In The Speaker , A. B. Walkley admired the play and was one of few to see it as the culmination of Wilde 's dramatic career . He denied the term " farce " was derogatory , or even lacking in seriousness , and said " It is of nonsense all compact , and better nonsense , I think , our stage have not seen . " H. G. Wells , in an unsigned review for the Pall Mall Gazette , called Earnest one of the freshest comedies of the year , saying " More humorous dealing with theatrical conventions it would be difficult to imagine . " He also questioned whether people would fully see its message , " ... how Serious People will take this Trivial Comedy intended for their learning remain to be seen . No doubt seriously . " The play was so light @-@ hearted that many reviewers compared it to comic opera rather than drama . W. H. Auden later called it " a pure verbal opera " , and The Times commented , " The story is almost too preposterous to go without music . " Mary McCarthy , in Sights and Spectacles ( 1959 ) , however , and despite thinking the play extremely funny , would call it " a ferocious idyll " ; " depravity is the hero and the only character . "