Characters
The character who pretends to be “Ernest” in the city.
Who is Jack Worthing?
The city where much of the play’s deception begins.
What is London?
The deception both Jack and Algernon use to escape responsibilities.
What is Bunburying / pretending to be "Ernest"?
"The truth is rarely pure and never simple."
What is an example of a paradox?
The playwright of The Importance of Being Earnest.
Who is Oscar Wilde?
The witty character who pretends to be “Ernest” in the country.
Who is Algernon Moncrieff?
Jack’s country estate.
What is the Manor House in Hertfordshire?
Gwendolen’s peculiar requirement for a husband’s name.
What is the name "Ernest"?
“To lose one parent… may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.”
What is an example of an epigram?
The act structure of the play.
What is three acts?
the sharp-tongued, domineering aunt of Algernon.
Who is Lady Bracknell?
The place where Gwendolen and Cecily meet for the first time.
What is the Manor House garden?
Cecily’s fantasy relationship involves this imaginary character.
Who is “Ernest Worthing”?
The use of “Bunburying” represents this type of humor in the play.
What is an example of farce?
The genre of the play.
What is a comedy?
The governess who holds the secret to Jack’s origins.
Who is Miss Prism?
The era in which the play is set.
What is the Victorian Era?
The reason Lady Bracknell initially refuses Jack’s proposal to Gwendolen.
What is Jack’s uncertain parentage / found in a handbag?
The title itself, The Importance of Being Earnest, relies on this literary technique involving wordplay
What is a pun?
The Victorian institution Wilde most critiques through the characters’ obsession with names, wealth, and status.
What is marriage / social conventions?
Jack’s love interest, obsessed with the name “Ernest.”
The location where Jack was found as a baby.
What is a handbag in the cloakroom at Victoria Station?
The revelation at the end of the play about Jack’s true identity.
What is that he is Algernon’s older brother and actually named Ernest?
The exaggerated characters like Lady Bracknell exemplify this literary feature, used to ridicule societal norms.
What is satire?
The symbolic importance of the name “Ernest” throughout the play.
What is the double meaning of being "earnest" (sincere) and the literal name representing respectability and desirability?