Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest is a play that has been performed for over 130 years, including a recent revival at London’s National Theatre that screened at The Little last year.
This month, members of our Classic Book Discussion Group will get the chance to read and discuss Wilde’s last play.
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BOOK DESCRIPTION
Known as one of the greatest comedies written in English, Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest attacks Victorian manners and morals in what can only be described as the most maliciously delicious way. A witty satire of Victorian social hypocrisy, Wilde pulls the strings on his cast of late-Victorian characters making them appear, first and foremost, exactly as they are-superficial, upper class Englishmen bound and cinched by an artificial code of manners.
Jack Worthington has invented a rakish brother, Ernest, who calls Jack away from family duties and gives him an excuse to travel to London. Similarly, Algernon Moncrieff has created the persona of Bunbury, an invalid friend, who periodically requires his services in the country. Both young men cleverly use their invented alter egos to disguise their misdemeanors until Jack discovers that Algernon has been impersonating Ernest, to woo Jack’s young ward, Cicely.
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Copies of The Importance of Being Earnest can be picked up from the Book Discussion Shelf on our first floor, and it’s also available to download through Libby/Overdrive as an ebook or an audiobook.
NEW MEETING TIME! An in-person discussion of The Importance of Being Earnest will be held at the library on Thursday, January 22, at 6:00 PM. No registration is required to attend.
Published on January 5, 2026.
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