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A review by wuthrinheights
The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays by Oscar Wilde by Oscar Wilde, Oscar Wilde
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.75
I skipped The Importance of Being Earnest for I have read it already before. I will begin my review with the second play: Lady Windermere's Fan. What a fantastic play! It was thoroughly captivating. I was hooked from the start, and wanted to devour it as quickly as I could. It had so much tension and drama, with twists that made me gasp out loud. I was lucky to read this with a buddy, because I needed someone to talk to immediately! Full 5 stars. Great play!
A Woman of no Importance was a slightly slow play to me, especially in the first half. There were too many characters that they all kind of blur together, that I kept referring to the list of names just so I can be sure that I know who's who--as best as I could keep up, for there were so many gossip surrounding each person. It was mostly a play consisting of a group of friends talking about each other behind their backs. But things started to pick up deliciously by the end of Act 2. Suddenly it was going so fast and I was invested. I was so scared about how it was going to end but WOW. What an amazing ending. I loved it in the end! It was also funny that Wilde copied and pasted quotes from his other works (lines from Dorian Gray and Importance of Being Earnest, and then from this play again). 4.5 stars!
An Ideal Husband was different than his other plays. It was longer and more political. But the characters were more lively than usual. I was feeling all kinds of things reading this; curiosity, anger, triumph, disappointment. I couldn't wait to see how it played out but although some felt great, a lot of it felt underwhelming. I wanted more drama and flair like in A Woman of No Importance. Alas, this was my least favourite play. 3.75 stars.
Scratch that. Salomé was the most different out of all the plays he's written (that I've read so far). It actually felt like I was reading a Shakespearian play what with the humour, the omen/foreshadowing, the theatrical dramatic characters. It was completely out of the box, and the ending was utterly shocking. It ended on a wildly abrupt tone. 4.5 stars.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book of compilated plays and I wish it had all of his works as well. I may need to reread Dorian Gray to be sure but I think I enjoy his plays better than his novel.
A Woman of no Importance was a slightly slow play to me, especially in the first half. There were too many characters that they all kind of blur together, that I kept referring to the list of names just so I can be sure that I know who's who--as best as I could keep up, for there were so many gossip surrounding each person. It was mostly a play consisting of a group of friends talking about each other behind their backs. But things started to pick up deliciously by the end of Act 2. Suddenly it was going so fast and I was invested. I was so scared about how it was going to end but WOW. What an amazing ending. I loved it in the end! It was also funny that Wilde copied and pasted quotes from his other works (lines from Dorian Gray and Importance of Being Earnest, and then from this play again). 4.5 stars!
An Ideal Husband was different than his other plays. It was longer and more political. But the characters were more lively than usual. I was feeling all kinds of things reading this; curiosity, anger, triumph, disappointment. I couldn't wait to see how it played out but although some felt great, a lot of it felt underwhelming. I wanted more drama and flair like in A Woman of No Importance. Alas, this was my least favourite play. 3.75 stars.
Scratch that. Salomé was the most different out of all the plays he's written (that I've read so far). It actually felt like I was reading a Shakespearian play what with the humour, the omen/foreshadowing, the theatrical dramatic characters. It was completely out of the box, and the ending was utterly shocking. It ended on a wildly abrupt tone. 4.5 stars.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book of compilated plays and I wish it had all of his works as well. I may need to reread Dorian Gray to be sure but I think I enjoy his plays better than his novel.