The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest, a comedy, is Oscar Wilde’s final play. It premiered at St. James’ Theatre in London on February 14, 1895 and skewered the contemporary habits and attitudes of the British aristocracy. The opening was hugely successful, but Wilde’s ongoing conflict with the Marquess of Queensberry, his lover’s powerful father, led the play to close prematurely after Wilde was charged with “gross indecency” for having sex with men. Despite this setback, The Importance of Being Earnest was almost immediately revived and has become Wilde’s most celebrated play. Three major screen adaptations have been produced: in 1952 by Anthony Asquith; in 1992 by Kurt Baker with an all-Black cast; and again in 2002 with Colin Firth, Judi Dench, and Reese Witherspoon in starring roles. The citations in this guide refer to the Samuel French edition used by most theater groups.

Plot Summary

The play centers upon two young men, Algernon Moncrieff and Jack “Ernest” Worthing, and the farcical misunderstandings that trip up their respective courtships. When “Ernest” asks Algernon for permission to propose to Algernon’s cousin Gwendolen Fairfax, Algernon demands to know why his friend’s cigarette case has an engraving addressed to “Uncle Jack.” Jack has been living a double life, going by the name Ernest in London and by his legal name in the country. There, he is the guardian to Cecily Cardew, a young heiress, and must maintain his reputation with her as an upstanding, sober man. Jack pretends that he has a dissolute brother named Ernest whom he must visit in London frequently. By using an alias in London, he also manages to displace any negative gossip about himself onto his fictional brother. Algernon explains to Jack that he has done something similar by inventing a perpetually sick friend named Bunbury whose frequent illnesses serve as an excuse to avoid social obligations.

Algernon’s aunt Augusta (Lady Bracknell) and his cousin Gwendolen (Miss Fairfax) enter the room. While Algernon distracts Lady Bracknell offstage, Jack proposes to Gwendolen, who tells him that she has always longed to marry someone named Ernest and accepts. When Jack asks how she would feel if his name were Jack instead, she says she would not love him; and he resolves to be rechristened under the name Ernest.

Algernon reenters with Lady Bracknell who does not accept Jack and Gwendolen’s engagement and interrogates Jack about his background. She is mostly pleased with his answers until she discovers that he does not know his parents and was discovered in a handbag in the cloakroom at London’s Victoria Station. She storms off in a huff. Jack manages to pass on his country address to Gwendolen, but Algernon discovers the address as well.

The location changes to the garden at Jack’s country estate on a sunny July day where Cecily is studying with her governess, Miss Prism. Dr. Chasuble, the local church canon, enters and chats with Miss Prism. They are clearly attracted to one another, and Dr. Chasuble invites Miss Prism to accompany him on an evening walk. Cecily is by herself when Algernon arrives unexpectedly and introduces himself as Ernest. He pretends to be Jack’s rakish younger brother and soon charms Cecily.

Algernon and Cecily enter the house as Miss Prism and Dr. Chasuble return. Jack soon joins wearing a black suit. He is pretending that his brother Ernest has died and he is in mourning, not realizing that Algernon has arrived pretending to be Ernest. Jack arranges for Dr. Chasuble to christen him later that afternoon. Cecily and Algernon emerge from the house, catching Jack in his lie about the death of his brother. When they are alone, Jack confronts Algernon and demands that he leave. Algernon and Cecily instead conspire to make Algernon miss his train, and Algernon proposes to her. She accepts, having fallen in love with the wicked behavior of both “Ernests.” Algernon now discovers that Cecily, like Gwendolen, would not love him if his name were not Ernest.

Cecily is left alone again by the time Gwendolen arrives unannounced. Cecily welcomes Gwendolen, and the two have a mutual liking until they realize that they are both engaged to a man named “Ernest,” thinking it is the same person. Jack and Algernon soon appear and must admit to their deception.

Jack and Algernon mollify their fiancés by promising to both be rechristened as Ernest. Lady Bracknell suddenly appears and refuses to allow Algernon to marry a woman she knows only as Jack’s ward. Her objections disappear when Jack tells her that she is enormously wealthy. Jack, however, refuses to give permission for the marriage unless he is permitted to marry Gwendolen.

When Dr. Chasuble mentions Miss Prism in front of Lady Bracknell, she demands to see her. Miss Prism is an old servant of hers who misplaced her infant nephew twenty-eight years earlier. Jack fetches the handbag in which he was discovered, and it is proved that he is the infant nephew in question. Jack is the son of Lady Bracknell’s sister and, therefore, Algernon’s older brother. Jack was to have been named for his father, so he checks the old Army lists and finds that his father’s name was Ernest. Lady Bracknell gives permission for Jack and Gwendolen to marry, and Jack gives permission for Algernon and Cecily to do the same. The play ends with three couples embracing: Algernon and Cecily, Jack and Gwendolen, and Dr. Chasuble and Miss Prism.