I just want to preface by saying that I love The Importance of Being Earnest! I’ve seen it onstage twice, seen the recent movie with Colin Firth, Rupert Everett, and Reece Witherspoon (which was quite good), and have directed scenes from it (once with middle school students!). The satirical themes, witty language, and amusing characters make Oscar Wilde’s play as fun to read as it is to see it performed.
First performed in 1895 in Victorian era London, the play focuses on satirizing the social conventions of the time period, such as marriage, and Wilde himself claimed that the play’s theme was “that we should treat all trivial things in life very seriously, and all serious things of life with a sincere and studied triviality.” The play focuses on two protagonists who each create a fake personality in order to escape from the dull and burdensome social obligations in their lives. However, things get confusing and mixed up when each man uses the name “Ernest Worthing” as his alias.
The play opens with Algernon Moncrieff, a lazy young gentleman, receiving his best friend who he only knows as Ernest Worthing. Ernest has come to London from his manor in the country to propose to Algy’s cousin Gwendolen, with who he is madly in love with. Algy, however, has discovered that Ernest’s real name is actually Jack, and that he has an 18 year old ward named Cecily, who lives with him in the country. Jack admits that he has created a fake brother named Ernest who he pretends to visit in the city to escape country life, and then pretends to go by the name “Ernest” when he stays in London. Algernon admits that he does a similar thing: he has created an invalid friend named Bunbury, whom he uses to get out of social obligations in the city. He tries to discover the whereabouts of Jack’s manor, but Jack refuses to tell him.
Gwendolen and her mother Lady Bracknell come to visit Algernon. As Algy distracts his aunt in another room, Jack proposes to Gwendolen. She accepts, but it seems that she is more in love with the name “Ernest”; Jack decides that he will rechristen himself “Ernest”. Jack and Gwendolen then tell Lady Bracknell of their engagement. Lady Bracknell interrogates Jack to see if he is a worthy suitor for her daughter, and everything seems to be fine until she learns that Jack was adopted after being found in a handbag at Victoria Station. She informs Gwendolen that she is no longer to have any contact with Jack; however, Gwendolen sneaks back and is able to procure Jack’s address in the country. Algy, overhearing their conversation, writes down Jack’s address and secretly makes plans to visit the manor, knowing that Jack will still be in London for a week.
Act 2 begins at Jack’s manor in the country. Cecily is studying with her governess Miss Prism. Algernon appears pretending to be Jack’s brother Ernest, and Cecily quickly falls in love with him, having previously created a relationship with “Ernest” in her mind. She too, is mostly in love with the name “Ernest”, and Algy also decides to change his name to “Ernest”. Jack then arrives in mourning clothes to announce the death of his “brother”, and is shocked and furious when he discovers Algernon there pretending to be “Ernest”. Gwendolen arrives at the manor having run away from home, and meets Cecily. They both claim to be engaged to “Ernest Worthing” and look ready to start a fight, but then Jack and Algernon enter and the women realize that they’ve been tricked. The tables turn as the women unite together against the men who have lied to them.
At the beginning of Act 3, Gwendolen and Cecily have decided to forgive the men, provided they change their names to Ernest. Lady Bracknell arrives in pursuit of her daughter. She is horrified to learn of Algernon’s engagement to Cecily, but quickly changes her mind once she learns about Cecily’s trust fund. However, Jack informs her that Cecily cannot get married without his consent, and he refuses to give it until Lady Bracknell allows him and Gwendolen to marry. Everyone is at a standstill until Miss Prism arrives. Lady Bracknell recognizes Miss Prism as a former nursemaid, and asks her where the baby is that she had been watching twenty-eight years ago; Miss Prism took the baby for a walk one day and never returned. Miss Prism explains that she distractedly put the manuscript of a novel she was writing in the stroller, and the baby in a handbag, which she left at Victoria Station. Jack immediately sees the correlation and fetches the handbag he was found in. Miss Prism tells him it is the same handbag, and Lady Bracknell reveals that Jack is her sister’s first born son, and therefore Algernon’s older brother. Jack is thrilled to learn that he has a family and can now marry Gwendolen, but wants to know what his true name is. Lady Bracknell tells him that he was named after his father, who is revealed to be General Ernest Moncrieff. Everyone can now get married, and Jack (now Ernest) tells Lady Bracknell that "I've now realised for the first time in my life the vital Importance of being Earnest".
I enjoyed reading The Importance of Being Earnest again. It is a very light play, and the characters are not deep or particularly influential. Still, the play is well written and if done right, very enjoyable to watch onstage. I look forward to reading more Oscar Wilde after this!
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