A Woman of No Importance

1893
Oscar Wilde
A Woman of No Importance
C+

As in Lady Windermere's Fan, a mother has a scandalous past.  This time, her former lover has unknowingly chosen their son as his protegee.  And there's a "Puritanical" young American woman mixed up in things.  I think this is Wilde's most forgettable play.  Other than "Nothing succeeds like excess," there don't seem to be any memorable quotes.  Even the part where Lord Illingworth says, "All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy," and Mrs. Allonby replies, "No man does. That is his," is improved when Algernon gets both lines in The Importance of Being Earnest.  The funniest thing about this play is Lytton Strachey's 1907 interpretation, well, funny in a horrible way.  He sees Lord Illingworth's intentions towards his secretary as incestuous.  "Oh! he’s a very wicked Lord!"