The Importance of Being Earnest

By: Oscar Wilde

Narrated by: David McCallion

The Importance of Being Earnest is a play written by the renowned playwright and author, Oscar Wilde. It premiered in London on Valentines Day, 1895, and was an instant success.

With The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde accomplished what he'd set out to do, which was to make light of the humorous behavior of British high society. In this satirical comedy, the protagonist goes to great lengths to escape boring social obligations and what many thought of as overly confining yet hypocritical attitudes of the late Victorian era.

Although The Importance of Being Earnest was one of Oscar Wilde's most successful works, along with The Picture of Dorian Gray, his career as a comedy writer was short lived due to being imprisoned 1895. After his release, Wilde made an attempt to revive his writing career while exiled in Paris but was unsuccessful.

Public Domain (P)2017 A.R.N. Publications

Ridiculous

This was a great narrator for a ridiculously silly story. I did not love it but I did want to finish.

A Satirical Masterpiece

This timeless classic will certainly make anyone laugh out loud! The witty comedy and satire will certainly brighten your whole day. The reader David McCallion did a brilliant job in narrating this short play...His character voices were spectacular and really enhanced the performance.

Such a lovely reading!

Earnest is such a fun story and was an even better read. Two hours very well spent.

Excellent material, unfortunate casting

Oscar Wilde’s work is witty, sparkling. But, in the performances of this cast, his brilliant lines are read a flatly dull as if the actors were reading phone books. The accents are not those of Mayfair and Belgrave Square, but atonal, and mostly American. Disappointing to the point of distraction to hear these light, effortless lines read with no sense of play, no comedy, no inflection.

Wilde’s sharp and witty observations

What a perfect performance of a great work! Wilde’s characters are real and the reader makes a stellar job of giving each a unique voice. This is a masterpiece in every level in which the listener is invited to live in the heart of the pretentious British society.