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John (Jack/Ernest) Worthing, J.P.
- The play’s protagonist. Jack Worthing is a seemingly responsible and respectable young man who leads a double life. In Hertfordshire, where he has a country estate, Jack is known as Jack. In London he is known as Ernest. As a baby, Jack was discovered in a handbag in the cloakroom of Victoria Station by an old man who adopted him and subsequently made Jack guardian to his granddaughter, Cecily Cardew. Jack is in love with his friend Algernon’s cousin, Gwendolen Fairfax. The initials after his name indicate that he is a
Justice of the Peace.
Algernon Moncrieff - The play’s secondary hero. Algernon is a charming, idle, decorative bachelor, nephew of Lady Bracknell, cousin of Gwendolen Fairfax, and best friend of Jack
Worthing, whom he has known for years as Ernest. Algernon is brilliant, witty, selfish, amoral, and given to making delightful paradoxical and epigrammatic pronouncements. He has invented a fictional friend, “Bunbury,” an invalid whose frequent sudden relapses allow Algernon to wriggle out of unpleasant or dull social obligations.
Gwendolen Fairfax - Algernon’s cousin and Lady Bracknell’s daughter. Gwendolen is in love with Jack, whom she knows as Ernest. A model and arbiter of high fashion and society,
Gwendolen speaks with unassailable authority on matters of taste and morality. She is sophisticated, intellectual, cosmopolitan, and utterly pretentious. Gwendolen is fixated on the name Ernest and says she will not marry a man without that name.
Cecily Cardew - Jack’s ward, the granddaughter of the old gentlemen who found and adopted
Jack when Jack was a baby. Cecily is probably the most realistically drawn character in the play.
Like Gwendolen, she is obsessed with the name Ernest, but she is even more intrigued by the idea of wickedness. This idea, rather than the virtuous-sounding name, has prompted her to fall in love with Jack’s brother Ernest in her imagination and to invent an elaborate romance and courtship between them.
Lady Bracknell - Algernon’s snobbish, mercenary, and domineering aunt and Gwendolen’s mother. Lady Bracknell married well, and her primary goal in life is to see her daughter do the same. She has a list of “eligible young men” and a prepared interview she gives to potential suitors. Like her nephew, Lady Bracknell is given to making hilarious pronouncements, but where Algernon means to be witty, the humor in Lady Bracknell’s speeches is unintentional.
Through the figure of Lady Bracknell, Wilde manages to satirize the hypocrisy and stupidity of the British aristocracy. Lady Bracknell values ignorance, which she sees as “a delicate exotic fruit.” When she gives a dinner party, she prefers her husband to eat downstairs with the servants. She is cunning, narrow-minded, authoritarian, and possibly the most quotable character in the play.
Miss Prism - Cecily’s governess. Miss Prism is an endless source of pedantic bromides and clichés. She highly approves of Jack’s presumed respectability and harshly criticizes his
“unfortunate” brother. Puritan though she is, Miss Prism’s severe pronouncements have a way of going so far over the top that they inspire laughter. Despite her rigidity, Miss Prism seems to
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have a softer side. She speaks of having once written a novel whose manuscript was “lost” or
“abandoned.” Also, she entertains romantic feelings for Dr. Chasuble.
Rev. Canon Chasuble, D.D.
- The rector on Jack’s estate. Both Jack and Algernon approach
Dr. Chasuble to request that they be christened “Ernest.” Dr. Chasuble entertains secret romantic feelings for Miss Prism. The initials after his name stand for “Doctor of Divinity.”
Lane - Algernon’s manservant. When the play opens, Lane is the only person who knows about
Algernon’s practice of “Bunburying.” Lane appears only in Act I.
Merriman - The butler at the Manor House, Jack’s estate in the country. Merriman appears only in Acts II and III.
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The play begins in the flat of wealthy Algernon Moncrieff (Algy) in London's fashionable West
End. Algernon's aunt (Lady Bracknell) and her daughter (Gwendolen Fairfax) are coming for a visit, but Mr. Jack Worthing (a friend of Algy's) arrives first. Algernon finds it curious that Jack has announced himself as "Ernest." When Jack explains that he plans to propose marriage to
Gwendolen, Algy demands to know why Jack has a cigarette case with the inscription, "From little Cecily with her fondest love." Jack explains that his real name is Jack Worthing, squire, in the country, but he assumes the name "Ernest" when he ventures to the city for fun. Cecily is his ward. While devouring all the cucumber sandwiches, Algernon confesses that he, too, employs deception when it's convenient. He visits an imaginary invalid friend named Bunbury when he needs an excuse to leave the city.
Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen arrive. Algernon explains that he cannot attend Lady Bracknell's reception because he must visit his invalid friend, Bunbury, but he offers to arrange the music for her party. While Algernon distracts Lady Bracknell in another room, Jack proposes to
Gwendolen. Unfortunately, she explains that she really wants to marry someone named Ernest because it sounds so solidly aristocratic. However, she accepts his proposal, and he makes a mental note to be rechristened Ernest. Lady Bracknell returns and refutes the engagement. She interrogates Jack and finds him lacking in social status. On her way out, Lady Bracknell tells
Jack that he must find some acceptable parents. Gwendolen returns for Jack's address in the country. Algernon overhears and writes the address on his shirt cuff. He is curious about Cecily and decides to go "bunburying" in the country.
In the second act, the scene shifts to Jack Worthing's country estate where Miss Prism, Cecily
Cardew's governess, is teaching Cecily in the garden. Miss Prism sings Jack's praises as a sensible and responsible man, unlike his brother Ernest, who is wicked and has a weak character.
She teaches Cecily that good people end happily, and bad people end unhappily, according to the romantic novel Miss Prism wrote when she was young. The local vicar, Canon Chasuble, arrives and, sensing an opportunity for romance, takes Miss Prism for a walk in the garden. While they are gone, Algy shows up pretending to be Jack's wicked brother Ernest. He is overcome by
Cecily's beauty. Determined to learn more about Cecily while Jack is absent, Algernon plans to stay for the weekend, then make a fast getaway before Jack arrives on Monday. However, Jack returns early in mourning clothes claiming that his brother Ernest has died in Paris. He is shocked to find Algy there posing as Ernest. He orders a dogcart — a small horse-drawn carriage
— to send Algy back to London, but it is too late. Algernon is in love with Cecily and plans to stay there. When Jack goes out, Algernon proposes to Cecily, who gets out a diary and letters that she has already written, explaining that she had already imagined their engagement. She has always wanted to marry someone named Ernest, so Algy, like Jack, needs to arrange a rechristening.
Just when it seems that Jack and Algernon couldn't get into worse trouble, Gwendolen arrives, pursuing Jack, and discovers that his ward, Cecily, is unpleasantly beautiful. In conversation, they discover that they are both engaged to Ernest Worthing. A battle follows, cleverly carried out during the British tea ceremony. The situation is tense. Jack and Algernon arrive, and, in attempting to straighten out the Ernest problem, they alienate both women. The two men follow,
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explaining that they are going to be rechristened Ernest, and the women relent and agree to stay engaged.
Lady Bracknell shows up demanding an explanation for the couples' plans. When she discovers the extent of Cecily's fortune, she gives her consent to her engagement to Algernon; however,
Jack's parentage is still a stumbling block to her blessings. Jack tells Lady Bracknell that he will not agree to Cecily's engagement until she is of age (35) unless he can marry Gwendolen. Dr.
Chasuble arrives and announces that all is ready for the christenings. Jack explains that the christenings will no longer be necessary. Noting that Jack's present concerns are secular, the minister states that he will return to the church where Miss Prism is waiting to see him. Shocked at hearing the name "Prism," Lady Bracknell immediately calls for Prism and reveals her as the governess who lost Lady Bracknell's nephew 28 years earlier on a walk with the baby carriage.
She demands to know where the baby is. Miss Prism explains that in a moment of distraction she placed the baby in her handbag and left him in Victoria Station, confusing him with her threevolume novel, which was placed in the baby carriage. After Jack asks for details, he quickly runs to his room and retrieves the handbag. Miss Prism identifies it, and Lady Bracknell reveals that
Jack is Algernon's older brother, son of Ernest John Moncrieff, who died years ago in India. Jack now truly is Ernest, and Algernon/Cecily, Jack/Gwendolen, and Chasuble/Prism fall into each others' arms as Jack realizes the importance of being earnest.
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Name _____________________________________________ Period ________
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde: Viewing Quiz #1
1. When we first meet Algernon, he is escaping from ______________________________.
2. Algernon becomes curious about Cecily when he finds Jack’s _________________________.
3. Jack is in love with Gwendolen, and believes in ________________________________.
4. Ernest is the name of ______________________________________
5. Bunbury is the name of _____________________________________________.
6. According to Gwendolen, her attraction to Algernon began ___________________________.
7. When he goes to the Savoy Restaurant, one of Jack’s rules is
______________________________________.
8. When Lady Bracknell tells Jack that “a man should always have an occupation; there are
far too many idle men in London” she is speaking of his __________________________.
9. Where was Jack left as an infant? __________________________________________
10. Before he can marry Gwendolen, Lady Bracknell insists that Jack do what?
____________________________________________________________________
Drawing room comedy typically features wit and verbal banter among wealthy, leisured, genteel, upper class characters. Drawing room comedy is also sometimes called “comedy of manners.”
On the back of this paper, explain how wit or verbal banter adds humor to the movie.
Give at least two examples and include exact quotes if possible. You may want to use the space below to take notes as you watch the movie.
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Name _____________________________________________ Period ________
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde: Viewing Quiz #2
1. When Algernon first meets Cecily, he claims to be _____________________________.
2. When Jack arrives, he says that he is in mourning for ___________________________.
3. Gwendolen shows her love for Ernest by doing what?
________________________________________________
4. Jack agrees to pay the bill collectors on what condition?
_____________________________________________________________________
5. What was unusual about the love letters that Cecily has from Algernon?
_____________________________________________________________________
6. When Ms. Prism was younger, she wrote __________________________________.
7. What does Cecily frequently daydream about? ________________________________
8. When Gwendolen arrives, she discovers that both she and Cecily are engaged to
___________________________________________.
9. In order to insult her host, Gwendolen insists that what is out of fashion?
______________________________________
10. What do the ladies discover about their men that threatens each of their
relationships?
_____________________________________________________________________
The character Bunbury is never seen in the movie and in fact doesn’t exist, yet he is important to our understanding of Algernon’s character.
Explain how Bunbury contributes to the humor of the movie and what he reveals about Algernon.
Write your response on the back of this paper. You may want to use the space below to take notes on Bunbury as you watch the movie.
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Name _____________________________________________ Period ________
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde: Viewing Quiz #3
1. The person who accidentally abandoned Jack turns out to be
_______________________________________________________
2. At what age does Cecily become independent from Jack? ________________
3. Cecily explains to Algernon that an engagement, to be serious, must be
________________________________________________
4. What do both Gwendolen and Cecily require of their husbands?
_________________________________________________________________
5. Lady Bracknell agrees to the marriage of Gwendolyn and Jack after
_______________________________________________________
6. Lady Brackness also agrees to the marriage of Cecily and Algernon when she learns of
_______________________________________________________
7. What do Algernon and Jack want Dr. Chasuble to do? _________________________
8. Miss Prism has a secret crush on ____________________________.
9. Who is Jack’s aunt? ____________________________________
10. When Jack finds his father’s name in the book of military men, he discovers
that his real name is __________________________________.
One of the issues that Oscar Wilde deals with in this play is the role of women in Victorian society. Select one of the female leads – Gwendolen, Cecily, or Miss Prism- and describe the character and what they represent. How does Wilde use humor in developing this character to comment on women’s roles in society?
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