On the surface the most delightful of light comedies, The Importance of Being Earnest started Oscar Wilde’s fall into darkness. As the play opened – on Valentine’s Day, 1895 – the writer was unable to attend his premiere, having been tipped off that an ill-wisher planned to present him with a bouquet of rotten vegetables at curtain-fall. That stinking gift was part of the legal dispute that would lead to Wilde foolishly suing for the imputation of homosexuality, resulting in jail, ruin and the cancellation of a play now overshadowed by disgrace.In time, the play has become a staple of the respectable English repertoire, although increasing knowledge of the dramatist’s biography encouraged us to see the comedy as less innocent than it at first appeared. Writte