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nscription on his cigarette case which Algernon has found. Thus Cecily's existence is revealed, but Jack stubbornly refuses to reveal her whereabouts.Gwendolyn accepts Jack, confessing she has always felt that she was fated to love a man called "Ernest.” Under interrogation by Gwendolyn's mother, Lady Bracknell, Jack
gives his country address which Algernon takes down with the intention of going "Bunburying" during Jack's absence from home. When Lady Bracknell learns that Jack's identity dates from the discovery of a baby in a large black handbag at Victoria Station she refuses to consent to the marriage.
Alone in the country with her governess Miss Prism, Cecily is agreeably surprised when Algernon shows up in the guise of the much-discussed "Ernest." Losing no time, the young couple becomes engaged almost immediately. When Jack returns unexpectedly to announce that "Ernest" has suddenly died in Paris, he is understandably surprised to learn that "Ernest" is, in fact, in the house at that very moment. While Jack and Algernon are separately arranging with the rector for a christening
ceremony, Gwendolyn arrives. The discovery by Gwendolyn and Cecily that they both seem to be engaged to "Ernest Worthing" results in a highly strained situation until the appearance of both young men together clarifies the matter. It also reveals, however,that neither is named "Ernest." When the girls learn that their fiancés had been about to be rechristened for their sakes, they forgive the deception.With the arrival of Lady Bracknell the question of consent again surfaces. Lady Bracknell
is quite willing that Algernon should marry Cecily (with her considerable fortune). Jack,however, refuses his consent unless Lady Bracknell permits his own marriage to Gwendolyn. The appearance of Miss Prism, who is immediately recognized by Lady Bracknell, results in the identification of Jack Worthing as Algernon's lost elder brother whose real name is—Ernest! Thus matters are settled matters to everyone's satisfaction.
Background
According to George Sampson in The Concise Cambridge History of English Literature (1961), The Importance of Being Earnest “is one of the two best comedies written since the time of Sheridan." In 1894 Wilde was living in fashionable Chelsea's Tite Street when he decided upon a seaside holiday for himself and his family. He took rooms at The Haven, 5 The Esplanade, in Worthing, West Sussex. There, between August and September, he wrote most of a new play that broke the mold of his previous society comedies, remarking in a letter at the time, "I find farcical comedies admirable for style, but fatal to handwriting."The Importance of Being Earnest is his exuberant parody of the 'trivial comedies' (his own amongst them) which the 'serious people' had established in the English theatre. It contains all the features of Wilde's earlier plays — the shameful secret (Worthing's origin in a handbag), the mistaken and assumed identities (Bunburying), and the sensational dénouement in which Worthing turns out to be Lady Bracknell's long-lost nephew. It even contains a sally against the dual morality which distinguished male and female infidelity.