The Summary of the Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest is one of the best plays and the last play of Oscar Wilde. It is about two men pretend to be Ernest (and Earnest), and try to marry with two ladies. On that play, Wilde makes fun of the frivolity in the Victorian Era, and the Victorian style marriage. The Ernest has two meanings in the game, both as a name and adjective. With the name Earnest, he has ridiculed the moral values, formalism and attitudes of the Victorian aristocrats. In this way, the writer aimed to display the Victorian society’s efforts to look superior to the modern and sub-layer human beings, the insincere air of the society, and the behavior of moral values.
At the beginning of the play, Algernon, one of the protagonists, plays piano and waits for his aunt, Lady Bracknell. Jack, the other protagonist, comes to there before her. They have a small talk, and Jack claims he is Earnest, but with the help of Algy’s curiosity about the cigarette case, he confesses that his real name is Jack, not Ernest, and he has a nephew named Cecily. After that, Algy states he has a fake friend named Bunbury (he does not exist.), and he uses that as an excuse to run away from events that he does not want to attend. Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen arrive after that situation, Algy explains that he cannot attain the reception of Lady Bracknell since he has to visit his ill friend, Bunbury. Then, Gwendolen and Jack are left alone, and Jack proposes to her. She wants to marry with him just because of his name. Ernest is a name that gives the feeling of being earnest, and honest, and she thinks it sounds so aristocratic. But, Lady Bracknell is not happy with the proposal because of Jack’s social status. When she understands he is not the same social status as theirs, she rejects the engagement. He later gives Gwendolen the address of his country home.
Jack goes to his country home, and sees Cecily. She learns Deutsch from Miss Prism. Algy goes to there, too, and pretends to be Ernest, Jack’s indebted and troublesome brother. Algy wants to stay for a week in there to know more about Cecily, but Jack returns claiming that his brother Ernest has died in Paris. They encounter in front of Cecily, Miss Prism and the others. He does not say anything about it, they pretend as it was a joke. Algy proposes to Cecily, and Cecily wants to marry with him because of his name, Ernest. He wants to re-baptize to be named as Ernest with Jack.
Gwendolen comes to the country home of Jack to see him. She meets with Cecily. They talk about their love story, but the truth appears. It seems like the same Ernest proposed to both of them. Then Jack and Algy come, and they understand they are not the same Ernest, and also they have different names. Jack and Algy say they will be re-baptized to be named Ernest, and the two ladies accept this plan.
Lady Bracknell comes to there, and accepts the marriage of Algy and Cecily. But Jack does not accept it, because she did not want him to marry with Gwendolen. They make an agreement about it. The minister calls Miss Prism, and Lady Bracknell calls for Prism and tells everyone about losing a baby of her sister. They search about details, and there are a lot of proof revealing Jack is Algernon’s older brother. Jack becomes earnest, and the all couples hug each other.
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