Doc Yoder's Notes
Page numbers are keyed to the 3 act version in the Norton Anthology to English Literature Vol. 2, 8th edition, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al. The acts in Wilde's play are not divided into scenes, which maintains continuity within the acts, but can make the action difficult to examine in it's parts. These notes are primarily intended to address that situation.
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (first staged 1895; first published 1899)
Act I
- Algernon and Jack (Jack in the country, Ernest in town; p. 1702); intro "Bunburying" (pp. 1702-3); Algy has Jack's cigarette case, hears about Cecily(pp. 1699-1704)
- Enter Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen; Algy and Lady B talk center stage, while Jack and Gwen are off to the side (pp. 1704-1706)
- Exit Algy and Lady B to the music room; Jack and Gwen take center stage; Jack proposes to Gwen; Gwen tells him she can only love a man named Ernest (pp. 1706-1707)
- Enter Lady B, finds Jack on his knees, sends Gwen away (exit Gwen); Lady B interrogates Jack as a prospective husband for Gwen; we learn that he has lost both parents ("seems like carelessness"), and was found in a handbag (with handles) in a cloak room at Victoria Station, Brighton Line; Lady B objects to her daughter "marry[ing] into a cloak room and form[ing] an alliance with a parcel" (pp. 1707-1710)
- Exit Lady B, enter Algy; Jack plans to kill his "brother," Ernest, at least as far as Cecily is concerned; Algy is interested in Cecily (pp. 1710-1712)
- Enter Gwen who wants to see Jack despite Lady B's objections; Algy overhears Jack tell her his address in the country
Act II
- Cecily and Miss Prism; avoiding German lessons, mention of Miss Prism's "abandoned" three-volume novel, and "the unfortunate young man, [Jack's] brother"; enter Dr. Chasuble, some innuendo about him and Miss Prism, they exit for a walk (pp. 1713-1715)
- enter Algy (as Ernest Worthing) to Cecily; they banter then go inside to eat (pp. 1715-1717)
- enter Miss Prism and Chasuble, a bit of malapropism and flirting; enter Jack in mourning, announces that Ernest has died of a "severe chill," then makes arrangements with Chasuble to be christened later in the afternoon; Cecily brings in Algy (as Ernest); Jack is livid; exit Cecily, Miss Prism and Chasuble (pp. 1717-1720)
- Jack and Algy argue; Jack calls for the dogcart to take Algy away; Exit Jack, enter Cecily; Cecily and Algy talk love; Cecily describes her one-sided relationship with "Ernest," including their engagement; Cecily says that she can only love someone named Ernest; exit Algy to be christened (pp. 1720-1724)
- Enter Gwen; she and Cecily are immediate friends until they learn that they are both engaged to "Ernest," at which point they drop the "shallow mask of manners"; Gwen asks for no sugar in her tea and for bread and butter, but Cecily gives her lots of sugar and cake; enter Jack and then Algy; "Ernest" is revealed; exit Gwen and Cecily, reconciled in their misery (pp. 1724-1729)
- Algy and Jack bicker over the situation and fight over the muffins (pp. 1729-1731)
Act III
- Algy and Cecily, Jack and Gwen are reconciled, on the promise that the men will both be christened as "Ernest" (pp. 1731-1732)
- Enter Lady B; Lady B refuses to allow the engagements, until she learns that Cecily has 130,000 pounds in the Funds; then Cecily seems a good match; Lady B still objects to Gwen's engagement to Jack, who withholds his consent to Cecily's engagement to Algy; Cecily will not be legally of age until 35, and while Algy says he can wait, she cannot (pp. 1732-1736)
- Enter Chasuble to announce that all is prepared for the christenings; he mentions Miss Prism and Lady B recognizes the name; Miss Prism tells of misplacing the baby and the handbag; Jack produces the handbag, discovers he is really Algy's brother, and really named Ernest; all couples embrace, including Prism and Chasuble (pp. 1736-1740)
Some useful quotations, oppositions and associations:
- Gwendolen tells Jack that they live in "an age of ideals" (p. 1706)
- Cecily tell Gwendolen that this is no time for "the shallow mask of manners" (p. 1726)
- Jack tells Gwendolen that "it is very painful for me to be forced to tell the truth" (p. 1729)
- Lady Bracknell tells Jack that they live in "an age of surfaces" (p. 1734)
- accuracy vs expression (p. 1699)
- marriage vs romance (p. 1700)
- marriage vs bunburying (p. 1704)
- behaving well vs feeling well (p. 1704)
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- good taste = bad life (p. 1723)
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