perso nae in order to escape burdensome social obligations. Working within the social conventions of late Victorian London, the play's major themes are the triviality with which it treats institutions as serious as marriage, and the resulting sat ire of Victorian ways. Contemporary reviews all praised the play's humour, thoug h some were cautious about its explicit lack of social messages, while others fo resaw the modern consensus that it was the culmination of Wilde's artistic caree r so far. Its high farce and witty dialogue have helped make The Importance of B eing Earnest Wilde's most enduringly popular play. The successful opening night marked the climax of Wilde's career but also herald ed his downfall. The Marquess of Queensberry, father of Lord Alfred Douglas, an intimate friend of Wilde, planned to present Wilde a bouquet of rotten vegetable s and disrupt the show. Wilde was tipped off and Queensberry was refused admissi on. Soon afterwards, however, their feud came to a climax in court, where Wilde' s homosexual double life was revealed to the Victorian public and he was eventua lly sentenced to imprisonment. Wilde's notoriety caused the play, despite its su ccess, to be closed after just 86 performances. After his release, he published the play from exile in Paris, but he wrote no further comic or dramatic work. The Importance of Being Earnest has been revived many times since its premiere. It has been adapted for the cinema on three occasions. In The Importance of Bein g Earnest (1952), Dame Edith Evans reprised her celebrated interpretation of Lad y Bracknell; The Importance of Being Earnest (1992) by Kurt Baker used an all-bl ack cast; and Oliver Parker's The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) incorporate d some material cut during the preparation of the original stage production. Composition After the success of Wilde's plays Lady Windermere's Fan and A Woman of No Impor tance, Wilde's producers urged him to write further plays. In July 1894 he moote d his idea for The Importance of Being Earnest to Sir George Alexander, the acto r-manager of St. James's Theatre. Wilde summered with his family at Worthing, wh ere he wrote the play quickly in August. [1] His fame now at its peak, he used t he working title Lady Lancing to avoid pre-emptive speculation of its content. [ 2] Many names and ideas in the play were borrowed from people or places the auth or had known; Lady Queensberry, Lord Alfred Douglas' mother, for example, lived at Bracknell. [3][Notes 1]

Michael Feingold, an American critic, claims that Wilde drew inspiration for his plot from W. S. Gilbert's Engaged. [4] Meticulous revisions continued throughou t the Autumnsuch that no line was left untouched, and "in a play so economical wi th its language and effects, they had serious consequences". [5] Richard Ellmann argues that Wilde had reached his artistic maturity and wrote this work more su rely and rapidly than before. [6] Wilde hesitated about submitting the script to Alexander, worrying that it might be unsuitable for the St. James's Theatre, whose typical repertoire was relativ ely serious, and explaining that it had been written in response to a request fo r a play "with no real serious interest". [7] When Henry James's Guy Domville fa iled, Alexander turned to Wilde and agreed to put on his play. [5] Alexander began his usual meticulous preparations, interrogating the author on e ach line and planning stage movements with a toy theatre. In the course of these rehearsals Alexander asked Wilde to shorten the play from four acts to three. W ilde agreed and combined elements of the second and third acts. [8] The largest cut was the removal of the character of Mr. Gribsby, a solicitor who comes from London to arrest the profligate "Ernest" (i.e., Jack) for his unpaid dining bill s. Algernon, who is posing as "Ernest", will be led away to Holloway Jail unless he settles his accounts immediately. Jack finally agrees to pay for Ernest, eve ryone thinking that it is Algernon's bill when in fact it is his own. [9] The fo ur-act version was first played on the radio in a BBC production and is still so metimes performed. Peter Raby argues that the three-act structure is more effect ive, and that the shorter original text is more theatrically resonant than the e xpanded published edition. [10] Productions Premiere The play was first produced in St. James's Theatre, London, on St. Valentine's D ay 1895. [11] It was freezing cold but Wilde arrived dressed in "florid sobriety ", wearing a green carnation. [8] The audience, according to one report, "includ ed many members of the great and good, former cabinet ministers and privy counci llors, as well as actors, writers, academics, and enthuasists". [12] Allan Aynes worth, who played Mr Algernon Moncrieff, recalled to Hesketh Pearson that "In my fifty-three years of acting, I never remember a greater triumph than [that] fir st night." [13] Aynesworth was himself "debonair and stylish", and Alexander, wh o played Mr. Jack Worthing, "demure". [14] The cast was: Mr. John Worthing, J.P. George Alexander Mr. Algernon Moncrieff Allan Aynesworth The Rev. Canon Chasuble, D.D. H. H. Vincent Merriman Frank Dyall Lane F. Kinsey Peile Lady Bracknell Rose Leclerq The Hon. Gwendolen Fairfax Irene Vanbrugh Mis s Cecily Cardew Evelyn Millard Miss Prism Mrs. George Canninge The Marquess of Queensberry, the father of Wilde's intimate friend Lord Alfred D ouglas (who was on holiday in Algiers at the time), had planned to disrupt the p lay by throwing a bouquet of rotten vegetables at the playwright when he took hi s bow at the end of the show. Wilde and Alexander learned of the plan, and the l atter cancelled Queensberry's ticket and arranged for policemen to bar his entra nce. Nevertheless, he continued harassing Wilde, who eventually launched a priva te prosecution against the peer for criminal libel, triggering a series of trial s ending in Wilde's imprisonment for gross indecency. Wilde's ensuing notoriety caused the play, despite its success, to be closed after only 86 performances. [ 15]

The play's original Broadway production opened at the Empire Theater on 22 April 1895, but closed after only twelve performances. Its cast included William Fave rsham as Algernon, Henry Miller as Worthing, Viola Allen as Gwendolyn, and Ida V ernon as Lady Bracknell. Almost a year later, on 11 April 1896, the play receive d its Australian premiere at the Criterion Theatre in Sydney, with eminent local stage actress Jenny Watt-Tanner in the role of Lady Bracknell. [16] The product ion transferred thence to Brisbane, where it opened at the Opera House on 15 Jul y, and subsequently embarked upon an eight-week repertory tour of other regional centres in Queensland, including Charters Towers, Rockhampton, Bundaberg and Ma ryborough. However, other major Australian cities, including Melbourne, would no t see the play for the first time until new productions were mounted after Wilde 's death. Revivals Until after Wilde's death his name remained disgraced and few discussed, let alo ne performed, his work. Short-lived Broadway revivals were mounted in 1902 and a gain in 1910. A collected edition of Wilde's works, published in 1908 and edited by Robert Ross, helped to restore his reputation. In 1911 The Importance of bei ng Earnest was revived by Alexander in St. James's; he and Aynesworth resumed th eir lead roles. Max Beerbohm said that the play was sure to become a classic of the English repertory, and that its humour was as fresh then as when it had been written, adding that the actors had "worn as well as the play". [17] The follow ing year, a new Australian production was mounted at the Criterion Theatre in Sy dney, where the play had been performed in 1896. Several other productions follo wed, including those in Adelaide (Unley City Hall, 1912), Melbourne (Athanaeum T heatre, 1915) and Perth (Town Hall, 1918). Further Broadway revival productions were staged in 1921, 1926, 1939, 1947, and more recently. The play's respectability was assured in 1946 when a charity performance was att ended by King George VI. [18] As Wilde's work came to be read and performed agai n, it was The Importance of being Earnest which saw the most productions. [19] John Gielgud was possibly the most famous Jack Worthing of the twentieth century , and his 1939 production was seen as a turning point in modern stagings: it qui ckly served as a model for later performances. Gielgud also directed, produced a nd acted in the 1948 Broadway production whose cast won a special Tony Award for "Outstanding Foreign Company". [20] The play has been performed at the Stratfor d Shakespeare Festival five times beginning in 1975 with William Hutt playing "L ady Bracknell" in both the 1975 and 1976 productions and Brian Bedford in the 20 09 production. A similar twist was incorporated into a 1980 Australian productio n at the Bondi Pavilion Theatre in Sydney, where Lady Bracknell was played by fe male impersonator Tracey Lee. In 2005, the Abbey Theatre produced the play with an all male cast; it also featured Wilde as a character the play opens with him drinking in a Parisian caf, dreaming of his play. [21][22] . More recently the Me lbourne Theatre Company staged a production in December 2011 with Geoffrey Rush playing Lady Bracknell. [23] Lady Bracknell's line, "A handbag?", has been called one of the most malleable i n English drama, lending itself to interpretations ranging from incredulous or s candalised to baffled. Dame Edith Evans, both on stage and in the 1952 film, del ivered the line loudly in a mixture of horror, incredulity and condescension. [2 4] Stockard Channing, in the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin in 2010, hushed the line, in a critic's words, "with a barely audible 'A handbag?', rapidly swallowed up wit h a sharp intake of breath. An understated take, to be sure, but with such a wel l-known play, packed full of witticisms and aphorisms with a life of their own, it's the little things that make a difference." [25] In 2011, the Roundabout Theatre Company produced a Broadway revival based on the 2009 Stratford Shakespeare Festival production featuring Brian Bedford as direc

tor and as Lady Bracknell. It opened at the American Airlines Theatre on 13 Janu ary and ran until 3 July 2011. The cast also included Dana Ivey as Miss Prism, P axton Whitehead as Rev. Chasuble, Santino Fontana as Algernon and Paul O'Brien a s Lane. [26] It was nominated for three Tony Awards: Best Revival of a Play, Bes t Costume Design of a Play and Best Leading Actor in a Play for Bedford (winning for costumes). [27] The production was filmed live in March 2011 and was shown in cinemas in June 20 11. [28] Synopsis Set in "The Present" (1895) in London, the play opens with Algernon Moncrieff, a n idle young gentleman, receiving his best friend, whom he knows as Ernest Worth ing. Ernest has come from the country to propose to Algernon's cousin, Gwendolen . Algernon, however, refuses his consent until Ernest explains why his cigarette case bears the inscription, "From little Cecily, with her fondest love to her d ear Uncle Jack." "Ernest" is forced to admit to living a double life. In the cou ntry, he assumes a serious attitude for the benefit of his young ward, Cecily, a nd goes by the name of John (or Jack), while pretending that he must worry about a wastrel younger brother named Ernest in London. In the city, meanwhile, he as sumes the identity of the libertine Ernest. Algernon confesses a similar decepti on: he pretends to have an invalid friend named Bunbury in the country, whom he can "visit" whenever he wishes to avoid an unwelcome social obligation. Jack, ho wever, refuses to tell Algernon the location of his country estate. Gwendolen and her formidable mother Lady Bracknell now call on Algernon. As Alge rnon distracts Lady Bracknell in another room, Jack proposes to Gwendolen. She a ccepts, but seems to love him very largely for his professed name of Ernest; Jac k resolves to himself to be rechristened "Ernest". Lady Bracknell discovers them and interrogates Jack as a prospective suitor. Horrified that he was adopted af ter being discovered as a baby in a handbag at Victoria Station, she refuses him and forbids further contact. Gwendolen, however, manages covertly to swear her undying love. As Jack gives her his address in the country, Algernon surreptitio usly notes it on the cuff of his sleeve; Jack's revelation of his pretty and wea lthy young ward has motivated Algernon to meet her. Act II moves to Jack's country house, the Manor House in Woolton, Hertfordshire, where Cecily is found studying with her governess, Miss Prism. Algernon arrives , pretending to be Ernest Worthing, and soon charms Cecily. Cecily has long been fascinated by Uncle Jack's hitherto absent black sheep younger brother, and is thus predisposed to fall for Algernon in his role of Ernest. So Algernon, too, p lans for the rector, Dr. Chasuble, to rechristen him "Ernest". Jack, meanwhile, has decided to put his double life behind him. He arrives in fu ll mourning and announces Ernest's death in Paris of a severe chill, a story und ermined by Algernon's presence in the guise of Ernest. Gwendolen now arrives, ha ving run away from home. She meets Cecily in the temporary absence of the two me n, and each indignantly declares that she is the one engaged to "Ernest". When J ack and Algernon reappear, their deceptions are exposed. Act III moves inside to the drawing room. Lady Bracknell arrives in pursuit of h er daughter and is surprised to be told that Algernon and Cecily are engaged. Th e size of Cecily's trust fund soon dispels her initial doubts over Cecily's suit ability as a wife for her nephew. However, stalemate develops when Jack refuses his consent to the marriage of his ward to Algernon until Lady Bracknell consent s to his own union with Gwendolen. The impasse is broken by the return of Miss Prism. Lady Bracknell recognises the governess: twenty-eight years earlier, as a family nursemaid, she took a baby b

oy for a walk in a perambulator (baby carriage) and never returned. Miss Prism e xplains that she had abstractedly put the manuscript of a novel she was writing in the perambulator, and the baby in a handbag, which she had left at Victoria S tation. Jack produces the very same handbag, showing that he is the lost baby, t he elder son of Lady Bracknell's late sister, and thus indeed Algernon's older b rother and suddenly eligible as a suitor for Gwendolen. Gwendolen, however, remains firm that she can only love a man named Ernest. What is her fianc's real first name? Lady Bracknell informs Jack that, as the first-b orn, he would have been named after his father, General Moncrieff. Jack examines the army lists and discovers that his father's name and hence his own real name was in fact Ernest. As the happy couples embrace Jack and Gwendolen, Algernon a nd Cecily, and even Dr. Chasuble and Miss Prism Lady Bracknell complains to her new-found relative: "My nephew, you seem to be displaying signs of triviality." "On the contrary, Aunt Augusta", he replies, "I've now realised for the first time in my life the vital Importance of being E arnest". Critical reception In contrast to much theatre of the time, The Importance of Being Earnest's light plot does not tackle serious social and political issues, something of which co ntemporary reviewers were wary. Though unsure of Wilde's seriousness as a dramat ist, they recognised the play's cleverness, humour and popularity with audiences . [29] George Bernard Shaw, for example, reviewed the play in the Saturday Revie w, arguing that comedy should touch as well as amuse, "I go to the theatre to be moved to laughter." [30] Later in a letter he said, the play, though "extremely funny" was Wilde's "first really heartless [one]". [31] In The World, William A rcher wrote that he had enjoyed watching the play but found it to be empty of me aning, "What can a poor critic do with a play which raises no principle, whether of art or morals, creates its own canons and conventions, and is nothing but an absolutely wilful expression of an irrepressibly witty personality?" [32] In The Speaker, A.B. Walkey admired the play and was one of few see it as the cu lmination of Wilde's dramatical career. He denied the term "farce" was derogator y, or even lacking in seriousness, and said "It is of nonsense all compact, and better nonsense, I think, our stage has not seen." [33] H.G. Wells, in an unsign ed review for the Pall Mall Gazette, called Earnest one of the freshest comedies of the year, saying "More humorous dealing with theatrical conventions it would be difficult to imagine." [34] He also questioned whether people would fully se e its message, "..how Serious People will take this Trivial Comedy intended for their learning remains to be seen. No doubt seriously." [34] The play was so lig ht-hearted that many reviewers compared it to comic opera rather than drama. W.H .Auden called it "a pure verbal opera", while The Times wrote that "The story is almost too preposterous to go without music." [14] Of the theatre of the period, only the work of Wilde and his fellow Irishman Sha w has survived, as well as the farce Charley's Aunt. The Importance of Being Ear nest is Wilde's most popular work and continually revived today. [7] Max Beerboh m called this play Wilde's "finest, most undeniably his own", saying that in his other comediesLady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of No Importance and An Ideal Husba ndthe plot, following the manner of Victorien Sardou, is unrelated to the theme o f the work, while in Earnest the story is "dissolved" into the form of the play. [35][36] Themes Triviality

Richard Ellmann says that The Importance of Being Earnest touched on many themes Wilde had been building since the 1880s the languor of aesthetic poses was well established and Wilde takes it as a starting point for the two protagonists. [6 ] While Salom, An Ideal Husband and The Picture of Dorian Gray had dwelt on more serious wrongdoing, vice in Earnest is represented by Algy's craving for cucumbe r sandwiches. Wilde told Robert Ross that the play's theme was "That we should t reat all trivial things in life very seriously, and all serious things of life w ith a sincere and studied triviality." [6] The theme is hinted at in the play's ironic title, and "earnestness" is repeatedly alluded to in the dialogue, Algern on says in Act II, "one has to be serious about something if one is to have any amusement in life' but goes on to reproach Jack for 'being serious about everyth ing'". [37] Blackmail and corruption had haunted the double lives of Dorian Gray and Sir Robert Chiltern (in An Ideal Husband), but in Earnest the protagonists' duplicity (Algernon's "bunburying" and Worthing's double life as Jack and Ernes t) is undertaken for more innocent purposes largely to avoid unwelcome social ob ligations. [6] While much theatre of the time tackled serious social and politic al issues, Earnest is superficially about nothing at all. It "refuses to play th e game" of other dramatists of the period, for instance George Bernard Shaw, who used their characters to draw audiences to grander ideals. [29] As a satire of society The play repeatedly mocks Victorian mores and social customs, marriage and the p ursuit of love in particular. [38] In Victorian times earnestness was considered to be the over-riding societal value, originating in religious attempts to refo rm the lower classes, it spread to the upper ones too throughout the century. [3 9] The play's very title, with its mocking paradox (serious people are so becaus e they do not see trivial comedies) introduces the theme, it continues in the dr awing room discussion, "Yes, but you must be serious about it. I hate people who are not serious about meals. It is so shallow of them" says Algernon in Act 1; allusions are quick and from multiple angles. [37] Wilde embodied society's rule s and rituals artfully into Lady Bracknell: minute attention to the details of h er style created a comic effect of assertion by restraint. [40] In contrast to h er encyclopaedic knowledge of the social distinctions of London's street names, Jack's obscure parentage is subtly evoked. He defends himself against her "A han dbag?" with the clarification, "The Brighton Line". At the time, Victoria Statio n consisted of two separate but adjacent terminal stations sharing the same name . To the east was the ramshackle LC&D Railway, on the west the up-market LB&SCRth e Brighton Line, which went to Worthing, the fashionable, expensive town the gen tleman who found baby Jack was travelling to at the time (and after which Jack w as named). [41] Wilde managed both to engage with and to mock the genre. The men follow traditio nal matrimonial rites, but the foibles they excuse are ridiculous, and the farce is built on an absurd confusion of a book and a baby. [42] In turn, both Gwendo len and Cecily have the ideal of marrying a man named Ernest, a popular and resp ected name at the time, and they indignantly declare that they have been deceive d when they find out the men's real names. When Jack apologises to Gwendolen dur ing his marriage proposal it is for not being wicked: [43] JACK: Gwendolen, it is a terrible thing for a man to find out suddenly that all his life he has been speaking nothing but the truth. Can you forgive me? GWENDOL EN: I can. For I feel that you are sure to change. Claims of homosexual subtext The name Ernest, it has been posited, might also have an ulterior meaning. John Gambril Nicholson wrote in 1892, "Though Frank may ring like silver bell, And Ce cil softer music claim, They cannot work the miracle, 'Tis Ernest sets my heart a -flame." [44] Theo Aronson has suggested that the word "earnest" became a code-w

ord for homosexual, as in: "Is he earnest?", in the same way that "Is he so?" an d "Is he musical?" were also employed. [45] Contrary to claims of homosexual terminology, Sir Donald Sinden, an actor who me t two of the play's original cast (Irene Vanbrugh, Gwendolen and Allan Ayneswort h, Algernon), and Lord Alfred Douglas, wrote to The Times to dispute suggestions that 'Earnest' held any sexual connotations: "Although they had ample opportuni ty, at no time did any of them even hint that "Earnest" was a synonym for homose xual, or that "bunburying" may have implied homosexual sex. The first time I hea rd it mentioned was in the 1980s and I immediately consulted Sir John Gielgud wh ose own performance of Jack Worthing in the same play was legendary and whose kn owledge of theatrical lore was encyclopaedic. He replied in his ringing tones: " No-No! Nonsense, absolute nonsense: I would have known" (it is relevant that Gie lgud was well known in theatrical circles to be gay). [46] Russell Jackson agrees, noting that "nothing of the overtly Dorian mode is to be found in the finished play or its drafts." [47] Instead, Wilde may have transpo sed his apprehension into Lord Chiltern's (non-sexual) blackmailing situation in the darker, political play, An Ideal Husband. By contrast, the humour and trans formation in The Importance of Being Earnest is much lighter in tone, though Alg ernon's protest at his putative arrest, "Well I really am not going to be impris oned in the suburbs for dining in the west-end!" ironically foreshadows Wilde's incarceration a few months later. [48] Dramatic analysis Use of language While Wilde had long been famous for dialogue and his use of language, Raby (198 8) argues that he achieved a unity and mastery in Earnest that was unmatched in his other plays, save perhaps Salome. While his earlier comedies suffer from an unevenness resulting from the thematic clash between the trivial and the serious , Earnest achieves a pitch-perfect style that allows these to dissolve. [49] The re are three different registers detectable in the play. The dandyish insoucianc e of Jack and Algernon, established early with Algernon's exchange with his mans ervant, betrays an underlying unity despite their differing attitudes. The formi dable pronouncements of Lady Bracknell are as startling for her use of hyperbole and rhetorical extravagance as much as the disconcerting opinions therein. In c ontrast, the speech of Dr Chasuble and Miss Prism is distinguished by "pedantic precept" and "idiosyncratic diversion". [49] Furthermore the play is chock full of epigrams and paradoxes. Max Beerbohm described it as "littered with "chiselle d apothegms - witticisms unrelated to action or character", of these he found ha lf a dozen to be of the highest order. [17] Publication First edition Wilde's two final comedies, An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Earnest , were still on stage in London at the time of his prosecution, and they were so on closed as the details of his case became public. After two years in prison wi th hard labour, Wilde went into exile in Paris, sick and depressed, his reputati on destroyed in England. In 1898, when no-one else would, Leonard Smithers agree d with Wilde to publish the two final plays. Wilde proved to be a diligent revis er, sending detailed instructions on stage directions, character listings and th e presentation of the book, and insisting that a playbill from the first perform ance be reproduced inside. Richard Ellmann argues that the proofs show a man "ve ry much in command of himself and of the play". [51] Wilde's name did not appear on the cover, it was "By the Author of Lady Windermere's Fan". [52]

His return to work was brief though, as he refused to write anything else, "I ca n write, but have lost the joy of writing". [51] On 19 October 2007, a first edition (number 349 of 1,000) was discovered inside a handbag in an Oxfam shop in Nantwich, Cheshire, mimicking the discovery of Jac k Worthing as an infant. Staff were unable to trace the donor. It was sold for 65 0. [53] In translation The Importance of Being Earnest's popularity has meant it has been translated in to many languages, though the homophonous pun in the title ("Ernest", a masculin e proper name, and "earnest", the virtue of steadfastness and seriousness) poses a special problem for translators. [39] In a study of Italian translations, Adr ian Pabl found thirteen different versions, using eight titles. Since wordplay is often unique to the language in question, translators are faced with a choice o f either staying faithful to the original in this case the English adjective and virtue earnest or creating a similar pun in their own language. [54] Four main strategies have been used by translators; the first leaves all charact ers' names unchanged and in their original spelling, thus the name is respected and readers reminded of the original cultural setting, but the liveliness of the pun is lost. [55] Eva Malagoli varied this source-oriented approach by using bo th the English Christian names and the adjective earnest, thus preserving the pu n and the English character of the play, but possibly straining an Italian reade r. [56] A third group of translators substituted Ernest with a name that also re presents a virtue in the target language, favouring transparency for readers in translation over fidelity to the original. [56] For instance, in Italian, these versions variously call the play L'importanza di essere Franco/Severo/Fedele, th e given names being the values of honesty, propriety and loyalty, respectively. [57] French offers a closer pun: "Constant" is both a first name and the quality of steadfastness, thus the play is commonly known as De l'importance d'tre Const ant, though Jean Anouilh translated the play under the title: Il est important d 'tre Aim ("Aim" is a name which also means "beloved"). [58] These translators diffe r in their attitude to the original English honorific titles, some change them a ll, or none, but most leave a mix partially as a compensation for the added loss of Englishness. Lastly, one translation gave the name an Italianate touch by re ndering it as Ernesto; this work liberally mixed proper nouns from both language s. [59] Adaptations See also: Music based on the works of Oscar Wilde Film Main articles: The Importance of Being Earnest (1952 film), The Importance of Be ing Earnest (2002 film), and The Importance of Being Earnest (2011 film) Aside f rom multiple "made-for-television" versions, The Importance of Being Earnest has been adapted for the English-language cinema at least three times, first in 195 2 by Anthony Asquith who adapted the screenplay and directed it. Michael Denison (Algernon), Michael Redgrave (Jack), Dame Edith Evans (Lady Bracknell), Dorothy Tutin (Cecily), Joan Greenwood (Gwendolen), and Margaret Rutherford (Miss Prism ) were among the cast. [60] In 1992 Kurt Baker directed a version using an all b lack cast, set in the United States of America. [61] Oliver Parker, an English d irector who had previously adapted other plays by Wilde, made a film in 2002; it stars Colin Firth (Jack), Rupert Everett (Algy), Dame Judi Dench (Lady Bracknel l), Reese Witherspoon (Cecily), Frances O'Connor (Gwendolen), Anna Massey (Miss Prism), and Tom Wilkinson (Dr. Chasuble). [62] Parker's adaptation includes the dunning solicitor Mr. Gribsby who pursues Jack to Hertfordshire (present in Wild

e's original draft, but cut at the behest of the play's first producer). [11] Al gernon too is pursued by a group of creditors in the opening scene. An Indian ve rsion of The Importance of Being Earnest in Telugu by the name "Ashta Chamma" wa s released in 2008 and was a critical and commercial success. [citation needed] Opera and radio In 1963, Erik Chisholm composed an opera from the play, using Wilde's text as th e libretto. [63] In 1977, BBC Radio 4 broadcast the first radio adaptation of the four-act versio n of the play; directed by Ian Cotterell, it featured Fabia Drake as "Lady Brack nell", Richard Pasco as "Jack Worthing", Jeremy Clyde as "Algernon Moncrieff", M aurice Denham as "Rev. Canon Chasuble", Sylvia Coleridge as "Miss Prism", Barbar a Leigh-Hunt as "Gwendolen" and Prunella Scales as "Cecily". The production was released on CD as part of the "Classic Radio Theatre" series by BBC Audio (ISBN 978-1408426937). To commemorate the centenary of the first performance of The Importance of Being Earnest, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a radio adaptation on 13 February 1995; directed by Glyn Dearman, it featured Judi Dench as "Lady Bracknell", Sir Michael Horder n as "Lane", Michael Sheen as "Jack Worthing", Martin Clunes as "Algernon Moncri eff", John Moffatt as "Rev. Canon Chasuble", Miriam Margolyes as "Miss Prism", S amantha Bond as "Gwendolen" and Amanda Root as "Cecily". The production was rele ased on audio cassette by Hodder Headline Audiobooks by arrangement with BBC Ent erprises (ISBN 1-85998-218-2). On 13 December 2000, BBC Radio 3 broadcast a new radio adaptation directed by Ho ward Davies starring Geraldine McEwan as "Lady Bracknell", Simon Russell Beale a s "Jack Worthing", Julian Wadham as "Algernon Moncrieff", Geoffrey Palmer as "Re v. Canon Chasuble", Celia Imrie as "Miss Prism", Victoria Hamilton as "Gwendolen " and Emma Fielding as "Cecily", with music composed by Dominic Muldowney. The p roduction was released on audio cassette by the BBC Radio Collection (ISBN 0-563 -47803-9). Notes 1. ^ Bunburying, meanwhile, which indicates a double life as an excuse for absen ce, isaccording to a letter from Aleister Crowley to Sir R. H. Bruce Lockhartan in side joke that came about after Wilde boarded a train at Banbury on which he met a schoolboy. They got into conversation and subsequently arranged to meet again at Sunbury. (D'arch Smith, Timothy: Bunbury Two Notes on Oscar Wilde (1998)) References 1. ^ Ellmann (1988:397) 2. ^ Raby (1988:120) 3. ^ Ellmann (1988:363,399) 4. ^ Fe ingold, Michael, "Engaging the Past" (Note the last paragraph, where Feingold wr ites, "Wilde pillaged this piece for ideas.") 5. ^ a b Jackson (1997:163) 6. ^ a b c d Ellmann (1988:398) 7. ^ a b Raby (1997:165) 8. ^ a b Ellmann (1988:406) 9. ^ Raby (1997:163) 10. ^ Raby (1988:121) 11. ^ a b Mendelshon, Daniel; The Two Oscar Wildes, New York Review of Books, Vo lume 49, Number 15 10 October 2002 12. ^ Raby, 1995 in Pabl (2005:301) 13. ^ Pear son (1946:257)

14. ^ a b Jackson (1997:171) 15. ^ Mason (1917:432) 16. ^ "Importance of Being E arnest", The Sydney Morning Herald, 13 April 1896, p. 7. 17. ^ a b Beerbohm (1970:510) 18. ^ Wheatcroft, G. "Not Green, Not Red, Not Pink " The Atlantic Monthly, May 2003. Retrieved 5 September 2010. 19. ^ Sandulescu ( 1994:156) 20. ^ Tony Awards archive.www.broadwayworld.com . Retrieved 2 Septembe r 2010 21. ^ The Sunday Business Post, 31 July 2005, Review:The Importance of Be ing Earnest. Retrieved 5 September 2010 22. ^ Raidi Teilifs ireann 28 July 2005, Th eatre Review:The Importance of Being Earnest Retrieved 5 September 2010 23. ^ "T he Importance of Being Earnest". Melbourne Theatre Company. http://www.mtc.com.a u/tickets/production.aspx? performancenumber=3737. Retrieved 22 December 2011. 2 4. ^ Handbags at dawn The Guardian 23 January 2010. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 25. ^ Walsh, Fintan Irish Theatre Magazine 8 June 2010, Review:The Importance of Being Earnest Retrieved 5 September 2010 26. ^ Jones, Kenneth. "A Wilde Hit! Broadway 's Earnest Gets 17-Week Extension, Bumping People Musical to Studio 54". Playbil l.com, accessed 26 January 2011 27. ^ "Tony Award nominees, 201011". 2011-05-03. http://www.tonyawards.com/en_US/nominees/index.html. Retrieved 2011-05-03. 28. ^ [1] 29. ^ a b Jackson (1997:172) 30. ^ Beckson (1970:195) 31. ^ Beckson (1970:194) 3 2. ^ Beckson (1970:189,190) 33. ^ Beckson (1970:196) 34. ^ a b Beckson (1970:188) 35. ^ ..."you are aware of the mechanism, you are a ware of Sardou": Beerbohm (1970:509). 36. ^ Bloom (2008:143). Victorien Sardou w as a French dramatist known for his careful, but rather mechanical, plotting. 37. ^ a b Pabl (2005:302) 38. ^ Raby 1997:169) 39. ^ a b Pabl (2005:301) 40. ^ Raby (1997:170) 41. ^ Dennis (2008:123) 42. ^ Jac kson (1997:173) 43. ^ Raby (1997:169) 44. ^ In his poem "Of Boy's Names" (Love i n Earnest: Sonnets, Ballades, and Lyrics D'arch Smith, Timothy: Love In Earnest: Some Notes on the Lives and Writings of English "Uranian" Poets from 1889 to 19 30 (1970) 45. ^ Aronson, Theo: Prince Eddy and the Homosexual Underworld (1994). 46. ^ The Times, 2 February 2001. Retrieved 5 September 2010. 47. ^ Raby (1997: 167) 48. ^ Raby (1997:168) 49. ^ a b Raby (1988:125) 50. ^ Mason (1917:430) 51. ^ a b Ellmann (1988:527) 52. ^ Mason (1917:429) 53. ^ BBC NEWS | England | S taffordshire | Rare book found in charity shop 19 October 2007. Retrieved 3 May 2010 54. ^ Pabl (2005:299) 55. ^ Pabl (2005:318) 56. ^ a b Pabl (2005:319) 57. ^ Pabl (2005:314) 58. ^ Editons Actes Sud-Papiers. P aris, January 2001. ISBN 2869430035 59. ^ Pabl (2005:317) 60. ^ The Importance of Being Earnest 1952. Retrieved 5 Sep tember 2010. 61. ^ The Importance of Being Earnest 1992. imdb.com. Retrieved 5 S eptember 2010 62. ^ Ebert, Roger, The Chicago Sun-TimesThe Importance of Being E arnest review 24 May 2002. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 63. ^ www.erickchisholm.com. "T heatrical Works Opera". The Erik Chisholm Trust. http://www.erikchisholm.com/ect /index.php?id=165. Retrieved 12 September 2010. Sources Beckson, Karl E., ed. Oscar Wilde: the critical heritage, Volume 1970, Part 2 Ro utledge p. 434 ISBN 0710069294, 9780710069290 Beerbohm, Max Last Theatres 1904-1 910 London:Rupert Hart-Davis 1970. SBN:246 639989 Bloom, Harold (2008). Oscar Wi lde. Bloom's Literary Criticism. New York: Infobase. ISBN 978-1-60413-140-6. Den nis, Richard (2008). Cities in modernity: representations and productions of met

ropolitan space, 18401930. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 123. ISB N 0-521-46841-8. Ellmann, Richard (1988). Oscar Wilde. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 9780394759845. Mason, Stuart (1914; new ed. 1972) Bibliography of Oscar Wil de. Rota pub; Haskell House Pub ISBN 0838313787 Pabl, Adrian (2005). "The importa nce of re-naming Ernest? Italian translations of Oscar Wilde". Target (John Benj amins Publishing Company) 17 (2): 297326. doi:10.1075/target.17.2.05pab. ISSN 092 4-1884. http://www.benjamins.com/cgi-bin/t_articles.cgi? bookid=Target%2017%3A2& artid=436063376. Retrieved 12 September 2010. Raby, Peter (1988) Oscar Wilde Cam bridge University Press. Cambridge ISBN 052126078 Raby, Peter, ed. (1997). The C ambridge Companion to Oscar Wilde. London: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-52 1-47987-8. Sandulescu, C. George, ed. (1994). Rediscovering Oscar Wilde. Gerrard s Cross [England]: C. Smythe. ISBN 0-86140-376-2. External links The Importance of Being Earnest on Project Gutenberg The Importance of Being Ear nest full text and reviews. The Importance of Being Earnest Audio Book on LibriV ox The Importance of Being Earnest study guide and teaching guide themes, quotes , analysis, multimedia "The Importance of Being Earnest". Theatre & Performance. Victoria and Albert Museum. http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/t/the-importance-of-being -earnest/. Retrieved 2011-04-03. by Oscar Wilde, en.m.wikipedia.org November 30th -0001 Oscar Wilde in 1889 Allan Aynesworth, Evelyn Millard, Irene Vanbrugh and George Alexander in the 189 5 London premiere