The Importance of

Being Earnest
the social conventions of a complex age

Lucrezia Pugliano, VE
 Art for art’s sake

Aestheticism
 The author
• Oscar Wilde was born in 1854 in Dublin, Ireland.
• He attended Trinity College and took a scolarship
to Oxford, where he developed his views and self-
expression influenced by Mahaffy, Pater and
Ruskin.
• His fame started to rise in London, where he
married Constance Lloyd in 1882.
• In 1895 was arrested because of his relationship
with fellow poet Alfred Douglas.
• After two years of hard labour and three years
wandering through Europe, he died in a hotel in
Paris.
 Notable works
• The Picture of Dorian Grey
• Salomé
• An Ideal Husband
• The Canterville Ghost
• The Happy Prince and Other Tales
• De Profundis
The
«Dandy»
 Plot – Act I
Algernon Moncrieff, a young London gentleman, is receiving his childhood friend Ernest, who has
the intention to propose to his cousin Gwendolen. Because of a cigarette case, Algernon discovers a
strange truth: Ernest is not the real name of his friend. Confronted, “Ernest” admits to live a double
life. In the countryside, he assumes a serious attitude to maintain his ward’s (Cecile) reputation
intact and goes by the name of Jack, while pretending that he has a brother named Ernest in
London.

Later, Jack proposes to Gwendolen. She accepts, but seems to love him just because of his name,
Ernest. Lady Bracknell (Gwendolen’s mom) asks Jack about his life and is horrified to learn that he
was adopted after being discovered as a baby in a handbag. She then forbids any contact with her
daughter, but Gwendolen and Jack do not give up on each other and he tells his lover his
countryside location.
 Plot – Act II
Cecily, Jack’s ward, is fascinated by Algernon, who is pretending to be
Ernest Worthing. Although she is not meant to fall for his uncle’s black
sheep brother, she’s also particularly charmed by the name Ernest, just
like Gwendolen.
Meanwhile, Jack has decided to abandon his double life. He arrives in
mourning and announces his brother's death.
Gwendolen soon enters the house, after running away from home, and
she meets Cecily there. The two women are both declaring they’re
engaged to Ernest. When Jack and Algernon reappear, they can’t hide
their tricks anymore.
 Plot – Act III
Lady Bracknell, searching for her daughter, is told that Algernon and Cecily are
engaged. She accepts the engagement, but the marriage is forbidden by Jack that
will consent only if Lady Bracknell agrees to his union with Gwendolen.
Miss Prism, Cecily’s governess, is recognized by Lady Bracknell as the person
who had taken a baby boy for a walk and never returned. Miss Prism explains that
she had put the baby in a handbag. Soon Jack is proven to be the lost baby, the
elder son of Lady Bracknell's late sister, and thus Algernon's elder brother. It is
finally proven he is an acceptable suitor for Gwendolen.
Gwendolen, however, insists she can love only a man named Ernest. Lady
Bracknell informs Jack that, as the first-born, he would have been named after his
father, General Ernest Moncrieff.
 The title
«The Importance of Being Earnest» has a double
meaning.

Ernest = name

earnest = serious and determined, especially too serious
 and unable to find your own actions funny (Oxford
Dictionary)
 Themes
Morals in the Victorian Society: culture clash between
city and countryside, use of social lie and freedom.
Parody of romantic love: the women are infatuated not
because of their lovers’ personality, but because of their
name.
 "My nephew, you seem to be
displaying signs of triviality." "On the
contrary, Aunt Augusta", he replies,
"I've now realised for the first time in
my life the vital importance of being
Earnest."