IOBE notes for honors and AP lit

By Oscar Wilde
The Importance of Being Earnest
Published in 1895
Literary terms
Aphorism: clever statements that are wise and true
Epigram:short, witty statements that are empty of any real meaning
Parallelism: repetition of ideas, images, or dialogue for intensity and comic effect
Incongruity: something seems out of place
Ambiguity: double meaning
Exaggeration: making something more

Author Information
1854-1900
Very concerned with a society that looked at art as important.
Traveled in Europe as “Sebastian Monmouth”
Jailed for several years for “lewd” behavior (he was gay).
Famous for the aesthetic movement or “art for art’s sake.”
Background Information

Satire of the English wealthy and their lifestyle. Wilde believed that “the aim of social comedy is to mirror the manners, not reform the morals, of the day.”
He shows that everyone and everything is absurd---and yet human.
Act 1
Setting: parlor of Algernon’s city home Half Moon Street in London; late 1800s
Reader is introduced to the wealthy background as there is a server, Lane and Algernon does not work.
Algernon and Jack continue the frivolous conversation, focusing on women. Jack/Ernest says he intends to marry Gwen. Algernon says he is her cousin and won’t allow him to marry her until Jack explains Cecily.


Act 1
Algernon questions Ernest’s identity because of a cigarette case and its engraving.
Jack admits to an identity swap. He’s Ernest in the city and Jack in the country. Algernon says that he has an imaginary friend, Bunbury, that he uses as an excuse as well.
Act 1
Lady Bracknell is the typical stuffy, pompous English lady. She is annoyed that Jack was “found” in a handbag as an infant at the train station.
Jack intends to get rid of “Ernest” whom he
is now calling his “brother.”
Gwen asks for Jack’s country address, and Algernon writes it on his sleeve in secret.


Act 2
Setting: Manor House at Jack’s country home near Wooten in Hertfordshire
18 year old Cecily is speaking with Miss Prism, her tutor and governess. Cecily is Jack’s ward as her grandfather (Thomas Cardew)died and left her guardianship with Jack.
Algernon shows up unexpectedly, posing as Jack’s brother, Ernest.
Act 2
With Algernon off stage, Jack shows up in black, saying that he is mourning the death of his brother.
Cecily claims Ernest, Jack’s brother is not dead as he is in the house. Algernon, pretending to be Ernest, has been wooing Cecily.

Act 2
Algernon asks Cecily if she will marry him and she claims that they have been engaged for 3 months. Cecily has been having an imaginary relationship with “Ernest” whom she thinks is Jack’s brother. No, she has never met him. She has given herself a ring from him and written letters to herself from him.
ACT 2
Gwen and Cecily greet each other and quickly get into a catfight as they think that they are both engaged to “Ernest.” When the truth regarding the identities of Jack and Algernon are told, the ladies retreat inside, suddenly best friends. Wilde sees this as typical womanly behavior.
Both Jack and Algernon plan to be christened with a new name “Ernest” that afternoon ( a legal name change).
Act 3
The women forgive the men, but the names remain a barrier to marriage.
Lady Bracknell arrives to take Gwen. She does not want her to marry Jack/Ernest (She is considered a blocking figure).
Rev. Chasuble arrives for the christenings, but now they aren’t taking place.

Act 3
Seeing Miss Prism, Lady B demands to know what happened to “that” baby 28 years ago. Miss Prism was a nanny working on writing a 3 volume novel. She misplaced the novel in the carriage and put the baby in a briefcase. The baby was lost as she checked the bag in the cloakroom of Victoria Station.
Act 3
Jack runs out of the room. He returns with that bag, thinking that Miss Prism is his mother.
Lady Bracknell then explains that Prism was the nanny and that his real parents were Mr. and Mrs. Moncrieff, who is Lady Bracknell’s sister. She cannot recall his father’s first name.
Act 3
Jack searches through a book of military records and discovers his father’s name was Ernest. Because of tradition, his name would have really been Ernest as well.
Jack says, “I’ve now realized for the first time in my life, the vital importance of Being Earnest.” (pun and the theme)
It is a play on words. He is Ernest by name and he has now learned how important it is to be earnest (truthful).
Some Themes
Truth is important in all relationships.
Love is more than just marriage and physical attraction. To be in love, people must know each other and the truth of one another.
Society was too focused on appearances and was hypocritical. Wilde suggests things like family and relationships are more important than money, social status, and identity.
For test: Essay will focus on above themes; there will be quotes and lit terms from group work, too. (Honors only)