The Importance of Being Earnest

Good friends Algernon and Jack use the same alter ego, Ernest, to pursue the innocent Cecily and Gwendolen who insist on marrying a man named Ernest. Gwendolens mother, the formidable Lady Bracknell, forbids the match. Using wit, puns, farce, mistaken identity and a handbag, Wildes Trivial Comedy for Serious People satirizes the superficiality of Englands aristocracy and the hypocrisy of Victorian morality. Irish playwright Oscar Wilde (1854/1900) is best known for his Gothic novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. His four comedies of manners (Lady Windermeres Fan; A Woman of No Importance; An Ideal Husband; The Importance of Being Earnest) made him one of the most successful playwrights of his day. The Importance of Being Earnest is Ohio State Theatres most-produced play.