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The Importance Of Being Earnest, By Oscar Wilde

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The Importance Of Being Earnest, By Oscar Wilde
What good does always being earnest do you if you are not "Ernest"? Oscar Wilde's play, "The Importance of Being Earnest", explores exactly this notion, following two men who readily abandon their namesakes in order to win the affections of their respective fair ladies. The play opens in London with a conversation held between these two men, Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff. However, at the play's origin, Algernon only knows his friend as "Ernest". This rapidly changes with the aid of a cigarette case Algernon has recovered, which is inscribed to an "Uncle Jack" from "little Cecily". Jack insists that the case is his, and thus, it is brought to light that Jack utilizes an alter-ego by the name of "Ernest" as a means of escape from the …show more content…
Jack plans to kill off his pretend brother "Ernest" that has allowed him to run away to the city. Gwendolen and Lady Bracknell -- Gwendolen's mother and Algernon's aunt -- arrive, Jack gets Gwendolen alone for his proposal, and Gwendolen accepts him. However, Gwendolen is fixated on Jack's name, which she believes not to be "Jack", but "Ernest". This is emphasized numerous times, such as when Gwendolen says in the first scene of the first act, "…my ideal has always been to love someone of the name of Ernest. There is something in that name that inspires absolute confidence. The moment Algernon mentioned to me that he had a friend called Ernest, I knew I was destined to love you". This, understandably, put Jack ill at …show more content…
Chasuble, the man set to christen both Jack and Algernon, arrives, and mentioned Cecily's governess. Lady Bracknell recognizes the name and demands that the governess be called to her. Evidently, the governess had left Lady Bracknell's sister with a baby, never to return. Lady Bracknell demanded to know the whereabouts of the child, but the governess was ignorant to them. She claimed that she had mistakenly placed the baby in a handbag that she left at the railway station. It is soon uncovered that Jack, having already mentioned that he had been found in a handbag, was this baby. Jack's true origins are in none other than the Bracknell family, being the child of Lady Bracknell's sister and also the older brother of Algernon. His true name, of all things, happens to be "Ernest". Unbeknownst to him, Jack has been telling the truth all along. His name truthfully is Earnest, and he does in fact, have a slightly scandalous younger
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