Analysis of The Theme Through The Portrayals of The Female Characters in 'A Woman of No Importance' By Oscar Wilde.
ABSTRACT
Drama A Woman of No Importance oleh Oscar Wilde menceritakan
tentang sebuah lingkungan dalam suatu masa di Inggris. Terdapat empat karakter
wanita yang memiliki bagian penting dalam drama ini. Keempat karakter tersebut
berperan dalam memformulakan tema dalam drama ini. Tema dalam buku ini
berkaitan dengan sebuah lingkungan sosial yang membantu pembentukan karakter
wanita sebagai individu. Empat karakter wanita dalam drama ini adalah Mrs.
Arbuhnot, Hester Worsley, Lady Hunstanton. Ketiga karakter tersebut memiliki
karakter yang terbentuk oleh nila-nilai sosial yang berlaku pada masa tersbut.
Mrs. Arbuthnot, yang memiliki masalah dengan masa lalu yang buruk dan
percaya akan lingkungan sosial yang menganggap orang seperti dirinya tak layak
untuk bergabung dengan masyarakat. Hester Worsley, yang berasal dari Amerika,
mampu membuat dirinya terbentuk menjadi seseorang yang berpikiran berbeda
dari wanita di Inggris. Lady Hunstanton percaya pada perbedaan status sosial
dalam masyarakat di Inggris dan membuatnya menjadi arogan. Mrs. Allonby
terpengaruh pada pemikiran masyarakat tentang wanita dan lelaki pada saat itu.
Keempat tokoh wanita dalam drama ini membuktikan pengaruh lingkungan sosial
terhadap seseorang.
iii
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
ABSTRACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Statement of the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Purpose of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Method of Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Organization of the Thesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
3
3
3
3
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF THEME THROUGH POTRAYAL OF
FEMALE CHARACTERS IN OSCAR WILDE’S A WOMAN OF NO
IMPORTANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
APPENDICES:
Synopsis of A Woman of No Importance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Biography of Oscar Wilde . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
ii
Maranatha Christian University
APPENDICES
SYNOPSIS OF A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE
The picture is set in an English country house, owned by Lady
Hunstanton. At first, we are introduced to Lady Caroline. She is involved in
conversation with Lady Hunstanton’s American Puritan Guest Hester Worsley.
Lady Hunstanton holds a party and invites her acquaintances. The other characters
are then introduced, such as Mrs. Allonby, Lady Stutfield and Lady Caroline’s
husband, Sir John. They discuss frivolous matters and later join the powerful,
charming and charismatic person, Lord Illingworth, who offers the post of
secretary to Gerald Arbuthnot.
Gerald’s mother is invited to join the party. When she arrives there, she
realizes that Lord Illingworth is Gerald’s father. She had an affair with him twenty
years ago, became pregnant and refused to marry her. Such situation makes Mrs.
Arbuthnot confuse whether to let Gerald have the job as the secretary or forbid
him to take the job. Yet, she is reluctant to let Gerald become Illingworth’s
secretary. Nevertheless, he does not tell Gerald the reason for her unwillingness.
Gerald finds out about his mother’s past dramatically after trying to kill Lord
Illingworth for having kissed Hester Worsley, with whom he is in love.
19
BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in 1854 in Dublin. He is
the son of a surgeon named Sir William Wilde, who was also a writer. Oscar
Wilde is a famous playwright and novelist. He was educated at Trinity College,
Dublin and Magdalene College, Oxford. He has won some awards for his literary
work, one of which is the Newdigate Prize for his poem Ravenna. In I88I, he
published poems, several volumes of which are concerned children stories, and
were originally written for his own sons.
Oscar Wilde was also famous for his comedy of manners in some of his
plays. He wrote some plays such as The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), An
Ideal Husband (1895), A Woman of No Importance (1893), and Lady
Wintermere’s Fan (1892). He also wrote a famous novel in 1891 The Picture of
Dorian Gray, his only novel. His great talent made him becomes a well-known
writer in the literature.
He had a family but soon his relationship was ruined because of his
relationship with the son of his closest friend. He was sentenced for having a
relationship with man. As the punishment, he had to undergo two years of hard
labour. After having the punishment, Wilde decided to move to France and spent
his lifetime writing some poems and literary works. One of the famous ones is
Salome, also known as his last play.
Source:
“A Woman of No Importance”
20
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854. He is
known as a famous playwright, poet, and essayist. He is also famous for his
involvement in bringing aestheticism to England. Nearly all of his plays are
comedy of manners in Victorian period. That is what makes him unusual in
comparison with other playwrights. According to Christopher Russel Reaske’s
How to Analyze Drama, comedy of manners relates to an artificial social life in
the Victorian period:
Comedy of manners usually concerned themselves with manners and
customs of a very synthetic or artificial highbrow society; the comedy of
manners is a satirical thrust at the mores of the so-called establishment and
thus the manners of the upper-crust and the conventions of “social” people
are hold up for ridiculous (Reaske 11).
The definition above conveys that comedy of manners is a description of
manner in a certain period and is also a recount that Wilde’s comedy of manner
consists of the idea and picture of the Victorian society, in which he puts the satire
and sense of comedy simultaneously.
1
Maranatha Christian University
I decide to analyse his work not only because of his great sense of comedy
but also for his worth reading play. In my thesis, I choose A Woman of No
Importance, one of his plays. I find the play interesting because he explores all the
characters, especially women characters. In one of his biographies, Wilde says: “I
took the drama, the most objective form known to art, and made of it as personal a
mode of expression as the lyric or the sonnet; at the same time I widened its range
and enriched its characterization” (“biography”). As Wilde states above,
especially about the enriched characterization, I perceive that he as playwright has
his own purpose of making the characters unusual and of keeping a close distance
between his characters and his readers.
A Woman of No Importance discusses some female characters that lived
in a Victorian Period. Based on Reaske’s How to Analyze Drama, “there is no
narration or description in drama. Because this is so the playwright must present
his ideas and his pictures of the characters almost entirely through dialogue and
action” (Reaske 13). Throughout the three female characters’ dialogue and action
of this play, I believe that I can find the theme as the meaning of story. “The
theme of a piece of fiction is its controlling idea or its central insight. It is the
unifying generalization about life stated or implied by the story. To derive the
theme of a story, we must ask what its central purpose is: what view of life it
supports or what insight into life it reveals” (Perrine 102). I can also identify the
writer’s point of view. The message from this play can be found from the female
characters since the outstanding characteristics of Wilde’s plays are the witty
presentation of images.
2
Maranatha Christian University
Statement of the Problem
The problems are stated as follows:
1. What is the theme of the play?
2. How do the portrayals of the female characters help to reveal the
theme?
Purpose of the Study
Based on the statement of the problems above this study is done:
1. To show the theme of the play.
2. To reveal the theme through the portrayal of female characters.
Method of Research
I use library research in my analysis and I start reading A Woman of No
Importance as the primary text. I also read and compile some texts that are taken
from books and the internet to support my analysis. Then I analyze the novel and
draw some conclusions.
Organization of the Thesis
This thesis consists of three chapters. Chapter One is the Introduction,
which consists of the Background of Study, The Statement of the Problem, The
Purpose of the study, The Method of Research, and The Organization of the
Thesis. Chapter Two is the Discussion of A Woman of No Importance. Chapter
Three is the Conclusion. The thesis ends with the Bibliography and the
3
Maranatha Christian University
Appendices, which consist of the Synopsis of the Play and the Biography of the
Author.
4
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
After reading the play and analyzing the female characters in Oscar
Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance, I conclude that the female characters
support the revelation of theme of this play. The theme itself has a connection
with social life of Victorian period because this play was written at that time. The
theme of this play is, “society plays a very important role in how a woman thinks
and shapes herself as an individual in the society”.
Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance has formulated a theme that I believe
has a correlation with real life, because until today, every human being still lives
in the society which can bring a certain impact to them. Taken place in 19th
century, Wilde tries to display a generalization of how women conduct their lives.
This is revealed from the three female major characters in the play.
The first female character is Mrs. Arbuthnot, a woman with an illegitimate
son. She is portrayed as a reserved and self-conscious person. These two
characteristics are influenced by the society which believes a woman who
committed adultery would not be accepted in the society. The second character is
Hester Worsley. She is described as an open minded and critical woman. Her
15
Maranatha Christian University
characteristics are shaped because she has already seen and compared both
American’s and English’s society. The third female character is Lady Jane
Hunstanton. She is a shallow and conceited woman. Her characteristics are
constructed by the society that believes in social barriers and the idea that
appearance is everything. After analyzing the play, I can see clearly that the three
female characters are influenced and shaped by the society.
From the way Wilde creates these three female characters, I discover a
theme which reveals an embodiment of certain people in society. I believe all the
characters are very effective in supporting the theme. The theme has given a very
good picture that society can produce different kinds of effects to women. I also
learn from this play that society can give either good or bad influences toward an
individual; therefore one has to consider one’s surrounding and environment in
the society.
I find from this play that society is a part of human being that cannot be
separated because wherever people stand they are always connected with the
society’s values or custom. Yet, the society does not always give good effects in
shaping a person. Sometimes a person experiences the bad effect. The bad effects
can occur when the society is not healthy. A person’s choice between the bad and
the good is also the important lesson that I can get from this play.
I believe as well that the title A Woman of No Importance is to satirize the
people at that time because it actually shows that women still have their
importance in society. The reason why the women turn out to be important in this
play is because they still acquire the strength to live among the society which
16
Maranatha Christian University
gives them some pressure. They could bear the society custom who forbids them
to do a lot of things according to their wills.
The other message that I get from this play is that society ruled by man
sometimes treat women unjustly. In Mrs. Arbuthnot’s characterization, for
instance, I reckon that the unjust society makes her feel not comfortable to herself.
Men’s thoughts also become an important thing to count because what their
thoughts are what is ruled in the society.
I think that Wilde is a great writer since this play can be seen from some
points of view about not only women but also the society’s conventions which
dominate certain aspects of life. Therefore, I conclude that after studying the play,
I can find some important values concerning life and society in the real life. As a
final point, I state that theme of the play is, “society plays a very important role in
how a woman thinks and shapes herself as an individual in the society.”
17
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Reference
Perrine, Laurence. Story and Structure. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,
1983.
Reaske, Christioher Russel. How to Analyze Drama. New York: Mornach Press,
1966.
Gillie, Christopher. A Companion to English Literature. London: Longman Group
Ltd, 1972.
Internet/Websites
Enotes.com. 2007. Summary of A Woman of No Importance. 30 Mar. 2010.
.
Wikipedia.org. 2007. Biography of Oscar Wilde 11 Mar. 2010.
Wikipedia.org. 2006. Victorian Women. 23 Mar. 2010.
Manybooks.net. 1997. The Project of Gutenberg, A Woman Of No Importance. 10
Mar. 2010.
Primary Text
Wilde, Oscar. A Woman of No Importance. United Kingdom: Penguin Popular
Classic, 1996.
18
Maranatha Christian University
Drama A Woman of No Importance oleh Oscar Wilde menceritakan
tentang sebuah lingkungan dalam suatu masa di Inggris. Terdapat empat karakter
wanita yang memiliki bagian penting dalam drama ini. Keempat karakter tersebut
berperan dalam memformulakan tema dalam drama ini. Tema dalam buku ini
berkaitan dengan sebuah lingkungan sosial yang membantu pembentukan karakter
wanita sebagai individu. Empat karakter wanita dalam drama ini adalah Mrs.
Arbuhnot, Hester Worsley, Lady Hunstanton. Ketiga karakter tersebut memiliki
karakter yang terbentuk oleh nila-nilai sosial yang berlaku pada masa tersbut.
Mrs. Arbuthnot, yang memiliki masalah dengan masa lalu yang buruk dan
percaya akan lingkungan sosial yang menganggap orang seperti dirinya tak layak
untuk bergabung dengan masyarakat. Hester Worsley, yang berasal dari Amerika,
mampu membuat dirinya terbentuk menjadi seseorang yang berpikiran berbeda
dari wanita di Inggris. Lady Hunstanton percaya pada perbedaan status sosial
dalam masyarakat di Inggris dan membuatnya menjadi arogan. Mrs. Allonby
terpengaruh pada pemikiran masyarakat tentang wanita dan lelaki pada saat itu.
Keempat tokoh wanita dalam drama ini membuktikan pengaruh lingkungan sosial
terhadap seseorang.
iii
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
ABSTRACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Statement of the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Purpose of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Method of Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Organization of the Thesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
3
3
3
3
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF THEME THROUGH POTRAYAL OF
FEMALE CHARACTERS IN OSCAR WILDE’S A WOMAN OF NO
IMPORTANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
APPENDICES:
Synopsis of A Woman of No Importance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Biography of Oscar Wilde . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
ii
Maranatha Christian University
APPENDICES
SYNOPSIS OF A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE
The picture is set in an English country house, owned by Lady
Hunstanton. At first, we are introduced to Lady Caroline. She is involved in
conversation with Lady Hunstanton’s American Puritan Guest Hester Worsley.
Lady Hunstanton holds a party and invites her acquaintances. The other characters
are then introduced, such as Mrs. Allonby, Lady Stutfield and Lady Caroline’s
husband, Sir John. They discuss frivolous matters and later join the powerful,
charming and charismatic person, Lord Illingworth, who offers the post of
secretary to Gerald Arbuthnot.
Gerald’s mother is invited to join the party. When she arrives there, she
realizes that Lord Illingworth is Gerald’s father. She had an affair with him twenty
years ago, became pregnant and refused to marry her. Such situation makes Mrs.
Arbuthnot confuse whether to let Gerald have the job as the secretary or forbid
him to take the job. Yet, she is reluctant to let Gerald become Illingworth’s
secretary. Nevertheless, he does not tell Gerald the reason for her unwillingness.
Gerald finds out about his mother’s past dramatically after trying to kill Lord
Illingworth for having kissed Hester Worsley, with whom he is in love.
19
BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in 1854 in Dublin. He is
the son of a surgeon named Sir William Wilde, who was also a writer. Oscar
Wilde is a famous playwright and novelist. He was educated at Trinity College,
Dublin and Magdalene College, Oxford. He has won some awards for his literary
work, one of which is the Newdigate Prize for his poem Ravenna. In I88I, he
published poems, several volumes of which are concerned children stories, and
were originally written for his own sons.
Oscar Wilde was also famous for his comedy of manners in some of his
plays. He wrote some plays such as The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), An
Ideal Husband (1895), A Woman of No Importance (1893), and Lady
Wintermere’s Fan (1892). He also wrote a famous novel in 1891 The Picture of
Dorian Gray, his only novel. His great talent made him becomes a well-known
writer in the literature.
He had a family but soon his relationship was ruined because of his
relationship with the son of his closest friend. He was sentenced for having a
relationship with man. As the punishment, he had to undergo two years of hard
labour. After having the punishment, Wilde decided to move to France and spent
his lifetime writing some poems and literary works. One of the famous ones is
Salome, also known as his last play.
Source:
“A Woman of No Importance”
20
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854. He is
known as a famous playwright, poet, and essayist. He is also famous for his
involvement in bringing aestheticism to England. Nearly all of his plays are
comedy of manners in Victorian period. That is what makes him unusual in
comparison with other playwrights. According to Christopher Russel Reaske’s
How to Analyze Drama, comedy of manners relates to an artificial social life in
the Victorian period:
Comedy of manners usually concerned themselves with manners and
customs of a very synthetic or artificial highbrow society; the comedy of
manners is a satirical thrust at the mores of the so-called establishment and
thus the manners of the upper-crust and the conventions of “social” people
are hold up for ridiculous (Reaske 11).
The definition above conveys that comedy of manners is a description of
manner in a certain period and is also a recount that Wilde’s comedy of manner
consists of the idea and picture of the Victorian society, in which he puts the satire
and sense of comedy simultaneously.
1
Maranatha Christian University
I decide to analyse his work not only because of his great sense of comedy
but also for his worth reading play. In my thesis, I choose A Woman of No
Importance, one of his plays. I find the play interesting because he explores all the
characters, especially women characters. In one of his biographies, Wilde says: “I
took the drama, the most objective form known to art, and made of it as personal a
mode of expression as the lyric or the sonnet; at the same time I widened its range
and enriched its characterization” (“biography”). As Wilde states above,
especially about the enriched characterization, I perceive that he as playwright has
his own purpose of making the characters unusual and of keeping a close distance
between his characters and his readers.
A Woman of No Importance discusses some female characters that lived
in a Victorian Period. Based on Reaske’s How to Analyze Drama, “there is no
narration or description in drama. Because this is so the playwright must present
his ideas and his pictures of the characters almost entirely through dialogue and
action” (Reaske 13). Throughout the three female characters’ dialogue and action
of this play, I believe that I can find the theme as the meaning of story. “The
theme of a piece of fiction is its controlling idea or its central insight. It is the
unifying generalization about life stated or implied by the story. To derive the
theme of a story, we must ask what its central purpose is: what view of life it
supports or what insight into life it reveals” (Perrine 102). I can also identify the
writer’s point of view. The message from this play can be found from the female
characters since the outstanding characteristics of Wilde’s plays are the witty
presentation of images.
2
Maranatha Christian University
Statement of the Problem
The problems are stated as follows:
1. What is the theme of the play?
2. How do the portrayals of the female characters help to reveal the
theme?
Purpose of the Study
Based on the statement of the problems above this study is done:
1. To show the theme of the play.
2. To reveal the theme through the portrayal of female characters.
Method of Research
I use library research in my analysis and I start reading A Woman of No
Importance as the primary text. I also read and compile some texts that are taken
from books and the internet to support my analysis. Then I analyze the novel and
draw some conclusions.
Organization of the Thesis
This thesis consists of three chapters. Chapter One is the Introduction,
which consists of the Background of Study, The Statement of the Problem, The
Purpose of the study, The Method of Research, and The Organization of the
Thesis. Chapter Two is the Discussion of A Woman of No Importance. Chapter
Three is the Conclusion. The thesis ends with the Bibliography and the
3
Maranatha Christian University
Appendices, which consist of the Synopsis of the Play and the Biography of the
Author.
4
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
After reading the play and analyzing the female characters in Oscar
Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance, I conclude that the female characters
support the revelation of theme of this play. The theme itself has a connection
with social life of Victorian period because this play was written at that time. The
theme of this play is, “society plays a very important role in how a woman thinks
and shapes herself as an individual in the society”.
Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance has formulated a theme that I believe
has a correlation with real life, because until today, every human being still lives
in the society which can bring a certain impact to them. Taken place in 19th
century, Wilde tries to display a generalization of how women conduct their lives.
This is revealed from the three female major characters in the play.
The first female character is Mrs. Arbuthnot, a woman with an illegitimate
son. She is portrayed as a reserved and self-conscious person. These two
characteristics are influenced by the society which believes a woman who
committed adultery would not be accepted in the society. The second character is
Hester Worsley. She is described as an open minded and critical woman. Her
15
Maranatha Christian University
characteristics are shaped because she has already seen and compared both
American’s and English’s society. The third female character is Lady Jane
Hunstanton. She is a shallow and conceited woman. Her characteristics are
constructed by the society that believes in social barriers and the idea that
appearance is everything. After analyzing the play, I can see clearly that the three
female characters are influenced and shaped by the society.
From the way Wilde creates these three female characters, I discover a
theme which reveals an embodiment of certain people in society. I believe all the
characters are very effective in supporting the theme. The theme has given a very
good picture that society can produce different kinds of effects to women. I also
learn from this play that society can give either good or bad influences toward an
individual; therefore one has to consider one’s surrounding and environment in
the society.
I find from this play that society is a part of human being that cannot be
separated because wherever people stand they are always connected with the
society’s values or custom. Yet, the society does not always give good effects in
shaping a person. Sometimes a person experiences the bad effect. The bad effects
can occur when the society is not healthy. A person’s choice between the bad and
the good is also the important lesson that I can get from this play.
I believe as well that the title A Woman of No Importance is to satirize the
people at that time because it actually shows that women still have their
importance in society. The reason why the women turn out to be important in this
play is because they still acquire the strength to live among the society which
16
Maranatha Christian University
gives them some pressure. They could bear the society custom who forbids them
to do a lot of things according to their wills.
The other message that I get from this play is that society ruled by man
sometimes treat women unjustly. In Mrs. Arbuthnot’s characterization, for
instance, I reckon that the unjust society makes her feel not comfortable to herself.
Men’s thoughts also become an important thing to count because what their
thoughts are what is ruled in the society.
I think that Wilde is a great writer since this play can be seen from some
points of view about not only women but also the society’s conventions which
dominate certain aspects of life. Therefore, I conclude that after studying the play,
I can find some important values concerning life and society in the real life. As a
final point, I state that theme of the play is, “society plays a very important role in
how a woman thinks and shapes herself as an individual in the society.”
17
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Reference
Perrine, Laurence. Story and Structure. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,
1983.
Reaske, Christioher Russel. How to Analyze Drama. New York: Mornach Press,
1966.
Gillie, Christopher. A Companion to English Literature. London: Longman Group
Ltd, 1972.
Internet/Websites
Enotes.com. 2007. Summary of A Woman of No Importance. 30 Mar. 2010.
.
Wikipedia.org. 2007. Biography of Oscar Wilde 11 Mar. 2010.
Wikipedia.org. 2006. Victorian Women. 23 Mar. 2010.
Manybooks.net. 1997. The Project of Gutenberg, A Woman Of No Importance. 10
Mar. 2010.
Primary Text
Wilde, Oscar. A Woman of No Importance. United Kingdom: Penguin Popular
Classic, 1996.
18
Maranatha Christian University