The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People
- Author
- Oscar Wilde
- Year
- 1895
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Copyright
- First staged 1895; Wilde died in 1900. Out of copyright; the text is in the public domain.
Two gentlemen leading double lives under the invented name 'Ernest' are unmasked when two women insist on marrying a man of that name.
Why it is a classic
The textbook romantic comedy. Every conflict grows from one lie and nearly every line contains a reversal. The rhythm of sitcom and rom-com dialogue starts here.
Structure breakdown
- 01Act 1 · Two lies
Jack comes to town under cover of a wicked brother 'Ernest'; Algernon escapes to the country under cover of an invalid friend 'Bunbury'. Jack proposes to Gwendolen, but Lady Bracknell objects to his origins (found in a handbag).
- 02Act 2 · Two Ernests
Algernon arrives in the country as 'Ernest' and proposes to Cecily. Jack, announcing his brother's 'death', meets him alive. Both women believe they are engaged to the same Ernest and collide.
- 03Act 3 · The handbag's truth
Lady Bracknell arrives. Miss Prism confesses that 28 years ago she put a baby in a handbag and a manuscript in the pram. Jack turns out to be Algernon's brother, and really named Ernest.
What to steal for your own script
- Plant one lie and attach a character who needs it to be true. Conflict grows on its own.
- A line sets up an expectation and flips it on the last word. Cut lines that do not turn.
- The ending must cash in a trivial prop planted in Act 1 (the handbag), and the audience should have forgotten it.
Original excerpt
Act 1 — Lady Bracknell's interrogation · Studio script format · English original
One piece of backstory (the handbag) working as both a laugh and a plant.
Morning-room in Algernon's flat in Half-Moon Street
LADY BRACKNELL
A hand-bag?
JACK
(very seriously)
Yes, Lady Bracknell. I was in a hand-bag—a somewhat large, black leather hand-bag, with handles to it—an ordinary hand-bag in fact.
LADY BRACKNELL
In what locality did this Mr. James, or Thomas, Cardew come across this ordinary hand-bag?
JACK
In the cloak-room at Victoria Station. It was given to him in mistake for his own.
LADY BRACKNELL
The cloak-room at Victoria Station?
JACK
Yes. The Brighton line.
LADY BRACKNELL
The line is immaterial.