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Luisteren én lezen

Oscar Wilde

A farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious persona to escape burdensome social obligations. The play satirises social conventions of late Victorian London, and treats with triviality institutions as serious as marriage. The play opens with Algernon Moncrieff, an idle young gentleman, receiving his best friend, Jack Worthing (Ernest). Ernest has come from the country to propose to Algernon's cousin, Gwendolen Fairfax. Algernon refuses to consent until Ernest explains why his cigarette case bears the inscription, 'From little Cecily, with her fondest love to her dear Uncle Jack.' Ernest is forced to admit to living a double life.

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Victorian Classic

The Importance of Being Earnest

Jane Austen

Elizabeth Bennet, the protagonist of the story learns the error of making hasty judgments and comes to appreciate the difference between the superficial and the essential. The novel captures emotional development of our heroine and humour in the depiction of manners, education, marriage, and money during the British Regency period.

Pride and Prejudice

Set in the fictional village of Highbury and the surrounding estates of Hartfield, Randalls, and Donwell Abbey, the novel follows the relationships among individuals in those locations consisting of several families in a country village. The story features youthful hubris and the perils of misconstrued romance.

Emma

Set in southwest England, London and Sussex, the novel tells a story of four women relocating to live in a cottage on the property of a distant relative, where they experience love, romance, and heartbreak. Main characters include the three Dashwood sisters moving with their widowed mother from the estate on which they grew up, Norland Park, to their new home, Barton Cottage.

Sense and Sensibility

The novel follows Anne Elliot, a young Englishwoman of 27 years, whose family is moving to lower their expenses and get out of debt. They rent their home to an Admiral and his wife. The wife’s brother, Navy Captain Frederick Wentworth, had been engaged to Anne in 1806, and now they meet again, both single and unattached, after no contact in more than seven years. This sets the scene for many humorous encounters as well as a second, well-considered chance at love and marriage for Anne in her second bloom.

Persuasion

Wilde's dramatic masterpiece set in London. Many of the themes of An Ideal Husband were influenced by the situation Oscar Wilde found himself in during the early 1890s. 'Sooner or later we shall all have to pay for what we do. But no one should be entirely judged by their past.' The play opens during a dinner party at the home of Sir Robert Chiltern in London's fashionable Grosvenor Square. Sir Robert, a prestigious member of the House of Commons, and his wife, Lady Chiltern, are hosting a gathering that includes his friend Lord Goring, a dandified bachelor and close friend to the Chilterns, Mabel Chiltern, and other genteel guests.

An Ideal Husband

Dorian is a cultured, wealthy, and impossibly beautiful young man. He becomes a disciple of the new Hedonism and proposes to live a life dedicated to the pursuit of pleasure. Lord Henry gives Dorian a book that describes the wicked exploits of a nineteenth-century Frenchman; it becomes Dorian’s bible as he sinks ever deeper into a life of sin and corruption. Dorian’s reputation suffers in circles of polite London society, where rumours spread regarding his scandalous exploits. His peers nevertheless continue to accept him because he remains young and beautiful.