Ideal Husband and A Woman of No Importance: Two Comedies by Oscar Wilde

Author: (English) Oscar Wilde
Publisher:
Publishing Time: Not available
Features: Over a hundred years ago, Oscar Wilde had two comedies premiered successively in London, both causing a sensation in the literary world. The witticisms, the creation out of thin air, the absurd yet seemingly logical, the unreasonable yet amusing, left audiences spellbound and were widely discussed. The Ideal Husband and A Woman of No Importance. The characters in Wilde's plays can be broadly divided into two contrasting categories: not the Taoist distinction between good and evil, but the aesthetic division between refined and vulgar. The virtuous gentlemen and ladylike ladies, of course, belong to the morally upright side, but not necessarily the refined in style. Conversely, the roguish nobles and wayward girls belong to the morally questionable side, but not necessarily the vulgar in style. In The Ideal Husband, the Chisholm couple belongs to the former category, while A Woman of No Importance completely transcends moral dilemmas, with all characters morally questionable, with the exception of the minor character Miss, who is a minor exception. As for Jack and Algernon being a pair of rogues, and Cordelia and Cecily being a pair of wayward girls, they naturally belong to the latter category. When the main characters are present, the conversation is often dull, but once the guests speak, the witticisms and clever remarks rain down like celestial flowers, effortless and never dull. Most of Wilde's famous quotes come from them.