The Importance of Being Earnest: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

The Importance of Being Earnest, credited to Oscar Wilde, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

Librivox public domain recording of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. The Importance of Being Earnest is a classic comedy of manners, in which two flippant young men, in order to impress their respected beloveds, pretend that their names are "Ernest," which both young ladies believe confers magical qualities on the possessor. It was first performed for the public on February 14, 1895 at the St. James' Theatre in London, and is regarded by many critics and scholars as being the wittiest play in the English language. (Summary from Wikipedia.org) Characters: John Worthing, J.P. - Read by John Gonzalez Algernon Moncrieff - Read by Gord Mackenzie Rev. Canon Chasuble, D.D. - Read by Chris Goringe Merriman, Butler - Read by Peter Yearsley Lane, Manservant - Read by Hugh McGuire Lady Bracknell - Read by Kristen McQuillin Hon. Gwendolen Fairfax - Read by Deana Cecily Cardew - Read by Kara Shallenberg Miss Prism, Governess - Read by Sureka Narrator - Read by Betsie Bush Project Editor - Paula Berinstein

Recording facts

• Recording title: The Importance of Being Earnest
• Author credits: Oscar Wilde
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 3
• Listed recording duration: 2:17:41

Catalogue topics

• comedy
• performance

Track guide

1. Act 1 — 50:47
2. Act 2 — 56:34
3. Act 3 — 30:22

Listen to this recording

Open the complete recording and player on Internet Archive. The player includes the full track list and available download formats.

Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.