Oscar Wilde

A Woman of No Importance (Annotated) Oscar Wilde

Differentiated book- It has a historical context with research of the time-The purpose of realizing this historical context is to approach the understanding of a historical epoch from the elements provided by the text. Hence the importance of placing the document in context. It is necessary to unravel what its author or authors have said, how it has been said, when, why and where, always relating it to its historical moment. An Unimportant Woman is a play by Irish playwright Oscar Wilde. The play premiered on April 19, 1893 at London 's Haymarket Theater. Just like Wilde's other society plays, he satirizes English upper-class society. It has been performed on stages in Europe and North America since his death in 1900. The play begins with a terrace party at Lady Hunstanton's estate. The upper-class guests spend most of Act I exchanging social gossip and little conversation. Lady Caroline Pontefract is condescending to an American visitor, Hester Worsley, and proceeds to give her own opinion of everyone present (and of the life around her). Lady Caroline also denounces Hester's enthusiasm for Gerald Arbuthnot until Gerald himself enters to proclaim that Lord Illingworth, a flirtatious and powerful male political figure, intends to take him under his wing as secretary. This is great news for Gerald, as being Lord Illingworth's secretary would be the young man's first step toward a life of financial