This book comes with an introduction and notes by Anne Varty, Royal Holloway, University of London. Oscar Wilde took London by storm with his first comedy, "Lady Windermere's Fan". The combination of dazzling wit, subtle social criticism, sumptuous settings and the theme of a guilty secret proved a winner, both here and in his next three plays, "A Woman of No Importance", "An Ideal Husband", and his undisputed masterpiece, "The Importance of Being Earnest". This volume includes all Wilde's plays from his early tragedy era to the controversial "Salome" and the little known fragments, "La Sainte Courtisane" and "A Florentine Tragedy". This edition affords a rare chance to see Wilde's best known work in the context of his entire dramatic output, and to appreciate plays which have hitherto received scant critical attention.
