The Importance of being earnest
"Gertraud Medicus"
BOOK REPORT
Author: Oscar Wilde
Tile: The Importance of Being Earnest
Date of publication: 1895 in three acts
Type of Work:
Comic, farcical play
Setting
Algeron´s flat in London, and a country house in Hertfordshire, England; in the 1890s
Plot outline: Two men, Algernon and John, who are friends meet each other in Algy’s house where John falls in love with Gwendolen, the daughter of Algernon’s Aunt Augusta. John owns a house in the country, where everybody calls him Jack. But in the city he introduces himself as Ernest, because he always says he has a brother in the country whose name is Jack.
There in the country he has a ward, Cecily and a governess, Miss Prism. When Algy visits
John’s house in the country without the knowledge of Jack, who is in London, he meets
Cecily and they fall in love. To be welcomed nicely Algernon introduces himself as the brother of John, Ernest (in the country John told them that his brother is named Ernest). John returns home and after him Gwendolen and her mother, Lady Bracknell enter the house.
Cecily and Gwendolen recognise that both, Algy and John, told them a lie when they introduced themselves both as Ernest. In the end everything is cleared up: John has been lost as a baby in a hand-bag by Miss Prism who once worked in Lord Bracknell’s house and is the brother of Algernon. John’s really name is Ernest like his father’s name and Gwendolen and
Algernon, and Cecily and Ernest are engaged and are going to marry.
Principal Characters
Algernon: secretive; he uses lies to have a better look and to solve problems;
John: he tells lies to everybody; was lost as he was a child; sometimes strange behaviour;
Jack Worthing, gentleman of the Manor House; also known as "Ernest"
Celcily Cardew, Worthing's pretty young ward
Miss Prism, Cecily's governess
Lady Augusta Braknell, Algernon's aunt; concerned much about Society; always gives her advise; Gwendolen Fairfax, Lady Bracknell's daughter
BOOK REPORT
Author: Oscar Wilde
Tile: The Importance of Being Earnest
Date of publication: 1895 in three acts
Type of Work:
Comic, farcical play
Setting
Algeron´s flat in London, and a country house in Hertfordshire, England; in the 1890s
Plot outline: Two men, Algernon and John, who are friends meet each other in Algy’s house where John falls in love with Gwendolen, the daughter of Algernon’s Aunt Augusta. John owns a house in the country, where everybody calls him Jack. But in the city he introduces himself as Ernest, because he always says he has a brother in the country whose name is Jack.
There in the country he has a ward, Cecily and a governess, Miss Prism. When Algy visits
John’s house in the country without the knowledge of Jack, who is in London, he meets
Cecily and they fall in love. To be welcomed nicely Algernon introduces himself as the brother of John, Ernest (in the country John told them that his brother is named Ernest). John returns home and after him Gwendolen and her mother, Lady Bracknell enter the house.
Cecily and Gwendolen recognise that both, Algy and John, told them a lie when they introduced themselves both as Ernest. In the end everything is cleared up: John has been lost as a baby in a hand-bag by Miss Prism who once worked in Lord Bracknell’s house and is the brother of Algernon. John’s really name is Ernest like his father’s name and Gwendolen and
Algernon, and Cecily and Ernest are engaged and are going to marry.
Principal Characters
Algernon: secretive; he uses lies to have a better look and to solve problems;
John: he tells lies to everybody; was lost as he was a child; sometimes strange behaviour;
Jack Worthing, gentleman of the Manor House; also known as "Ernest"
Celcily Cardew, Worthing's pretty young ward
Miss Prism, Cecily's governess
Lady Augusta Braknell, Algernon's aunt; concerned much about Society; always gives her advise; Gwendolen Fairfax, Lady Bracknell's daughter