The Importance of Being Earnest

About The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) is the supreme achievement of the English comic tradition — the funniest play in the language, a perfect theatrical mechanism, and a devastating critique of Victorian society concealed behind exquisite wit and artifice. Algernon, Jack (who calls himself Ernest in town), Gwendolen, Cecily, and the incomparable Lady Bracknell are organized around the question of whether Jack's name is actually Ernest — and the revelation is Wilde's most perfect piece of theatrical clockwork.