2 h 33 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 2 h 33 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
At an English country house, a man's bright future brings his mother face to face with a painful past.
In Oscar Wilde’s four-act comedy A Woman of No Importance, the guests at Hunstanton Chase trade jokes and judgments. Gerald Arbuthnot, an eager young bank clerk, receives a dazzling offer: Lord Illingworth wants him as his secretary abroad. For Gerald, it promises a new life. For his quiet mother, Mrs. Arbuthnot, the offer brings her guarded past dangerously close.
Around them, polite conversation becomes a contest over virtue, class, and reputation. Hester Worsley, a serious young American, challenges the English guests with plain speaking. Mrs. Allonby matches Lord Illingworth’s wit, while Lady Hunstanton keeps the party talking. Beneath the laughter, Wilde asks why society punishes women for conduct it readily excuses in men—and what those judgments cost a family.
What you’ll discover
- Wit with a sting Enjoy sharp exchanges that expose the cruelty hiding beneath good manners and elegant talk.
- A mother's guarded dignity Meet Mrs. Arbuthnot, whose love for Gerald shapes her fierce protection of a painful secret.
- An offer with stakes Follow Gerald’s excitement as a coveted position draws his family toward an uneasy confrontation.
- Plain speech meets polish Watch Hester Worsley challenge a social world that prizes charm and judges others harshly.
- Morality under the spotlight Look beyond the party’s laughter to the unequal rules governing women’s and men’s reputations.
Who will love it
This is for anyone who loves quick, glittering dialogue, sharp comedy about manners and money, and stories where a polite drawing room hides real feeling.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A country lawn where manners hide quarrels
- Lord Illingworth rules the conversation and sets a wager
- A letter on a table brings an old memory
- The drawing room and Hester's speech about English society
- Mrs. Arbuthnot arrives and a shared past comes into view
- Illingworth tutors Gerald in the art of life
- The play asks why women and men are judged differently
- Sons, mothers, and how Wilde builds the play
Who’s who
- Lord IllingworthA witty, newly titled lord who dazzles house guests with epigrams and offers Gerald a place at his side.
- Mrs. ArbuthnotGerald's devoted, quiet mother, who lives apart from society and is deeply afraid of the man who has taken an interest in her son.
- Gerald ArbuthnotA young, eager bank clerk who dreams of a bigger career and hopes to win the woman he loves.
- Hester WorsleyA young American heiress with strict moral views who is not afraid to tell English society what she thinks of it.
- Mrs. AllonbyA quick-tongued married guest who matches Lord Illingworth in wit and makes a daring wager with him.
- Lady HunstantonThe kind, forgetful hostess of Hunstanton Chase, who loves her guests and gets every story slightly wrong.
- Lady Caroline PontefractA stern society lady who judges everyone and keeps her fourth husband, Sir John, wrapped in mufflers.
- Mr. KelvilA parliamentarian who preaches about purity and domestic life and interprets every joke literally.
Formats and delivery
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- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
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- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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A Woman of No Importance
by Oscar Wilde · 1894
At an English country house, a lord's offer to a young bank clerk brings him face to face with a woman from his past.
Medium level2–5 hours to readEnglish
Excellent
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In short
What happens when one careless sentence about a woman of no importance sets a buried past in motion? Oscar Wilde builds his play on that question.
A Woman of No Importance at a glance
- Reading time
- About 1 h 30 min1 h 10 min fast, 1 h 45 min slow
- Length
- 21,100 words12 chapters
- Pages
- 63 pages94 in large print
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1894by Oscar Wilde
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A country lawn where manners hide quarrels
The play opens on the lawn at Hunstanton Chase, where talk takes the place of action. Lady Caroline Pontefract questions Hester Worsley, a young American guest, about her homeland. She asks whether America has any countryside at all. Hester answers that some American states are as big as France and England together, and Lady Caroline replies that it must be very drafty.
The scene is a small comedy of control. Lady Caroline runs the day of her husband, Sir John. He must wear his muffler, put on his overshoes, and move to a more sheltered chair.
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- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1894
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 1 h 40 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Wilde, Oscar. A Woman of No Importance. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-woman-of-no-importance.
Wilde, O. (2026). A woman of no importance. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-woman-of-no-importance (Original work published 1894)
Wilde, Oscar. A Woman of No Importance. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-woman-of-no-importance.
@book{wilde2026woman,
author = {Wilde, Oscar},
title = {A Woman of No Importance},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-woman-of-no-importance},
note = {First published 1894}
}
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What is A Woman of No Importance about?
It is a four-act comedy of manners set at a country house. A charming lord offers a young clerk a job, and a hidden history with the clerk's mother begins to surface, testing how society treats men and women.
Who is the woman of no importance?
The phrase is first spoken by Lord Illingworth when a letter's handwriting reminds him of a woman he once knew. It refers to a woman from his past, and the play asks how much that description really fits her.
When was A Woman of No Importance written and is it a true story?
Wilde wrote it in the early 1890s, and it is a work of fiction. It uses invented guests at an invented country house to comment on real habits of Victorian high society.
The author
Oscar Wilde
1854–1900 · Irish playwright and poet
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) was an Irish poet, playwright, and novelist born in Dublin. He lived in London and later in France, where he died in Paris. He published The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1890. His play The Importance of Being Earnest was first performed in 1895.
More by Oscar Wilde
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