Plot Summary

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 realized "the vital importance of being Earnest."