Oscar Wilde - The Importance of Being Earnest

Information on the author

Name: Oscar Wilde
Date of birth/place of birth: 16.October 1854, Dublin
Education: He studied classics first at Trinity College, Dublin and later on at Magdalen College, Oxford.
Famous works: The Importance of Being Earnest, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Lady Windermere's Fan
Additional information: Even though Oscar Wilde married Constance Lloyd in 1885 and had two kids with her, he actually had a love affair with his friend Lord Alfred Douglas. Lord Alfred’s father sued him in 1895 for “gross indecency” (i.e. homosexual behavior) and Wilde was sentenced to two years in Prison and hard labour. Upon his release two years later he was more or less bankrupt and exiled himself to france, where he stayed under a false name till his death in 1900.

Information on The Importance of Being Earnest

Title: The Importance of Being Ernest

Publishing date: The premier was in February 1895

Place: St. James Theatre, London

Reactions: The play was well received by the Audience, because of its humor and wit. The critics of Wilde’s time however criticized that it didn’t touch any major social or political issue and was basically described as trivial. Though they recognised its wit and charm, some claimed a lack of emotion within the play.

Summary: The play tells the story of Jack Worthing, who leads two lives. On one hand that of a respectable landowner and guardian to Miss Cecily Cardew and on the other hand that of his imaginary, irresponsible brother Ernest in London. His problems start, when he falls in love with Gwendolen Fairfax, who only reciprocates his feelings because she thinks his name is Ernest. Now Jack has to figure out how to get out of this charade without losing Gwendolen in the process. Another problem arrives, when Jack’s friend Algernon Montcrieff, upon hearing the truth, thinks it a brilliant idea to visit Jacks home in Hertfordshire pretending to be his brother Ernest. There he falls in love with Cecily, who finds him intriguing as well, but mostly because she now thinks his name is Ernest. Chaos ensues in which lies are revealed, secrets are unraveled and in the end it turns out that there actually is a brother called Ernest.

Victorian Age

Dates: 19th Century (Reign of Queen Victoria, 1837 – 1901)

Background information: One of the major influences during that time was the growing industrialisation and with that a general notion of change. The gap between rich and poor widened, people had a feeling of social injustice. Charles Darwin published his theory of evolution and with that a lot of people began to question the importance of traditional institutions such as the church.

Main Themes: One of the most prominent themes during that time were e.g. love, hard work pays out in the end, i.e. virtue will be rewarded and wrongdoers will be punished.

Famous authors and books

Oscar Wilde (The Importance of Being Earnest, The Picture of Dorian Gray)

Charles Dickens (Great Expectations, Oliver Twist)

William Butler Yeats (The Second Coming)