Glittering Wit: Three Works by Oscar Wilde

Famous, and infamous, for his brilliant turn of phrase, seething social commentary and flamboyant personality, Oscar Wilde was the toast of the literary world throughout the 1880’s and 1890’s. Join us for an in-depth exploration of three of his most popular works. Laugh out loud at his farcical comedy, The Importance of Being Ernest, a play about superficial love, mistaken identities and cucumber sandwiches. Investigate such concepts as extravagance, beauty-as-commodity, morality, and the difference between art and culture in The Picture of Dorian Grey, Wilde’s late-Victorian Gothic novel. Explore themes of political corruption, public and private life, love and reputation in An Ideal Husband. Indeed, enjoy works so brilliant that Wilde himself famously quipped, “I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying.”