The Importance of Being Earnest

Roles

• Jack
• Worthing
• Gwendolen

About this piece

Jack proposes to Gwendolen

Summary

Lady Bracknell is Algernon's aunt and Gwendolen's mother. Algernon's friend, Jack Worthing (That Algernon knows as Ernest Worthing), comes to London to propose to Algernon's cousin Gwendolen. Algernon, however, finds out that his friend's real name is Jack, not Ernest and demands an explanation. Jack confesses he leads a double life, Jack in the countryside and "Ernest" in the city. He tells his ward, Cecily, that he has a sick brother in the city by the name of Ernest that requires constant attention. Algernon confesses he engages in a similar deception, telling his family that he has an invalid friend in the countryside by the name of "Bunbury", and goes to "visit" him when he needs to get away. In this funny scene while Lady Bracknell, Gwendolen's mother, is distracted by Algernon, Jack takes the opportunity to propose to Gwendolen. The comic aspect comes out when Gwendolen confesses that she has been in love with him for a while, the main reason she explains, because his name is Ernest...

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