Everything about Oscar Wilde and his play, The Importance of being Earnest.

1. By: Oscar
Wilde

2. Contents
• Victorian Era
• Oscar Wilde
• About play
• Characters
• Act 1
• Act 2
• Act 3

3. VictorianEra
• Victorian literature is the body of poetry,
fiction, essays, and letters produced during the
reign of Queen Victoria(1837–1901). During
the nineteenth century the novel become the
leading form of literature in English.

4. OscarWilde
OscarFingal O’flahertie Wills Wilde
• Born 16th 1854 Dublin
• Died 30th 1900 France
• Became famous with the publication of his novel The picture
of Dorian Gray
• He wrote several serious plays , 4 comedies and 1 novel
• popular literally figure in late Victorian England
• often condemned for homosexuality.

5. TheImportanceofBeingEarnest
ATrivial ComedyforSeriousPeople
• Oscar Wilde’s last and
best play
• First audience was on
Saint Valentine’s Day
• Wrote during the late
Victorian era
• Criticizes Victorian
moral and social values
• Is a satire (the way of
using humor to show
that something or
someone is foolish)
• filmed in 2002

6. Characters
• Jack Worthing also known as Ernest Worthing, a rich bachelor
• Algernon Moncrieff Jack’s friend, also a rich bachelor
• Lady Augusta Bracknell Algernon’s aunt
• Gwendolen Fairfax Lady Bracknell’s daughter
• Cecily Cardew Jack Worthing’s ward
• Miss Laetitia Prism Cecily’s governess

7. Act 1
Jack lives in the country, but
when he comes to London he
uses the name Ernest. He is in
love with Gwendolen
(Algernon’s cousin). He wants
to marry her and she accepts
it, because she always wanted
to marry someone with the
name Ernest. Gwendolen’s
mother, Lady Bracknell, is at
firs happy until she discovers
that Jack does not know who
his parents are.

8. Act2
• In the second act, the scene
is set in Jack’s country
house. Algernon arrives
hoping to find out his
friend’s secret. Introduced
himself as Ernest. He met
Jack’s ward Cecily, and
between them is love at
first sight. But Gwendolen
and Cecily meet each other
in the temporary absence of
the two man. They figure
out that both are in love
with Ernest.

9. Act3
• In the third act Lady Bracknell
arrives and again forbids
Gwendolen to marry Jack but
Lady Bracknell unexpectedly
recognized Miss Prism, she
had been her dead sister’s
governess. She confesses that
she put the baby into the
handbag which she left on
Victoria station. On hearing
this, Jack leaves the room and
comes back with the handbag
in which he has been found. It
turns out that Jack is
Algernon’s brother. And his
original name was Ernest. All is
well, in the end, and two
couples can finally marry.

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