In this chapter from his book, Beerbohm appraises The Importance of Being Earnest, finding it to be that rare play that stands the test of time and continues to appeal to audiences of numerous generations
Of a play representing actual life there can be, I think, no test more severe than its revival after seven or eight years of abeyance. For that period is enough to make it untrue to the surface of the present, yet not enough to enable us to unswitch it from the present. How seldom is the test passed! There is a better chance, naturally, for plays that weave life into fantastic forms; but even for them not a very good chance; for the fashion in fantasy itself changes.
Fashions form a cycle, and we, steadily moving in that cycle, are farther.....
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