Oscar Wilde & A Woman of No Importance

I was pleased that we were supposed to read A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde, since although I have not previously read any of Wilde's, I had heard great reviews of his work. I had also, in class, learned much about Wilde that I did not know before, like how he engaged in love affairs with men and was convicted of gross indecency and served two years hard time. Upon learned more about the history of the author, my opinion of A Woman of No Importance remained the same. After reading the play, I can honestly say that I enjoyed it; it definitely ranks with my top plays in this class. The plot of the story was really captivating; it was pretty much like one giant, mixed up love story to me and one that was so entrancing to read. Perhaps my favorite piece of Wilde's work is his diverse something that characters and how they communicate with one another. This biggest, and most amusing, contradiction I could find was between Lady Allonby and Lady Stetfield. These woman are pretty much in the same social circle of the aristocracy, and yet their views and opinions on men and how they should treat women are completely different. Lady Allonby firmly believe that men should treat women "as children", and how women deserve such treatment. She is sort of the anti-feminist of the group and I was intrigued that her character would socialize with Lady Stetfield, who possesses a totally different belief. She could be considered the epitome of a feminist; she discusses how men persecute women and women should be equal to their male counterparts. I just thought it was highly interesting how Wilde was able to depict his characters and really master their dynamics, making each their own. My personal favorite would probably have to be Hester, the witty girl from America. She houses no scruples when it comes to dissing the British, even when she's in their homes and she accurately makes comparisons between the English and Americans. She believes that Americans are more wholesome, and the British aristocracy are only concerned with scandals and the frivolity of life. It wasn't so much her views that made Hester my favorite character, but rather the manner in which she went about expressing them. Overall, Oscar Wilde's A Woman of No Importance was an extremely well written, easy read of a play and Wilde's diverse group of characters really shaped the story.