Plays, Prose Writings and Poems

'I am but too conscious of the fact that we are born in an age when only the dull are taken seriously,and I live in terror of not being misunderstood'declared Oscar Wilde(1854-1900).He has been misunderstood and dismissed as a mere coiner of flippancies.But wit need not always be trivial.Wilde uses wit to attack hypocrisy,cant,conventional attitudes and ideas.His writings demonstrate the importance of not being earnest,even though his aims are far from frivolous.This volume incorporates much of the best of Wilde's writing,including LADY WINDERMERE'S FANTHE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST and THE BALLAD OF READING GAOL.