Summary of The Importance of Being Earnest
Act I: The Drawing-Room in Algernon Moncrieff's Flat, Half-Moon Street, W.
The play opens in Algernon Moncrieff’s fashionable London flat, where he is entertaining his friend, Ernest Worthing. Algernon questions "Ernest" about a cigarette case inscribed "From little Cecily, with her fondest love to her dear Uncle Jack." This immediately reveals a discrepancy, as Algernon knows his friend as Ernest. Jack confesses that his real name is Jack Worthing and that "Ernest" is a fictional younger brother he invented to justify his visits to London from the country.
Algernon, in turn, reveals his own deception: he has invented an invalid friend named Bunbury, whom he uses as an excuse to escape tedious social engagements in the city. This practice, dubbed "Bunburying," is a central theme, highlighting the hypocrisy of Victorian society. Jack has come to town to propose to Algernon's cousin, Gwendolen Fairfax, who is deeply in love with the name Ernest. Jack plans to "kill off" his brother Ernest.
Gwendolen arrives with her formidable mother, Lady Bracknell. Jack proposes to Gwendolen, and she accepts, but Lady Bracknell insists on interviewing Jack to determine his suitability as a husband. During the interview, Lady Bracknell discovers Jack was found in a handbag at Victoria Station, an origin she finds wholly unacceptable. She forbids the engagement, stating he must acquire some relations before she consents.
Act II: The Garden at the Manor House, Woolton (Jack’s Country House)
The scene shifts to Jack's country house, where his ward, Cecily Cardew, is studying with her governess, Miss Prism. Cecily is imaginative and bored with her lessons, preferring to record her romantic fantasies in her diary. Algernon arrives unexpectedly, pretending to be Jack's wicked brother, Ernest. Cecily, who has long been fascinated by the tales of Ernest, immediately falls in love with him.
Meanwhile, Jack returns to the country dressed in mourning clothes, intending to announce Ernest's death. He is shocked to find Algernon already there, claiming to be Ernest. A humorous confrontation ensues, as both men attempt to justify their presence. Soon after, Gwendolen arrives, believing Jack is Ernest. Both Gwendolen and Cecily discover they are engaged to a man named Ernest Worthing, leading to a highly amusing conflict between them. They realize they have been deceived and form a united front against Jack and Algernon, refusing to speak to either until the matter is clarified.
Act III: The Drawing-Room at the Manor House
Lady Bracknell arrives in the country, having followed Gwendolen. She immediately interrogates Cecily about her suitability as a match for Algernon. Unlike her interview with Jack, Lady Bracknell finds Cecily's fortune and connections quite satisfactory. However, she objects to Algernon's engagement to Cecily because he has no income.
Jack refuses to consent to Cecily's marriage to Algernon unless Lady Bracknell allows his marriage to Gwendolen. He also reveals that Cecily will not come into her fortune until she is thirty-five, or without his permission. Lady Bracknell is initially dismayed but then shifts her attention to Jack's true parentage, which remains a sticking point.
Lady Bracknell recognizes Miss Prism, Cecily's governess, from the past. She reveals that Miss Prism, twenty-eight years ago, lost a baby entrusted to her care. Miss Prism confesses that she inadvertently placed the baby in her handbag and her three-volume novel in the perambulator, leaving the bag at Victoria Station.
Jack produces the very handbag Miss Prism describes, confirming he is the lost baby. Lady Bracknell reveals that he is the son of her late sister, Mrs. Moncrieff, and thus Algernon's elder brother. They then discover that his father was a General Moncrieff, and his Christian name, as the eldest son, was Ernest, fulfilling both Gwendolen's and Cecily's desires. The play concludes with all three couples happily engaged, highlighting the triumph of superficiality and the "importance of being earnest," both literally and figuratively.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Where does Algernon Moncrieff live at the beginning of the play?
(A) Belgrave Square
(B) Half-Moon Street
(C) Grosvenor Square
(D) Victoria Station
Answer: (B)
2. What is the inscription on the cigarette case that Algernon finds?
(A) "To my dearest Uncle Jack"
(B) "From little Cecily, with her fondest love to her dear Uncle Jack"
(C) "Ernest, with love from Gwendolen"
(D) "For a truly earnest man"
Answer: (B)
3. What false identity does Jack use in London?
(A) Bunbury
(B) Algernon
(C) Ernest
(D) Moncrieff
Answer: (C)
4. What is the name of Algernon's invented invalid friend?
(A) Jack
(B) Ernest
(C) Bunbury
(D) Worthing
Answer: (C)
5. Why has Jack come to London in Act I?
(A) To meet Bunbury
(B) To propose to Gwendolen
(C) To kill off his brother Ernest
(D) To visit his aunt
Answer: (B)
6. Who is Gwendolen Fairfax's mother?
(A) Miss Prism
(B) Cecily Cardew
(C) Lady Bracknell
(D) Mrs. Moncrieff
Answer: (C)
7. What is Lady Bracknell's main objection to Jack's suitability as a husband?
(A) He is too old
(B) He has no title
(C) He was found in a handbag at a railway station
(D) He lacks a fortune
Answer: (C)
8. What does Jack plan to do with his fictional brother Ernest in Act I?
(A) Introduce him to Cecily
(B) Bring him to London
(C) "Kill him off"
(D) Have him marry Gwendolen
Answer: (C)
9. Where does Act II take place?
(A) Algernon's flat in London
(B) Lady Bracknell's house
(C) The garden at the Manor House, Woolton
(D) Victoria Station
Answer: (C)
10. Who is Cecily Cardew's governess?
(A) Gwendolen Fairfax
(B) Lady Bracknell
(C) Miss Prism
(D) Merriman
Answer: (C)
11. What does Cecily prefer to do instead of her lessons?
(A) Play piano
(B) Study Latin
(C) Record her romantic fantasies in her diary
(D) Garden
Answer: (C)
12. How does Algernon introduce himself to Cecily?
(A) As Jack's cousin
(B) As Algernon Moncrieff
(C) As Jack's wicked brother, Ernest
(D) As a gardener
Answer: (C)
13. What is the immediate reaction of Gwendolen and Cecily when they realize they are both engaged to an "Ernest Worthing"?
(A) They become fast friends.
(B) They confront Jack and Algernon with anger.
(C) They decide to share "Ernest."
(D) They cry together.
Answer: (B)
14. What do Gwendolen and Cecily share a common fascination with?
(A) Art
(B) The name Ernest
(C) Travel
(D) Cooking
Answer: (B)
15. How does Jack arrive back at his country house in Act II?
(A) In a carriage, dressed in regular clothes
(B) Dressed in mourning clothes
(C) With Gwendolen
(D) By train
Answer: (B)
16. What is Lady Bracknell's initial reaction to Cecily's financial prospects?
(A) She finds them unsatisfactory.
(B) She is indifferent.
(C) She finds them highly satisfactory.
(D) She wants more details.
Answer: (C)
17. What condition does Jack place on consenting to Cecily's marriage to Algernon?
(A) That Algernon gets a job
(B) That Lady Bracknell allows his marriage to Gwendolen
(C) That Cecily gets her fortune immediately
(D) That Algernon moves to the country
Answer: (B)
18. What is Miss Prism's crucial confession in Act III?
(A) She ran away from a convent.
(B) She lost a baby in a handbag at Victoria Station.
(C) She secretly married Algernon's father.
(D) She wrote a scandalous novel.
Answer: (B)
19. What did Miss Prism famously confuse in the perambulator?
(A) A baby and a doll
(B) A baby and a three-volume novel
(C) Her handbag and a book
(D) Her novel and a blanket
Answer: (B)
20. Who is revealed to be Jack's biological mother?
(A) Lady Bracknell
(B) Miss Prism
(C) Lady Bracknell's late sister, Mrs. Moncrieff
(D) Cecily Cardew
Answer: (C)
21. What is Jack's actual relationship to Algernon?
(A) They are cousins.
(B) They are unrelated friends.
(C) They are brothers.
(D) They are distant relatives.
Answer: (C)
22. What was Jack's true Christian name, as discovered at the end of the play?
(A) Jack
(B) Algernon
(C) Thomas
(D) Ernest
Answer: (D)
23. Which character remarks, "I've now realized for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest"?
(A) Algernon
(B) Jack
(C) Gwendolen
(D) Lady Bracknell
Answer: (B)
24. The play primarily satirizes which aspect of Victorian society?
(A) Working-class struggles
(B) Aristocratic hypocrisy and social conventions
(C) Scientific advancements
(D) Industrialization
Answer: (B)
25. At what age is Cecily due to come into her fortune?
(A) Twenty-one
(B) Thirty
(C) Thirty-five
(D) Twenty-five
Answer: (C)