The Importance of Being Earnest
What is The Importance of Being Earnest about?
The Importance of Being Earnest is Oscar Wilde’s most popular play today, enduring thanks to its easy humor, witty dialog, and clever satire. It was also one of his more successful plays, despite its first run being prematurely ended after only 86 performances. The main characters pretend to be other people in order to escape social obligations, with the resulting confusion of identities driving the plot and the humor behind it. Earnest also holds the sad distinction of being Wilde’s last published play. A feud with an aristocrat whose son was Wilde’s lover led to a court case revealing Wilde as a homosexual—a crime in those days, and punishable by imprisonment with hard labor.
Main themes in The Importance of Being Earnest
Satire and social comedy
The presence of satire and social comedy in The Importance of Being Earnest connects readers to its enduring relevance.
Identity and disguise
The Importance of Being Earnest thoughtfully explores identity and disguise through its central conflicts.
Marriage and courtship
Marriage and courtship emerges as a defining element in The Importance of Being Earnest, shaping character development.
Victorian hypocrisy
Victorian hypocrisy emerges as a defining element in The Importance of Being Earnest, shaping character development.
Why The Importance of Being Earnest is still relevant today
The Importance of Being Earnest is one of the most frequently performed comedies in the English language, beloved for its inexhaustible wit and perfectly crafted dialogue. Lady Bracknell's "A handbag?" has become one of theater's most famous moments. The play's satire of Victorian earnestness and hypocrisy remains deliciously relevant whenever society takes itself too seriously. Its influence on comic writing—from Noël Coward to modern sitcoms—is immeasurable. For pure theatrical pleasure, few plays can match it.
More by this author
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Importance of Being Earnest about?
The play follows two men who both pretend to be named Ernest to win their respective loves, leading to comic complications involving secret identities, a formidable aunt, and a handbag at a railway station.
What is Bunburying?
Bunburying is the practice of inventing a fictional person (like Algernon's invalid friend Bunbury) to avoid unwanted social obligations. It represents the gap between Victorian social performance and private desire.
Who is Lady Bracknell?
Lady Bracknell is Gwendolen's formidable mother, whose interrogation of Jack and horrified 'A handbag?' are among theater's most famous comic moments. She embodies Victorian social snobbery.
Why is it called a 'trivial comedy'?
The subtitle 'A Trivial Comedy for Serious People' is itself a Wildean paradox. The play treats trivial things seriously and serious things trivially, mocking Victorian earnestness.
Is The Importance of Being Earnest Wilde's best play?
Most critics consider it Wilde's masterpiece and one of the greatest comedies ever written. Its perfect construction and inexhaustible wit have kept it in constant performance since 1895.