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The Importance of Being Earnest Summary: 11 Lies, Act by Act
The Importance of Being Earnest summary, act by act: every lie, alias and Bunbury counted from the text, plus the handbag and the ending. Full spoilers.
Comedy of manners, three-act play
The Importance of Being Earnest
by Oscar Wilde
Two gentlemen invent a brother and an invalid to escape their duties, and a lost handbag turns the lies into the truth.
★★★★★ 5 / 5
A short, fast, quotable comedy whose plot is a neat chain of lies that all come true at once. The jokes land in print, and it takes about an hour to read. Five out of five (draft).
The Importance of Being Earnest: summary
Every guide comes as a video and a full written article. Pick the one you need: the review is spoiler-free, the ending explained is not.
What is The Importance of Being Earnest about?
The Importance of Being Earnest, subtitled A Trivial Comedy for Serious People, is a play by Oscar Wilde. We read the three-act text in Project Gutenberg ebook #844, whose cast list is the St. James’s Theatre opening of February 14th, 1895. The play has three acts and nine speaking characters.
Below you’ll find a full summary built as a ledger of every deception, with counts from the text: spoken words per character, the name Bunbury, the word earnest and one handbag. Spoilers throughout.
Read it if
- You want a classic you can finish in one sitting
- You like dry, quotable jokes about manners and money
- You enjoy farce plots where every secret collides
Skip it if
- You want realistic characters: everyone speaks in epigrams
- You dislike plays on the page: the stage directions are brief
- You want a serious moral: the play mocks one
The Importance of Being Earnest review scorecard
Humour
5
Plot
4.5
Pace
5
Characters
3.5
Readability
4.5
Average4.5 / 5
The Importance of Being Earnest: questions people ask
Is The Importance of Being Earnest worth reading?
A short, fast, quotable comedy whose plot is a neat chain of lies that all come true at once. The jokes land in print, and it takes about an hour to read. Five out of five (draft). Read it if: you want a classic you can finish in one sitting; you like dry, quotable jokes about manners and money; you enjoy farce plots where every secret collides. Skip it if: you want realistic characters: everyone speaks in epigrams; you dislike plays on the page: the stage directions are brief; you want a serious moral: the play mocks one.
Is there a summary of The Importance of Being Earnest?
The Importance of Being Earnest summary, act by act: every lie, alias and Bunbury counted from the text, plus the handbag and the ending. Full spoilers. Summary: The Importance of Being Earnest →
What is The Importance of Being Earnest about?
Two friends, Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, each invent a person to escape their duties: Jack a wicked younger brother named Ernest, Algernon a sick friend named Bunbury. Both are in love with a woman who says she can only love a man named Ernest. The lies collide at Jack's country house, and a lost handbag settles who Jack really is.
Which version is this summary based on?
The three-act text in Project Gutenberg ebook 844, whose cast list is the St. James's Theatre opening of February 14th, 1895. Wilde is reported to have first drafted four acts and cut to three before the opening, so a four-act version also exists. This summary does not cover it.
Who is Bunbury in The Importance of Being Earnest?
Bunbury is an invalid friend that Algernon invented so he can leave London or skip a dinner whenever he likes. He never appears. In Act Three Algernon tells Lady Bracknell that Bunbury is dead, in his words quite exploded. By our count the name Bunbury, in all its forms, appears 56 times.
How many lies are in the play?
By our own count, eleven deceptions: five in Act One, three in Act Two and three in Act Three. We counted each time a character says something they know is false or hides a fact on purpose. Another reader could draw the line differently, so treat the number as our ledger, not a fact about the play.
How does The Importance of Being Earnest end?
Miss Prism recognises the handbag she lost 28 years ago, and Lady Bracknell reveals that Jack is her nephew Algernon's elder brother. The Army Lists show their father was General Ernest John Moncrieff, so Jack's name really is Ernest. Both couples are engaged, and Jack says he has learned the importance of being earnest.
How many times is the word earnest said?
Twice in the play text: once in Act One when Algernon says Jack looks like the most earnest-looking person he ever saw, and once in the last line. The name Ernest appears 82 times, including stage directions.
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