The Importance of Being Earnest Was Written by ______

Name:______Period:______

The Importance of Being Earnest was written by ______.

It was originally a play in 3 Acts.

Plot

Algernon (Algy), a young Londoner, pretends to have a friend named Bunbury who lives in the country and is frequently in ill health. Whenever Algy wants to avoid an unwelcome social obligation, or just get away for the weekend, he makes a visit to his "sick friend". In this way he can feign responsibility, while having the perfect excuse to avoid it. He calls this practice "Bunburying".

Algy's real-life best friend lives in the country but makes frequent visits to London. Algy knows him as Earnest Worthing, but when he leaves his silver cigarette case in Algy's rooms, Algy finds an inscription in it: "From little Cecily, with her fondest love to her dear Uncle Jack".

This forces Jack to disclose that he too is a "Bunburyist". In the country, he goes by the name of Jack (which he understands to be his real name), and pretends that he has an irresponsible brother named Earnest, who lives in London and requires his frequent attention. When in the city, he assumes the name – and behavior – of Earnest. In the country Jack assumes a more serious attitude for the benefit of his young ward, the 18-year old heiress Cecily.

Jack wants to marry Algy's cousin Gwendolen, but faces two obstacles: First, Gwendolen seems to love him only because she believes his name is Earnest, which she thinks is the most beautiful name in the world. Second, Gwendolen's mother, the terrifying Lady Bracknell, does not particularly approve of Mr Worthing, and is further horrified to learn that he was adopted as a baby after being discovered in a handbag at a railway station. In her opinion it is absolutely below the standards of her daughter to "marry into a cloakroom and form an alliance with a parcel".

Meanwhile, Jack's description of Cecily has so appealed to Algy that he resolves to meet her, in spite of Jack's firm opposition. He visits Jack's house in the country by pretending to be Earnest Worthing. Cecily has for some time imagined herself in love with the mysterious Earnest, and is soon swept off her feet by Algy.

Jack has decided to give up his Bunburying, and he returns to his country estate with the news that his brother Earnest has died. He is forced to abandon this claim by the presence of "Earnest", who threatens to expose his double life if Jack doesn't play along.

Gwendolen flees London and her mother to be with her love. When she and Cecily meet for the first time, each indignantly insists that she is the one engaged to "Earnest". Once Lady Bracknell arrives in pursuit of her daughter, she and Jack reach stalemate as she still refuses to accept his engagement to Gwendolen, while he, in retaliation, denies his consent to the marriage of her penniless nephew Algy to his heiress ward Cecily.

The impasse is broken, in deus ex machina fashion (a sudden unexpected solution to a seemingly insurmountable problem), by the reappearance of Miss Prism. As she and Lady Bracknell recognize each other with horror, it is revealed that, when working many years previously as a nursemaid for Lady Bracknell's sister, Prism had inadvertently lost a baby boy in a handbag. When Jack produces the identical handbag, it becomes clear that he is Lady Bracknell's nephew and Algy's older brother.

With Jack's provenance established, only one thing now stands in the way of the young couples' happiness: in view of Gwendolen's continued insistence that she can only love a man named Earnest, what is Jack's real first name? Lady Bracknell informs him that he was named after his father, a general, but cannot remember the general's name. Jack looks eagerly in a military reference book and declares that the name is in fact Earnest after all, and he has all along been telling the truth inadvertently.

As the happy couples embrace in turn (including also Prism and Chasuble), Lady Bracknell complains to Earnest, "My nephew, you seem to be displaying signs of triviality." "On the contrary, Aunt Augusta," Earnest replies, "I've now realized for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest."

Characters

●Jack Worthing (alias Earnest) – lives in the country / found in a handbag at the bagroom at Victoria Station / loves Gwendolen / visits the city to live a little under the alias of “Earnest”

●Earnest Worthing– imaginary brother of Jack who supposedly lives in the city

●Algnernon or Algy Moncrieff– lives in the city/ cousin to Gwendolen and nephew to Lady Augusta Bracknell / uses “Bunbury” as an excuse to avoid responsibility and eventually uses Jack’s alias to further complicate matters

●Mr. Bunbury – another imaginary character who Algy uses as an excuse to get out of social commitments

●Gwendolen Fairfax – “Earnest’s” love interest, daughter to Lady Bracknell

●Cecily Cardew – Jack’s niece, she has a crush on the mysterious “Earnest”

●Miss Prism – Cecily’s tutor

●Dr. Chasuble – a minister

1. Define the word “earnest”.

2. Where does Algy reside?

3. What is his problem?

4. Where does Jack reside?

5. Where is he going when we first see him?

6. Who does Earnest love?

7. What object of “Earnest’s” does Algy find?

8. Who gave Earnest this gift?

9. What name does Algy give to get out of social responsibility?

10. In the country we see Cecily and her tutor. What is on Cecily’s mind?

11. Who is Lady Bracknell?

12. During her visit, what does Earnest plan to do?

13. How does Gwendolen feel about Earnest?

14. What does Gwendolen like most about Earnest?

15. Why is thisa problem?

16. During the proposal, who interrupts?

17. What must Earnest do?

18. In the country, Cecily continues to daydream about ______.

19. What are some of the questions that Lady Bracknell asks?

20. What does she find happened to Earnest as a baby?

21. In order to have a chance at marrying Gwendolen, what must Earnest do?

22. What does Jack do to his apartment in the city?

23. Who does Algy want to meet?

24. What does Algy steal?

25. Where does Algy go?

26. Who does he meet?

27. What does he say his name is?

28. Uncle Jack is expected to be away until Monday, but where does he show up?

29. What news does he have?

30. How does “Earnest” (Algy) explain?

31. How does Jack really feel about Algy being there?

32. From whom does Jack receive a letter?

33. What does he find out Gwendolen is planning to do?

34. What does “Earnest” find out while on his boat ride with Cecily and Ms. Prism?

35. Uncle Jack agrees to pay “Earnest’s” debt if he will ______.

36. True or False: After Jack agrees to pay “Earnest’s” debt, he tells him he has to leave.

37. True or False: Algy comes back to see Cecily.

38. When “Earnest” asks Cecily to marry him, what does she say?

39. What do we find out that Cecily has been doing for the last several months?

40. Why is Cecily fascinated with Earnest?

41. Why is this a problem?

42. When Cecily and Gwendolen meet, Cecily tells Gwendolen that she is engaged to ______.

43. Gwendolen then tells Cecily that she is engaged to ______.

44. How do the women act toward one another?

45. When Algy appears, what does Gwendolen tell Cecily?

46. When Jack appears, what does Cecily tell Gwendolen?

47. How do Gwendolen and Cecily react?

48. What does Jack ask Dr. Chasuble to do?

49. Who also wants to be christened?

50. Do the girls eventually forgive them?

51. When things seem to be going better, who shows up?

52. Lady Bracknell asks about Bunbury. What does Algy tell her has happened?

53. While Lady Bracknell does not approve of Cecily at first, what is it that Jack tells her that changes her mind?

54. Lady Bracknell reflects on her past. What do we learn about her?

55. After Lady Bracknell finally approves of Cecily and Algy’s marriage, someone protests. Who and why?

56. Jack says he will consent to their marriage if Lady Bracknell does what?

57. Does she?

58. What does Lady Bracknell do when she hears the name Ms. Prism?

59. What does Ms. Prism do when Lady Bracknell calls her name?

60. What error did Ms. Prism make 34 years ago?

61. Who does Jack believe is his mother?

62. Who knows who his mother is?

63. What do we find out about Jack’s mother?

64. How does this change his relationship with Algy and Lady Bracknell?

65. How does he treat Algy and Lady Bracknell?

66. What is Jack’s real name?

Discussion questions:

What values seem to be reinforced in this story?

How does the movie show Victorian England?