Revising Wilde

A radical re-examination of Oscar Wilde's plays, Revising Wilde challenges long-established views of the writer as a dilettante and dandy, revealing him as a serious philosopher and social critic who used his plays to subvert traditional values. Sos Eltis examines early drafts of the major plays (Lady Windermere's Fan; A Woman of No Importance; An Ideal Husband; and The Importance of Being Earnest) as well as the little-known Vera; or, The Nihilists, to demonstrate that Wilde was in fact an anarchist, a socialist, and a feminist.