Play: The Importance of Being Ernest, Oscar Wilde

The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde. What a fun play!

I am a bit frustrated with myself…the version that I downloaded to listen to was not great. It was a group of American actors trying to sound British. The male characters were ok, but the female characters were rather monotonous and stumbled over a few of the words. It came across as if they were just reading the piece for the sake of getting through it. So that was a bit disappointing, but I take full responsibility as I could have looked for another version, but had already downloaded this one.

Here are some wonderful quotes from the play:

‘The Amount of Women in London who flirt with their own husbands is perfectly scandalous. It looks so bad. It is simply washing one’s clean linen in public.

All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does, and that is his.

Memory... is the diary that we all carry about with us.

Audiobook: Oscar Wilde: His Life and Confessions, Frank Harris

Oscar Wilde by Frank Harris has been keeping me company while I worked in the garden for the past few weeks. I must admit that I knew absolutely nothing about him, except that he might have written 'The Importance of Being Earnest,' which I have also not read. 

I enjoyed the beginning part of the book of when he was young. Rather fascinating! He really enjoyed the good life, and he enjoyed talking much more than writing. 

I will be honest I did not know that he was gay. It's quite shocking that he was thrown into jail for two years because of this! It was also rather sad to learn about all the little children that were jailed at that time and the very cruel circumstances. I am very grateful for how things have changed. 

He sounded like a horrendous friend in his later life, constantly borrowing money so that he could pay off debt. But then, instead of paying off his debt, he would buy a bicycle for a boy that he liked. It was also interesting to learn that he was married and had children, but he really didn't think much of women. 

Here are some of the quotes from the book that I liked:

Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds (William Shakespeare)

Sickness is a symptom of weakness (Oscar Wilde)

Strong men are made by opposition; like kites they go up against the wind  (Frank Harris)

Creation is the first condition of art (Oscar Wilde)