The Importance of Being Ernest

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The Importance of Being Ernest is a comedy farce written by Oscar Wilde. It premiered in London on February 14th, 1895 and has since been revived several times since its opening. It is about a man living two lives, on in the country and one in the town, and how his silly lies get him caught in a net of lovers. The show centers around a man named Jack Worthing who lives in the country, but pretends to have a younger brother, Ernest, that lives in the city. While in the country, Jack is guardian to Cecily Cardew and in the town “Ernest” falls in love with Gwendolyn Fairfax. Gwendolyn is also Algernon Moncreiff’s cousin who is “Ernest’s” best friend. Algernon finds out that Jack is his real name and that he lives a double life in the country. To play a trick on his friend, he goes to the country and pretends to be Ernest, Jack’s younger brother and ends up falling in love with Cecily Cardew. While this is going on, “Ernest” is in the town with Gwendolyn and proposes to her. This pleases Gwendolyn because she always wanted to marry a man with the name of Ernest. One day shortly after, Gwendolyn decides to visit “Ernest” in the country. Upon her arrival she meets Cecily Cardew where the two have tea. During their discussion, Gwendolyn finds out that not only did “Ernest” never mention he had a brother, but also a ward. When Gwendolyn learns that it is Jack is the guardian and “Ernest” who Cecily is the love with, the two women begin to argue over who he proposed to first, when really it was two different men. The men show up at the height of the argument and both girls are told by the other that they have been lied to. Jack proves to Lady Bracknell that he is the right suitor for Gwendolyn and also finds out that is true name was Ernest all along. He gives permission for Cecily and Algernon to be married, and the four lovers are
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