Tara+&+Rebecca



Title: The Importance of Being Earnest Author: Oscar Wilde Setting: 1890's London/Hertfordshire (rural country)

Characters: -Jack (Ernest) Worthing: protagonist, known as Jack in the country, Ernest in town -Algernon Moncrieff: Jack's best friend, Lady Bracknell's nephew, Gwendolen's cousin -Lady Bracknell: Gwendolen's mother, Algernon's aunt -Gwendolen: Lady Bracknell's daughter, Algernon's cousin, Jack's love interest -Cecily: Jack's ward, Algernon's love interest -Miss Prism: Cecily's governess -Dr. Chasuble: local reverend

Summary: The play describes the adventures of Jack Worthing, the protagonist, as he attempts to live a double life. At his home in the country, he is known as Jack Worthing. Jack was adopted as a baby by Thomas Carew after being found at a train station, left in a handbag. When Thomas died, he named Jack guardian to his niece, Cecily. Jack has pretended for years to have a brother named Ernest, who lives in town and gets in trouble a lot, requiring frequent visits from Jack to get him out of trouble. In reality, his nonexistent brother is just Jack’s excuse to go to town to visit his love, Gwendolen, his best friend Algernon Moncrieff’s cousin. In the beginning of the play, Jack informs Algernon of his plans to propose to Gwendolen. Before Algernon can give his consent, he confronts Jack about his charade. He asks Jack about an inscription in his cigarette case, which Algernon has discovered. The inscription was directed to “Uncle Jack” from “little Cecily”. He asks Jack who Cecily is, and why she refers to him as Jack. Jack confesses that his name is not actually Ernest, and explains his secret life, which Algernon refers to as “Bunburying”. This term is based on the act of pretending to have an acquaintance that provides an excuse to leave whenever necessary, without explanation, such as Algernon’s own made-up friend, Bunbury. However, Jack admits to Algernon that he has been considering killing Ernest off because Cecily has taken too much interest in him. When Algernon’s aunt, Lady Bracknell arrives with her daughter Gwendolen, Algernon escorts her to the music room, so his friend can be alone with his cousin. Jack begins to tell Gwendolen his feelings, and she responds that she feels the same way. Jack proposes and Gwendolen eagerly accepts, confessing her secret desire to only marry a man named Ernest. When Lady Bracknell returns, she interviews Jack to determine his eligibility to marry Cecily. Once she finds out about Jack’s family history, however, she immediately declines permission and leaves the house in a hurry. As the play progresses, Algernon decides to take a trip to Jack’s country home, masquerading as his brother Ernest. Shortly after, Jack arrives in mourning over the death of his brother. He is enraged to find Algernon there, yet he is forced not to out him, in order to avoid being caught in his lies. By the time Jack arrives, Algernon has already fallen in love with Cecily, and decides to propose to her. When he does so, he is surprised to find that Cecily has already considered herself engaged to him, as she has been fantasizing a romance about Jack’s brother Ernest ever since she first heard of him. She then confesses her own need to only marry a man by the name of Ernest, just as Gwendolen had done. Algernon and Jack both decide to go in search of the local reverend, Dr. Chasuble, to see about getting their names changed to Ernest. Meanwhile, Gwendolen arrives in the country to surprise Jack, and ends up running into Cecily. The two women begin talking, and both become very confused to find out they are both engaged to a Mr. Ernest Worthing. As they dispute, the two men arrive, and the girls discover both men have been lying. In a rage, they both depart. Later, the scene moves to the drawing room where Cecily and Gwendolen have gone. Jack and Algernon show up, and the women confront them about their lies. Algernon tells Cecily he pretended to be Jack’s brother in order to meet her, and Gwendolyn decides Jack used his false identity to visit her as often as possible. Both women feel mostly satisfied, yet they are still troubled over the name issue. Once the men tell them about the name changing ceremony they have planned, everything is settled. Just then, Lady Bracknell arrives and Algernon informs her of his decision to marry Cecily. She interviews Cecily and approves, but Jack says he will not allow her to marry Algernon, unless Lady Bracknell agrees to the marriage between himself and Gwendolen. Lady Bracknell refuses the ultimatum. Then, Dr. Chasuble arrives, mentioning Miss Prism, who Lady Bracknell insists they send for. When Miss Prism arrives and sees Lady Bracknell, she begins to look guilty and uncomfortable. Lady Bracknell accuses Miss Prism of having left twenty-eight years ago with a baby and never returned, and demands an explanation. Miss Prism then explains her mistake of accidentally switching the baby with her novel by placing the novel in the baby carriage, and the baby in her handbag, which she left at a train station. Jack pieces things together, and realizes he was the baby. He mistakes Miss Prism as being his mother, and begins to rejoice upon finding his parent. However, Miss Prism looks to Lady Bracknell to tell him the truth. Lady Bracknell explains that Jack was her sister’s baby, making Jack Algernon’s older brother. This discovery allows the party to realize that Jack is not actually Jack’s name. They decide he would have been named after his father, which turns out to be Ernest John. Therefore, Jack has actually been telling the truth his entire life. The couples embrace as they realize they can now be married.

Themes: Challenges in relationships-> fulfilling eachother's desires Idea of marriage-> business vs. pleasure Importance of social status

Motifs, Symbols, Literary Devices: Puns-> "earnest" Irony foreshadowing-> Jack's adoption, later revealing his family foil-> Gwendolyn/Cecily satire hypocrisy paradox

critical essay: http://www.theatredatabase.com/19th_century/oscar_wilde_004.html