Publisher Description
A lord, his wife, her admirer and an infamous blackmailer converge in the irreverent satire that launched Wilde's succession of classic social comedies. This delicious comic feast serves up a scandal about good girls, bad husbands and hilarious hypocrisy - utterly contemporary and divinely funny.
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"This is the second play by Oscar Wilde I've read and now I can say that this is the very genre which reveals his talent most clearly. Again A lot of puns and paradoxes (which Oscar Wilde is famous for by the way) and nearly each line is worth citing. Simply perfect.As for the peculiarities of this very lay fist of all I should point out the plot. The events are arranged in a very curious way and i must confess I never could guess while reading what would happen next, to say nothing of the end of the play. Now I'm really anxious to see this work on the stage because I'm sure that in theatrical atmosphere and performed by good actors it is going to be even more exiting.The other peculiar point about Lady Windermere's Fan is the characters. And this peculiarity is closely connection with the main idea which on my opinion was put by the author in the very beginning:"Nowadays so many conceited people go about Society pretending to be good, that I think it shows rather a sweet and modest disposition to pretend to be bad." And indeed this is the only work by Oscar Wilde, where most of the characters turn to be better in the end that one thought of them in the beginning.(view spoiler)[Think yourself - Lord Windermere appeared not to have deceived his wife, Mrs. Erlynne found out that she "had a heart" after all and sacrificed her reputation for the sake of lady Windermere (which probably was the most generous deed in her entire life), Lord Darlington was sincerely in love and only poor Lady Windermere was on the edge of committing the silliest action she's ever done (but thanks God and Mrs. Erlynne she hasn't done it after all). (hide spoiler)]So I believe by this play the author tried to show us that you mustn't be prejudiced about anybody no matter what other people say about this person. Lady Windermere having never seen MRs. Erlynne made an impression about her from the words of the main gossiper of the city and a piece of paper with figures and Mrs. Erlynne's name on it. She never spoke to Lord Windermere or Mrs. Erlynne herself about it. No wonder this impression wasn't the best one. Thus as the events following the ones mentioned above show, you should believe only your own experience and your own feelings and before making a judgment about somebody take pains at least to speak to this man."
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Ilona (5 out of 5 stars)
About Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) was born in Dublin. He won scholarships to both Trinity College, Dublin, and Magdalen College, Oxford. In 1875, he began publishing poetry in literary magazines, and in 1878, he won the coveted Newdigate Prize for English poetry. He had a reputation as a flamboyant wit and man-about-town. After his marriage to Constance Lloyd in 1884, he tried to establish himself as a writer, but with little initial success. However, his three volumes of short fiction, The Happy Prince, Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime, and A House of Pomegranates, together with his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, gradually won him a reputation as a modern writer with an original talent. That reputation was confirmed and enhanced by the phenomenal success of his society comedies: Lady Windermere’s Fan, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband, and The Importance of Being Earnest, all performed on London’s West End stage between 1892 and 1895. In 1895, he was convicted of engaging in homosexual acts, which were then illegal, and sentenced to two years imprisonment with hard labor. He soon declared bankruptcy, and his property was auctioned off. In 1896, he lost legal custody of his children. When his mother died that same year, his wife Constance visited him at the jail to bring him the news. It was the last time they saw each other. In the years after his release, his health deteriorated. In November 1900, he died in Paris at the age of forty-six.