The Importance of Being Earnest…. A three to four-act play on the seriousness of society written by Oscar Wilde and was first performed for the public in the late 1890s in London.
Set during the late Victorian era, its primary source of humor is based upon the main character Jack’s fictitious younger
brother named Ernest and how Jack and Algernon tried to name Ernest in order to attain their goals – the girls that they
love.
Algernon, Alger to his family and friends, is a young Londoner who pretends to have a friend in the
country that he always visits whenever he wants to avoid an unwelcome social obligation. His real-life best friend named Jack, on the other hand, lives in the country but makes frequent visit to London.
Jack wishes to marry Alger’s cousin Gwendolen who seems to love him only because she believes his name is Ernest, which she thinks is the most beautiful name in the world. Unfortunately, Gwendolen’s mother Lady Bracknell does not approve of the marriage especially when she learned that Jack was adopted as a baby after being discovered in a handbag at the railway station. For her, this is absolutely below the standards for her daughter to marry.
Alger, on the other hand, decided to visit Jack’s house in the country when he learned that Jack assumes a more serious attitude for the benefit of his young ward, the eighteen-year old heiress Cecily. He got so appealed with Cecily’s description that he resolves to
meet her in spite of Jack’s opposition. He disguised himself as Jack’s brother, Ernest, to meet Cecily who has for some time imagined herself in love with Ernest – Jack’s non-existent brother. Surprisingly, Jack arrived in the country unscheduled announcing the tragic death of his brother Ernest to Cecily’ governess Miss Prism. Thus, by the time the two “brothers” meet, one is dressed in mourning for the other.
More confusion was created when Gwendolen fled London and her mother to be with her love. When she and Cecily meet for the first time, each resentfully insists that she is the one engaged to “Ernest.” The arrival of Lady Bracknell in pursuit of her daughter created a stalemate between her and Jack as she still refuses to approve his marriage to Gwendolen while he denies his consent to the marriage of his penniless nephew Algernon to Cecily. This was broken with the reappearance of Miss Prism as she and Lady Bracknell recognize each other with horror. Miss Prism has worked previously as a nursemaid for Lady Bracknell’s sister and had accidentally lost a baby boy in a handbag. When Jack produces the identical handbag, it becomes clear that he is Lady Bracknell’s long lost nephew and Algernon’s older brother.
As an added bonus, Jack’s real name was named after hi father, Ernest.
More reviews about the The Importance of Being Earnest