The Importance of Being Earnest Video

The Importance of Being Earnest is a play written by Oscar Wilde and first staged in 1895. Hailed as one of the greatest stage comedies of all time, it is the last of Wilde’s four drawing-room plays and centers on two young men who go by the name Earnest to escape social obligations. Notable for its witty epigrams, the play is endlessly quotable and read by many as a commentary on class, marriage, and Victorian manners—not to mention homosexuality. While the play's original audience howled at the inside references to London's gay subculture, this subtext also gave rise to Wilde's infamous trial for homosexual acts.

The play opens on Algernon Moncrieff as his butler, Lane, announces the arrival of "Ernest Worthing," who has just returned from the country. The name “Ernest” confuses Algernon, who knows his friend as Jack. But Jack explains that he uses the name “Ernest” in town so as to have an excuse to escape the country, where his adoptive father’s granddaughter, Cecily, lives. In order to preserve 17 year-old Cecily’s spotless opinion of her “Uncle Jack,” Jack has invented a ne'er-do-well younger brother named Ernest whose problems frequently require his intervention.

Stunningly, Algernon reveals that he’s guilty of the same deception: in order to escape the city for the country, he has invented a friend, Bunbury, who is an invalid and lives in the country frequently requiring Algernon’s support. The rakish Algernon is delighted by his straight-laced friend Jack’s subterfuge, saying that he has always suspected Jack was a "Bunburyist”—and now he has proof.

Changing the subject, Jack reveals that he has come to London to propose to Algernon’s cousin, Gwendolen, who is due to arrive at Algernon’s flat any moment with her mother, Lady Bracknell. And while Jack insists that he is through with the name "Ernest," Algernon—a notorious bachelor—maintains that Jack will need “his friend Ernest” more than ever if he marries, ridiculing matrimony as a ridiculous custom.

Finally, Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen arrive. Algernon detains his snobbish aunt with news that he must miss a dinner she’s throwing in order to care for his friend, Bunbury. Meanwhile, Jack privately confesses his feelings to Gwendolen, who admits that she likes Jack, too, especially since she is dead set on marrying a man named Ernest. He proposes to her, and she accepts.

Lady Bracknell enters, and Gwendolen informs her of their engagement. But Lady Bracknell objects, sending Gwendolen to wait in the carriage while she quizzes Jack about his breeding. Jack confesses that he was an orphan, found in a handbag at the Victoria train station. Aghast, Lady Bracknell says she will not allow her daughter to marry a man with no family.

In the play’s second act, we move to Jack’s country house, where the beautiful Cecily and her governess, Miss Prism, discuss the stress Jack is under due to his reckless brother, Ernest. When Miss Prism leaves Cecily alone to go for a walk with Dr. Chasuble, the local clergyman, Algernon arrives, introducing himself to Cecily as Ernest. Cecily is delighted to meet the infamous “Ernest” and returns Algernon’s brazen flirtations.

Soon, Jack arrives, asking Chasuble to christen him, but Chasuble and Prism are confused to see Jack dressed in black mourning attire. Jack explains that his brother, Ernest, died last night. Just then, Cecily emerges from the house, telling Jack that his brother is in the dining room; stupefied, Jack answers that he doesn’t have a brother. When Cecily retrieves Algernon, Jack is angry and privately orders Algernon to leave.

But Algernon is taken with Cecily and disobeys Jack, proposing to her. Cecily jokes that they’ve been engaged for three months; "ever since [she] heard of Jack's wicked brother Ernest" she has loved him. Like Gwendolyn, Cecily is deeply taken with the name Ernest and doubts she would be able to love a man by any other name. So, just like Jack, Algernon asks Chasuble to christen him that afternoon.

Shortly, Gwendolyn arrives asking for Jack. Instead, she meets Cecily, taking an instant liking to her. But when Cecily explains that she is going to marry Ernest, Gwendolyn grows indignant, believing her beloved Jack to be Ernest too. The girls compare diary entries to see who has prior claim over “Ernest,” arguing and insulting one another.

Jack returns, explaining to Gwendolyn that Cecily is his ward, not his fiancée. Then, Algernon returns, explaining to Cecily that he is not engaged to Gwendolyn, who identifies him as her cousin, Alergnon. Cecily is shocked, and she and Gwendolen reconcile, turning on the men. Jack confesses he has no brother Ernest, nor any brother at all, and the women storm off to the house.

In the play’s third act, Gwendolyn and Cecily confront Jack and Algernon, citing their names as “an insuperable barrier.” That is, until the men reveal that they are to be re-christened as Ernest that afternoon; the girls forgive them. But soon, Lady Bracknell arrives, announcing again that her daughter cannot marry Jack, an orphan. Retaliating, Jack threatens to prevent Cecily from marrying Algernon unless Lady Bracknell gives in—they’re at a standoff.

Meanwhile, Lady Bracknell encounters Miss Prism, recognizing her as her sister’s nursemaid 28 years ago. Lady Bracknell accuses Prism of kidnapping her sister’s baby, and Prism reluctantly admits to having left the child in a handbag at the Victoria train station. Recognizing the story, Jack realizes that he was that baby—and, evidently, Algernon’s brother. Lady Bracknell informs a delighted Jack that his given name was Ernest after all—admitting the “vital Importance of Being Earnest."