How long does it take to read The Importance of Being Earnest?

About 1 h 50 min at 260 words per minute, assuming 275 words per page. At 30 minutes a day that is 4 days.

How many words is The Importance of Being Earnest?

Roughly 29,000 words, estimated from the median page count at 275 words per page. Open Library does not record word counts, so this is an estimate.

Book · by Oscar Wilde

How many pages is The Importance of Being Earnest?

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde has a median of 104 pages across 123 English-language print editions with a recorded page count; the middle half of editions run 85 to 130 pages.

Median pages

104

123 editions counted

Range

48–224

shortest to longest edition

Reading time

1.8h

at 260 wpm (fiction average)

Words (est.)

29k

at 275 words per page

How long will The Importance of Being Earnest take you?

Starts at the fiction average of 260 words per minute and 275 words per page. Move the slider to your own speed.

Reading speed 260 wpm

Page density

Reading time

1 h 50 min

At 30 min a day

4 days

At 1 hour a day

2 days

Page count of every edition, by year

Each dot is one English-language print edition. Shaded: middle half of editions. Line: median.

Open Library edition records (2026-09-30 dump). 1 edition without a publication year not plotted.

Editions counted

The 123 editions behind the figures above, newest first. 4 more editions were set aside because the page count was less than half or more than 2.2 times the median, which usually means an abridged text, an omnibus, or a typing error. Open Library lists 765 editions of this work in all languages and formats.

Year	Publisher	Format	Pages	Open Library
2022	Bloomsbury Publishing	–	128	OL33908743M
2021	Independently Published	–	101	OL34301710M
2021	Independently Published	–	102	OL34313753M
2021	Independently Published	–	101	OL34288001M
2021	Independently Published	–	97	OL34205363M
2021	Independently Published	–	72	OL34268399M
2021	Independently Published	–	101	OL34297328M
2021	Independently Published	–	101	OL34214512M
2021	Independently Published	–	104	OL34281529M
2021	Independently Published	–	101	OL34241693M
2021	Independently Published	–	101	OL34307022M
2021	Independently Published	–	101	OL34355052M
2021	Independently Published	–	101	OL34303891M
2021	Independently Published	–	101	OL34165129M
2021	Independently Published	–	101	OL34278818M
2021	Independently Published	–	101	OL34356620M
2021	Independently Published	–	101	OL34308710M
2021	Independently Published	–	97	OL34214046M
2021	Independently Published	–	101	OL34207928M
2021	Independently Published	–	101	OL34195709M
2021	Independently Published	–	101	OL34311736M
2020	Independently Published	–	123	OL30047456M
2020	Independently Published	–	104	OL29908447M
2020	Independently Published	–	123	OL29978136M
2020	Independently Published	–	123	OL29979620M
2020	Independently Published	–	64	OL30256478M
2020	Independently Published	–	101	OL34339975M
2020	Independently Published	–	106	OL29920757M
2020	Independently Published	–	69	OL29932465M
2020	Independently Published	–	123	OL30074001M
2020	Independently Published	–	123	OL30360889M
2020	Independently Published	–	64	OL30220255M
2020	Independently Published	–	108	OL30277573M
2020	Independently Published	–	154	OL29898087M
2020	Independently Published	–	123	OL29920868M
2017	Legend Press	–	76	OL29343576M
2017	Legend Press	–	76	OL29344579M
2016	Digireads.com	paperback	82	OL27704750M
2016	Bloomsbury Publishing Plc	–	160	OL34528933M
2016	Wisehouse Classics	–	74	OL37066133M
2016	Bloomsbury Publishing Plc	–	160	OL34528927M
2014	Lerner Publishing Group	–	86	OL29781465M
2014	Bloomsbury Publishing Plc	–	176	OL34473401M
2014	Classical Comics	–	136	OL28779690M
2014	First Avenue Editions	–	81	OL31180311M
2014	Lerner Publishing Group	–	86	OL29778366M
2014	Lerner Publishing Group	–	86	OL29781161M
2014	Lerner Publishing Group	–	89	OL29271634M
2013	Simon & Brown	paperback	144	OL27482891M
2013	1st World Publishing, Incorporated	–	116	OL37952554M
2012	Dover Publications, Incorporated	–	64	OL33995683M
2010	Broadview Press	–	224	OL27124000M
2010	Pearson Education, Limited	–	48	OL28458272M
2008	Lulu.com, Cambridge Reading Project LLC	–	106	OL26888963M
2006	Icon Reference	Paperback	168	OL7652786M
2006	ICON Reference	Paperback	124	OL9883771M
2006	www.ReadHowYouWant.com	Paperback	156	OL11858110M
2006	Prestwick House	–	75	OL26335724M
2006	ICON Reference	Paperback	128	OL9694914M
2005	W.W. Norton	–	224	OL3428286M
2005	Wildside Press, LLC	–	118	OL37943584M
2003	Anglo-Didacto	Paperback	197	OL13356790M
2000	Holt, Rinehart, and Winston	–	154	OL3971929M
2000	Greenhaven Press	Board book	190	OL7897663M
2000	Greenhaven Press	Board book	190	OL7897664M
1999	Cambridge University Press	–	126	OL6803114M
1998	Cideb	Paperback	160	OL22827786M
1997	La Spiga	–	93	OL26341991M
1996	Nick Hern Books	Paperback	94	OL8990233M
1993	Longman Group United Kingdom	Paperback	112	OL7879599M
1992	A & C Black	–	128	OL22928211M
1992	A & C Black	–	178	OL58878248M
1991	Longman	–	93	OL22625024M
1990	Orchises	–	151	OL2214222M
1990	Dover Publications	–	54	OL1876051M
1989	Methuen London	–	114	OL22276988M
1987	S. French	–	91	OL22906947M
1987	Vanguard Press	–	192	OL2719877M
1986	Orient Longman	–	108	OL22599832M
1983	Longman	–	86	OL2081454M
1981	B.E.S. Publishing	–	148	OL37958790M
1980	French	–	117	OL22368358M
1980	Heinemann	–	70	OL22779379M
1980	Benn	–	128	OL19821533M
1980	Routledge	–	73	OL7479491M
1973	Avon Books	–	73	OL22114852M
1972	FEMA	–	133	OL5453338M
1971	Franklin Watts Ltd	–	80	OL20408007M
1970	Samuel French	–	84	OL22564900M
1970	Heinemann Educational	–	83	OL5736187M
1969	Methuen	–	73	OL22337123M
1967	Heinemann	–	89	OL5601182M
1966	Methuen	–	73	OL5587696M
1966	Methuen	–	73	OL22391109M
1965	Avon Books, c1965]	–	158	OL13535554M
1965	Avon Books	–	158	OL24210555M
1965	The Avon Theatre Library	–	162	OL58878243M
1961	Chandler Pub. Co.	–	60	OL5826152M
1959	barron's educational series, inc.	–	158	OL58714968M
1959	Barron's Educational Series	–	148	OL5777183M
1957	Methuen	–	114	OL20783296M
1957	Methuen	–	114	OL6253455M
1957	Methuen	–	114	OL16052420M
1948	THE GREY WALLS PRESS	–	106	OL58878250M
1943	Anderson College Drama Dept.	–	66	OL58878257M
1940	Penguin Books	–	181	OL22834233M
1934	Österreichischer Bundesverlag	–	64	OL22989054M
1920	W.H. Baker	–	124	OL24637404M
1920	W.H. Baker	–	124	OL24929372M
1920	W.H. Baker	–	124	OL24831778M
1919	–	–	194	OL58702216M
1915	Methuen	–	181	OL7026401M
1910	B. Tauchnitz	–	122	OL58887429M
1909	Methuen	–	181	OL16393041M
1908	Methuen and Co.	–	187	OL22565117M
1900	Four Seas Co.	–	91	OL22171402M
1899	L. Smithers	–	151	OL6006937M
1895	S. French	–	71	OL24971437M
1895	S. French	–	71	OL24953263M
1895	S. French	–	71	OL38631009M
1893	Samuel French	–	52	OL22835903M
1893	S. French	–	52	OL22171391M
–	Samuel French	–	52	OL23125714M

More by Oscar Wilde

All 6 books by Oscar Wilde with page counts

Questions

How many pages is The Importance of Being Earnest?: About 104 pages: that is the median of 123 English-language print editions on Open Library. Editions range from 48 to 224 pages.
How long does it take to read The Importance of Being Earnest?: About 1 h 50 min at 260 words per minute, assuming 275 words per page. At 30 minutes a day that is 4 days.
How many words is The Importance of Being Earnest?: Roughly 29,000 words, estimated from the median page count at 275 words per page. Open Library does not record word counts, so this is an estimate.

Data: Open Library monthly data dumps (works, editions, authors, reading log, ratings) (Open Library / Internet Archive); How many words do we read per minute? A review and meta-analysis of reading rate (Marc Brysbaert, Journal of Memory and Language 109 (2019)).