A universal favorite, The Importance of Being Earnest displays Oscar Wilde&’s wit and theatrical genius at their brilliant best. Subtitled &“A Trivial Comedy for Serious People,&” this hilarious attack on Victorian manners and morals turns a pompous world on its head, lets duplicity lead to happiness, and makes riposte the highest form of art. Written, according to Wilde, &“by a butterfly for butterflies,&” it is a dazzling masterpiece of comic entertainment.Although it was originally written in four acts, The Importance of Being Earnest is usually performed in a three-act version. This authoritative edition features an appendix that restores valuable lines that appeared in the original.Also included in this special collection are Wilde&’s first comedy success, Lady Windermere&’s Fan, and his richly sensual melodrama, Salomé, which he called &“that terrible coloured little tragedy I once in some strange mood wrote&”—and which shocked and enraged the censors of his time.Includes an Introduction by Sylvan Barnetand an Afterword by Elise Bruhl and Michael Gamer