In this delightful comedy, Jack, who calls himself Earnest, has come to town to see Algernon, cousin to Jack''s true love,
Gwendolyn. Algy''s aunt shows up, and he distracts his aunt long enough for Jack (called Earnest) to propose to Gwendolyn and be accepted. She goes on about how much she loves the name Earnest. When her mother returns and finds Jack and she are
engaged, she inquires about his means of support, possessions, habits, politics, and family--but he can''t answer her satisfactorily about that, as he was found in a leather handbag and adopted by Mr. Carew, when that man was give said luggage in mistake for his own.
Act Two opens at Jack''s country house. His sweet young ward, Cecily, is talking with her tutor about her lessons. The pastor comes by, and he and Miss Prism, the tutor, go for a walk. While they are away, Algernon, Gwendolyn''s cousin, arrives, pretending to be Earnest, and talks to Cecily. They fall in love and become engaged. She thinks he is Jack''s younger brother, Earnest (and she loves the name). Gwendolyn shows up and they get on beautifully until they both claim to be engaged to Earnest--and then things get nasty; but when Jack and Algernon, respectively, enter the room, and the
discovery of their real names and relationships occurs, the girls decide they aren''t engaged to anyone and embrace as sisters. The girls talk to each other, ask why the men deceived them, like their answers and forgive them. then Lady Bracknell shows up to bring Gwendolyn home. She finds Algernon engaged to Cecily (who is a very wealthy heiress, and she wants him to marry her)--but Jack, as Cecily''s guardian, refuses to let his ward marry unless he gets to marry Gwendolyn, a union Lady Bracknell still opposes. Miss Prism comes back, however, and all is revealed. It turns out SHE left Jack in the handbag at the train station. He is actually Algernon''s older brother--and his real name is Earnest John Moncrieff. All the obstacles to everyone''s happiness are removed (including those of the curate and Miss Prism), and all ends joyfully.
This witty, exciting, and thoroughly delightful play is one of the funniest comedies imaginable; one can read it many times with enjoyment. On one level it is a Comedy of Discovery, a type and theme that has been a popular standby for playwrights since the Greek and Roman classical comedic theater. On another, it is a deep commentary on the shallowness of society and particularly, of Society. On another level, it speaks to the dilemma of people who speak the truth, thinking they are lying, and of the duality of truth and illusion. Jack''s unconscious speaking of the essential truth of his situation, while thinking he was deceiving others, hypocritically, leads one to wonder about the truth and lies in one''s own life, and whether the truth often creeps out in spite of our conscious intentions and/or resistance to it.