Review – “The importance of Being Earnest”

The book “The importance of Being Earnest”  is based around two young men, one is an young man called Jack, who lives in the country. However, he wants to escape of his conservative lifestyle.

Jack says that has to visit his brother, Ernest, who gives him the opportunity to escape of  his boring life and have fun with his friend, Algernon.

Ernest has come from the country to propose to Algernon’s cousin, called Gwendolen.

Algernon comes to suspect that Jack is leading a double life when he finds a personal message in one of Jack’s cigarette cases “From little Cecily, with her fondest love to her dear Uncle Jack”, then discover that Ernest’s name is Jack.

Gwendolen is smitten by the name Ernest, because  the name “Ernest” is something like serious.

Jack admits to her that he isn’t Ernest and Algerson also confesses to Cecily that his name is not Ernest either. This causes a lot of trouble in their lives, because women have a strange attachment to the name Ernest, and cannot consider marrying anyone who does not go by that name.

Another impediment to the marriages is Gwendolen’s mother, Lady Bracknell that she will not permit that her daughter marrying someone of Jack’s social status (because he is an orphan,and  he was found by his parents in a handbag at Train Station). As Jack is Cecily’s guardian, he will not allow her to marry Algernon, unless his aunt, Lady Bracknell changes her mind.

At the end, Lady Bracknell reveals that the Algernon’s brother was Jack, who was found in a handbag  and the child had been christened Ernest like his father.

The play ends with two very happy marriages.

From my point of view, Oscar Wilde is a great writer and I recommend you it if you like classics. It is a dizzy romantic comedy and funny! And shows the hypocrisies of the society.

Vanessa Fernández Corcobado