AUTHOR: Oscar Wilde

TITLE OF THE PLAY: The Importance Of Being Earnest.

EDITORIAL: Dover publications

YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 1991

PLACE OF PUBLICATION: London

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

JOHN WORTHING, J. P. : He is one of the most important characters. This character is really surprising. His ideas and his performance are very funny. It is hilarious to see all that he invents and creates to get married to Gwendolen. Moreover, he says he has got two names: "Ernest in town and Jack in the country". His conversation with Lady Bracknell is quite distant and although she disagrees with this engagement, he will fight in order that Gwendolen is his wife.

ALGERNON MONCRIEFF: He is a friend of John. He does the same as his friend. He calls himself Ernest to get married to Cecily. It is like a game. He calls it "Bunburying" and it seems to have good results because Cecily is in love with him. He looks a polite person and his attitude with Cecily is suitable.

GWENDOLEN FAIRFAX: She is the lady who is engaged to Jack. Her appearance is good, polite and very feminine. She is in love with Jack. It seems like a true love, but we can see how she is in love with him because he assumedly calls Ernest. She loves that name and wants to get married to him. Her relationship with Cecily is great until Cecily says that she is engaged to Ernest and Gwendolen thinks of the same person to who she is engaged. When all is solved, her relationship continues being all right.

CECILY CARDEW: This woman is Algernon's fiancée. She is in love with him because he says that his name is Ernest. She always has wished for marrying to somebody called Ernest. This is something amazing. She has got a diary where she writes all her experiences and says to Algernon that she has got his letters. Algernon is surprised because he has not sent any letters to her. Her personality is something childlike. Cecily is very young, but when she talks to Miss Prim, her attitude is more formal and interesting.

LADY BRACKNELL: She is Gwendolen's mother. She seems to be a firm woman who looks for a rich or powerful man to her daughter. She does not want her to get married to Jack because she thinks he is not a suitable man to her.

DEVELOPMENT:

This play is about two men who try to get married to two women calling themselves "Ernest". This plot is really original. It is something curious. When they are at Algenon's home, Lady Bracknell and her daughter arrive. Jack falls in love with Gwendolen and says to her that his name is Ernest. She also falls in love with him and they want to get engaged, but Lady Bracknell, Algernon's aunt, does not want. She talks to him and she thinks he is not the perfect husband for her daughter. In another place, Cecily is talking to Miss Prim. She is waiting for the visit of her Uncle Jack. Mr. Ernest Worthing arrives at Cecily's home. She thinks he is Uncle Jack's brother, but he really is not. We fall in love and want to get married. Cecily wished for getting married to a man called Ernest. She says to him that they are engaged at the moment, but he does not know why she says that. After, Jack arrives and surprises himself when he sees Algernon, who is not really his brother. Later, Gwendolen arrives to see Mr Worthing and introduces herself to Cecily. This relationship is great, but when they talk each other about their engagement, think that they are engaged to the same person. Finally, both men appear and tell to them the truth. They are disappointed and both of them want to christen to change their names. At the end of the play, Jack discovers his real name is Ernest and they continue engaged to them.

SPACE: In that play, we can see two places: Algernon's home and Cecily's home. Both of them are closed places, but at Cecily's home there is a garden where Cecily appears studying German.

TIME: The play is developed at the present. There are no jumps, but Jack sometimes remembers his childhood.

LITERARY RESOURCES: Language is not very simple. It sometimes seems to be a little confusing.

PERSONAL OPINION: This play is very curious and original. Its plot impresses me and I really like this play. It is very entertaining and funny.