Plot Summary (Edexcel A-Level English Literature): Revision Notes
📚 Revision Notes
Plot Summary
infoNote
The Importance of Being Earnest is a comedy of manners that satirises Victorian society and its values, particularly the importance placed on social status and marriage. The play follows the romantic entanglements of two young men, Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, who both adopt the name "Ernest" to escape social obligations and pursue their romantic interests, leading to a series of misunderstandings and comic revelations.
Act I
Scene 1
- Algernon Moncrieff's flat in London.
- Algernon and his friend Jack Worthing discuss Jack's double life; Jack is known as "Ernest" in the city and "Jack" in the country.
- Jack reveals his intention to propose to Gwendolen Fairfax, Algernon's cousin.
- Algernon discovers Jack's cigarette case inscribed with "Cecily" and demands to know the truth.
- Jack admits he has an 18-year-old ward named Cecily in the country.
- Gwendolen and her mother, Lady Bracknell, arrive.
- Jack proposes to Gwendolen, who reveals she can only love a man named "Ernest."
- Lady Bracknell interviews Jack and disapproves of his lack of known parentage, found in a handbag as a baby at Victoria Station.
Act II
Scene 1
- The garden at Jack's country house.
- Cecily talks with Miss Prism, her governess.
- Algernon arrives, pretending to be "Ernest," Jack's brother.
- Cecily is enchanted by "Ernest," having been fascinated by Jack's stories of his wayward brother.
- Algernon proposes to Cecily, and she accepts, revealing she has always loved him and has written letters to herself from him.
Scene 2
- Jack arrives, announcing "Ernest's" death to end his double life.
- The arrival of Algernon as "Ernest" confounds Jack.
- Gwendolen arrives, having run away from London.
- Gwendolen and Cecily compare notes and discover both are engaged to "Ernest."
- The men's real names and duplicity are revealed.
Act III
Scene 1
- The drawing-room of Jack's country house.
- Lady Bracknell arrives, having followed Gwendolen.
- She is initially opposed to Algernon's engagement to Cecily but changes her mind when she learns of Cecily's substantial inheritance.
- Jack, as Cecily's guardian, refuses consent unless Lady Bracknell allows him to marry Gwendolen.
- Miss Prism is revealed to have lost Jack as a baby.
- Jack is discovered to be Algernon's older brother, named Ernest John, making him truly "Ernest."
- The play concludes with engagements restored: Jack (Ernest) Gwendolen, Algernon, and Cecily.
- Jack declares he has realised "the vital importance of being Earnest."