The Importance of Being Earnest and Salomé by Oscar Wilde

featuring Kimberly J. Stern, Assistant Professor of English and Comparative Literature

Meeting Dates: Tuesdays, September 4 & 11

on The Importance of Being Earnest:

“Arguably the greatest farcical comedy in English”—Oxford University Press

“Oscar Wilde’s most brilliant tour de force, a witty and buoyant comedy of manners that has delighted millions in countless productions since its first performance in London’s St. James’ Theatre on February 14, 1895. The Importance of Being Earnest is celebrated not only for the lighthearted ingenuity of its plot, but for its inspired dialogue, rich with scintillating epigrams still savored by all who enjoy artful conversation.”—Dover Publications

on Salomé:

“Few works in English literature have so peculiar a history as Oscar Wilde’s play Salomé. Written originally in French in 1892 and ridiculed on its publication, translated into English by Lord Alfred Douglas and again heaped with scorn, it has survived for 75 years, served as the text (in abridged form) for Richard Strauss’ world-famous opera, and emerged as an acknowledged masterwork of the Aesthetic movement of fin de siècle England.”—Dover Publications

“Salomé is Oscar Wilde’s most experimental―and controversial―play. In its own time, the play, was described by a reviewer as “an arrangement in blood and ferocity, morbid, bizarre, repulsive.” None, however, could deny the importance of Wilde’s creation. Contemporary audiences and reviewers variously regarded Salomé as the symbol of a thrilling modernity, a challenge to patriarchy, a confession of desire, a sign of moral decay, a new form of art, and a revolt against the restraints of Victorian society. Less well known than Wilde’s beloved comedies, Salomé is as enduringly modern and relevant.”—Broadview Press (annotated and introduced by Professor Kimberly Stern)

TUITION: $35, includes a copy of the book

Register online or call 919.962.1544

Please note that the image may not reflect the edition being used for the reading group.