The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde | Plot Summary

Course Hero Literature Instructor Russell Jaffe explains the plot summary of Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest.


Oscar Wilde's scathing comedy of manners The Importance of Being Earnest satirizes the rigid social conventions of Victorian England through a tale of romantic entanglements and false identities.

Friends Algernon Moncrieff and Jack Worthing court each other's female relatives under the pseudonym "Ernest." This was both a reference to a popular name at the time and to the quality of being "earnest," or honest. Algernon also has an invented friend called "Bunbury," who is an invalid.

These deceptions, initially devised to allow them to escape stultifying social interactions and grant them the freedom to live as they wish, present complications when they employ them during courtship. As both characters propose to their love interests as “Ernest,” the truth is revealed that Jack and Algernon are long lost brothers, and both are given permission to marry as a result.

The Importance of Being Earnest, by Irish poet, playwright, critic, and novelist Oscar Wilde, was first performed in 1895. Filled with barbed observations about the constrictive mores of the era, the play is nonetheless a light-hearted comic romp and remains one of Wilde's best-loved plays. Today it is ranked 14th in The Drama 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Plays of All Time.

The play contains many enduring symbols, such as a handbag representing the arbitrary role of fate and the character Bunbury representing polite excuses and white lies. Themes include social conventions, language, and love.


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[MeganJackson]

what was oscar wilde smoking and how do i get some

[annacruz]

I find these synopsis videos very helpful. I do wish that Mr. Jaffe didn't speak in such an exaggerated manner. The plot is quite convoluted enough that the high pitched tone with the exaggerated stresses just make it just a little more difficult to follow along.

[chamadeJJ]

Really useful for my Bachelor Degree Exam. I appreciate^^

[dark_ops]

If I hadn't read the book already, this video wouldn't have made any sense.

[thedayofk]

Thank god I only have 2 weeks left of this play class

[valthub]

thank you so much for your amazing lessons; I'm a French teacher of English and this is so helpful!!

[greeny]

Seems like jack as well doesn’t understand much. Or maybe he is just into that Alabama Stuff.

[ahmadmhamadz]

John worthing in countyside and jack earnest in town buy he sayed jack in town which is wrong be careful people not to confuse

[florianjonquieres]

Les bougs en LLCE qui regarde ça la veille du contrôle parce qu'ils ont pas lu le livre on est ensemble

[Michelle-pnxt]

Mrs. Prism and the man she loved were both older people with grey hair.What is the point of trying to make the man appear much younger than he was? Lady Bracknell does not have gray hair in the versions of the play that I have seen.

[AM-nilo]

i'm sorry but there were a million ways of explaining this in an easier way

[AliAsghar-euri]

How was jack jack lost when he was an infant child ?