Who was Oscar Wilde ?

Oscar Wilde was born in 1854 in Dublin, Ireland. After studying at Oxford UniversityWilde became a poet. His first collection, Poems, was published in 1881 and a successful tour of America followed.

In 1884 Wilde married Constance Lloyd and they had two sons, Cyril and Vyvyan, but in 1891 he began an affair with Lord Alfred ‘Bosie’ Douglas. His greatest fame, and greatest work, followed soon afterwards. Lady Windermere’s Fan, his first play, opened in February 1892 His succeeding plays include A Woman of No Importance (1893), An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest(1895). His first and only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, was published in 1890 and scandalized Victorian society with its homoerotic content.

Wilde and Lord Alfred were inseparable until the playwright was jailed for two years for homosexuality – at that time still illegal. After his release Wilde fled to France but never truly regained the creativity he had enjoyed before his imprisonment. Wilde died of meningitis in 1900.

by Rita C.

The movie

This is trailer of the movie inspired on the play. Its Hilarious... 

by Rita C.

My assessment

I honestly have to say that I enjoyed the project but not so much the group. I really liked reading the book and prepare some resources about it. However, I must say, as a discussing director our group did not work well. I had to say constantly what they had to do… That is something that I do not like to do.

As an individual in the group I worked very well, that is just what I have to say.

 by Rita C.

Conclusions and recommendations

I recommend this book to the other people like theater and like comedy. It is a story for all the family, young and old.

The story may have been written in a distant past, but the characters and their personalities are very similar to nowadays mentalities.

It is very interesting to read, but it is probably more fantastic to see it in the theater. 

 by Ana Marta 

Connecting with the world...

After I read the book of Oscar Wilde, “The importance of being Earnest”, I realized that our behaviors and daily duties were very different from the time the book was written. There are many important points that highlight the contrast between our present societies from theirs. This book was written in 1895, so as we can see with the reading of the book, the characters show us a different demeanor comparing with nowadays.

We can have 5 kinds of connections: historical, social, personal, economic and cultural.   I were able to connect these themes by taking good examples. First of all, if we imagine someone of our society, dressed like we dress, talking like we talk, acting the way we act, it wouldn’t make any sense. Their manners are nothing like ours. Nowadays we are not stringent and rigid as the characters in the book. We obviously have respect and conduct in our actions. However we don’t need to have so much forbidden things to do.

Second of all, an interesting point in the story of this dramatization is the fact of the characters fall in love so easily, we get the impression of naivety because of the rush, and that’s why we sometimes don’t know well enough our partner (not even his/her real name…). In our society and culture that doesn’t happen, we have to know really well someone to marry her/him.

The story shows us that these people don’t have any kind of economic problems; even so they don’t seem to have any job. Their daily duties are drink tea, eat cucumbers sandwiches, talk, have big dinners with the family and travel. In our days, our families, the people we know, everybody have to earn their life by studying, getting a job, making something with their own life.

To conclude, I distinguish these connections and analyzed them comparing their actions and ours, their point of view of the world and ours, which are very different. I also managed to learn from it, see how the time goes and the customs change. I imagined how it would be for a person like us, dressed and taught like us, to live in their society for one day. In my opinion it would be amusing to watch!!

by Beatriz F.