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    A Woman of No Importance
    A Woman of No Importance
    A Woman of No Importance
    Ebook111 pages1 hour

    A Woman of No Importance

    By Oscar Wilde

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Classic play. According to Wikipedia: "Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854 - 1900) was an Irish playwright, novelist, poet, and author of short stories. Known for his barbed wit, he was one of the most successful playwrights of late Victorian London, and one of the greatest celebrities of his day. As the result of a famous trial, he suffered a dramatic downfall and was imprisoned for two years of hard labour after being convicted of the offence of 'gross indecency.'"
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSeltzer Books
    Release dateMar 1, 2018
    ISBN9781455358137
    Author

    Oscar Wilde

    OSCAR WILDE (Dublín, 1854–París, 1900), poeta y dramaturgo irlandés, es considerado uno de los más célebres escritores en lengua inglesa de todos los tiempos, tanto por su provocadora personalidad como por su obra. Escribió relatos y novelas, como El retrato de Dorian Gray, poemas como el desgarrador La balada de la cárcel de Reading, y fue enormemente popular en el Londres victoriano por su exitosa producción teatral, como La importancia de llamarse Ernesto, y por su ingenio mordaz y brillante conversación.

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    Reviews for A Woman of No Importance

    3.5/5

    166 ratings4 reviews

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    • 5/5
      A small gem of a drama. Oscar Wilde's perfect t use of language makes this play both witty and stinging. A mother maintains her dignity in the face of disgrace, and endears herself to her son while deflating his natural father's haughty condescension. Excellent!
    • 4/5
      Witty as only Oscar Wilde can write.
    • 3/5
      The title says it all. A condemnation of a society in which mistakes are never forgiven, in which souls are lost forever, for youthful indiscretion and surrender to one's emotions.
    • 3/5
      The book is all about purity. What somebody thinks about the same.

    Book preview

    A Woman of No Importance - Oscar Wilde

    A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE BY OSCAR WILDE

    published by Samizdat Express, Orange, CT, USA

    established in 1974, offering over 14,000 books

    Books by Oscar Wilde available from us:

    The Picture of Dorian Gray

    Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories

    Shorter Prose Pieces

    A Critic in Pall Mall

    Essays and Lectures

    Intentions

    The Soul of Man

    Miscellanies

    Reviews

    Selected Prose

    The Happy Prince and Other Tales

    A House of Pomegranates

    The Duchess of Padua

    An Ideal Husband

    The Importance of Being Earnest

    Lady Windermere's Fan

    Salome

    Vera or The Nihilists

    A Woman of No Importance

    The Ballad of Reading Gaol

    Charmides and Other Poems

    feedback welcome: info@samizdat.com

    visit us at samizdat.com

    THE PERSONS OF THE PLAY

    ACT I.  The Terrace at Hunstanton Chase.

    ACT II.  The Drawing-room at Hunstanton Chase.

    ACT III.  The Hall at Hunstanton Chase.

    ACT IV.  Sitting-room in Mrs. Arbuthnot's House at Wrockley.

    THE PERSONS OF THE PLAY

    Lord Illingworth

    Sir John Pontefract

    Lord Alfred Rufford

    Mr. Kelvil, M.P.

    The Ven. Archdeacon Daubeny, D.D.

    Gerald Arbuthnot

    Farquhar, Butler

    Francis, Footman

    Lady Hunstanton

    Lady Caroline Pontefract

    Lady Stutfield

    Mrs. Allonby

    Miss Hester Worsley

    Alice, Maid

    Mrs. Arbuthnot

    TIME:  The Present. PLACE:  The Shires.

    The action of the play takes place within twenty-four hours.

     LONDON: HAYMARKET THEATRE

     Lessee and Manager: Mr. H Beerbohm Tree April 19th, 1893

    Lord Illingworth, Mr. Tree

    Sir John Pontefract, Mr. E. Holman Clark

    Lord Alfred Rufford, Mr. Ernest Lawford

    Mr. Kelvil, M.P., Mr. Charles Allan.

    The Ven. Archdeacon Daubeny, D.D., Mr. Kemble

    Gerald Arbuthnot, Mr. Terry

    Farquhar, Butler, Mr. Hay

    Francis, Footman, Mr. Montague

    Lady Hunstanton, Miss Rose Leclercq

    Lady Caroline Pontefract, Miss Le Thiere

    Lady Stutfield, Miss Blanche Horlock

    Mrs. Allonby, Mrs. Tree

    Miss Hester Worsley, Miss Julia Neilson

    Alice, Maid, Miss Kelly

    Mrs. Arbuthnot, Mrs. Bernard-Beere

    FIRST ACT

    SCENE

    Lawn in front of the terrace at Hunstanton.

    [SIR JOHN and LADY CAROLINE PONTEFRACT, MISS WORSLEY, on chairs under large yew tree.]

    LADY CAROLINE.  I believe this is the first English country house you have stayed at, Miss Worsley?

    HESTER.  Yes, Lady Caroline.

    LADY CAROLINE.  You have no country houses, I am told, in America?

    HESTER.  We have not many.

    LADY CAROLINE.  Have you any country?  What we should call country?

    HESTER.  [Smiling.]  We have the largest country in the world, Lady Caroline.  They used to tell us at school that some of our states are as big as France and England put together.

    LADY CAROLINE.  Ah! you must find it very draughty, I should fancy. [To SIR JOHN.]  John, you should have your muffler.  What is the use of my always knitting mufflers for you if you won't wear them?

    SIR JOHN.  I am quite warm, Caroline, I assure you.

    LADY CAROLINE.  I think not, John.  Well, you couldn't come to a more charming place than this, Miss Worsley, though the house is excessively damp, quite unpardonably damp, and dear Lady Hunstanton is sometimes a little lax about the people she asks down here.  [To SIR JOHN.]  Jane mixes too much.  Lord Illingworth, of course, is a man of high distinction.  It is a privilege to meet him.  And that member of Parliament, Mr. Kettle -

    SIR JOHN.  Kelvil, my love, Kelvil.

    LADY CAROLINE.  He must be quite respectable.  One has never heard his name before in the whole course of one's life, which speaks volumes for a man, nowadays.  But Mrs. Allonby is hardly a very suitable person.

    HESTER.  I dislike Mrs. Allonby.  I dislike her more than I can say.

    LADY CAROLINE.  I am not sure, Miss Worsley, that foreigners like yourself should cultivate likes or dislikes about the people they are invited to meet.  Mrs. Allonby is very well born.  She is a niece of Lord Brancaster's.  It is said, of course, that she ran away twice before she was married.  But you know how unfair people often are.  I myself don't believe she ran away more than once.

    HESTER.  Mr. Arbuthnot is very charming.

    LADY CAROLINE.  Ah, yes! the young man who has a post in a bank. Lady Hunstanton is most kind in asking him here, and Lord Illingworth seems to have taken quite a fancy to him.  I am not sure, however, that Jane is right in taking him out of his position.  In my young days, Miss Worsley, one never met any one in society who worked for their living.  It was not considered the thing.

    HESTER.  In America those are the people we respect most.

    LADY CAROLINE.  I have no doubt of it.

    HESTER.  Mr. Arbuthnot has a beautiful nature!  He is so simple, so sincere.  He has one of the most beautiful natures I have ever come across.  It is a privilege to meet HIM.

    LADY CAROLINE.  It is not customary in England, Miss Worsley, for a young lady to speak with such enthusiasm of any person of the opposite sex.  English women conceal their feelings till after they are married.  They show them then.

    HESTER.  Do you, in England, allow no friendship to exist between a young man and a young girl?

    [Enter LADY HUNSTANTON, followed by Footman with shawls and a cushion.]

    LADY CAROLINE.  We think it very inadvisable.  Jane, I was just saying what a pleasant party you have asked us to meet.  You have a wonderful power of selection.  It is quite a gift.

    LADY HUNSTANTON.  Dear Caroline, how kind of you!  I think we all do fit in very nicely together.  And I hope our charming American visitor will carry back pleasant recollections of our English country life.  [To Footman.]  The cushion, there, Francis.  And my shawl.  The Shetland.  Get the Shetland.  [Exit Footman for shawl.]

    [Enter GERALD ARBUTHNOT.]

    GERALD.  Lady Hunstanton, I have such good news to tell you.  Lord Illingworth has just offered to make me his secretary.

    LADY HUNSTANTON.  His secretary?  That is good news indeed, Gerald. It means a very brilliant future in store for you.  Your dear mother will be delighted.  I really must try and induce her to come up here to-night.  Do you think she would, Gerald?  I know how difficult it is to get her to go anywhere.

    GERALD.  Oh!  I am sure she would, Lady Hunstanton, if she knew Lord Illingworth had made me such an offer.

    [Enter Footman with shawl.]

    LADY HUNSTANTON.  I will write and tell her about it, and ask her to come up and meet him.  [To Footman.]  Just wait, Francis. [Writes letter.]

    LADY CAROLINE.  That is a very wonderful opening for so young a man as you are, Mr. Arbuthnot.

    GERALD.  It is indeed, Lady Caroline.  I trust I shall be able to show myself worthy of it.

    LADY CAROLINE.  I trust so.

    GERALD.  [To HESTER.]  YOU have not congratulated me yet, Miss Worsley.

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