The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest is a comedy play by Oscar Wilde. It is part of his four drawing-room plays, along with Lady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of No Importance and An Ideal Husband. It was premiered and published in 1895 and is in the public domain everywhere.

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• Reading time: 1h15
• Setting: It takes place in London and Hertfordshire, UK, at the end of the 19th century (the late Victorian Era).
• Premise: Jack has decided to go by another name, Ernest, when he is in town and by his real name when he is in the countryside, to maintain the appearance of respectability with his real identity, while leading a more dissolute life under his alias. He confides in his friend Algernon about this scheme. But one day, Algernon introduces himself as Ernest on a visit to the country manor house when Jack is not there.

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