Deconstructive Strategies in Wilde’s Social Comedies: From Melodrama to Deconstruction

As the first collection of essays specifically about Oscar Wilde's comedies, the contributors re-evaluate Oscar Wilde's society plays as 'comedies of manners" to see whether this is actually an apt way to read Wilde's most emblematic plays. Focusing on both the context and the texts, the collection locates Wilde both in his social and literary contexts. It also demonstrates how Wilde both reinvigorated the genre while creatively imbued these plays with an intellectual and social seriousness not seen before in comedies of manners. This collection allows readers to stop laughing solely at the wit when studying the plays, but also uncover new, productive paths to explore these serious (while still very funny) plays.