Wisdom from Wilde

Oscar Wilde was a truly unique person and artist. His wit and humor have lasted for over 100 years and still seem relevant to us today. Below are several lines, not all humorous, from A Woman of No Importance that we've found reflect his views as a paradoxical artist and show why his plays continue to be produced.

(Add more quotes than this, obviously. This is just an example.)


"You love the beauty that you can see and touch and handle, the beauty that you can destroy, and do destroy, but of the unseen beauty of life, of the unseen beauty of a higher life, you know nothing."

"After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one's own relations."

"To get into the best society, nowadays, one has either to feed people, amuse people, or shock people-that is all!"

"Nothing should be out of reach of hope. Life is hope."

Themes of the Play - Comment!

A lot of issues and themes are brought up in A Woman of No Importance that are still concerns of our world today. Reflect on what you think they are saying to us as a modern audience.

(List of themes)

• Purity
• Gender binaries
• Motherhood
• Single Parents
• Feminism
• Religion
• Marriage
• Society
• Work ethic
• etc

(Include quotes from the actors and take care to respond to comments in a helpful manner)

Getting To Know the Characters of AWONI

Post here about each character in the play, their titles, their nationalities, and their personalities. Rank by importance, beginning with Mrs. Arbuthnot, Gerald, and Lord Illingworth. Have a quote from each actor on the type of person that his or her character is.

(Ex.) Lord Illingworth, who is in the English House of Lords. Holds many estates around London and wants to take Gerald on as his secretary. Unmarried. Early forties. Lord Illingworth does not take much seriously and makes himself seem important by speaking in one-liners and trying to impose his careless, decadent ideas on others, though he remains a likable and somewhat sympathetic character.

"He's a lot like Lord Henry from Dorian Gray, influencing people but never taking the blame himself." -John Smith, actor