In the drawing rooms of London and the gardens of Hertfordshire, Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff maintain elaborate fictions—Jack's dissolute brother Ernest and Algernon's invalid friend Bunbury—that grant them freedom from Victorian propriety. When both men pursue romantic engagements under the name Ernest, their deceptions entangle Gwendolen Fairfax and Cecily Cardew in a web of imaginary courtships, diary-recorded fantasies, and name-based devotion. The comedy unravels through Lady Bracknell's formidable interrogation, a handbag's improbable provenance, and the final recognition that fiction has been fact from the start.
Cecily recounts the elaborate, entirely imaginary history of her engagement to Algernon, whom she believes to be Ernest. On February fourteenth, worn out by his ignorance of her existence, she accepted him under the old tree in the garden. She purchased a ring in his name and a bangle with a true lover’s knot. She shows him a box of letters tied with blue ribbon—all written by herself, since he never wrote any. She even describes a fictional breakup on March twenty-second, when the weather was charming, because a truly serious engagement must be broken off at least once. Algernon is enchanted by her romantic inventiveness, kissing her and admiring her hair.
But Cecily confesses a girlish dream: she could never love anyone not named Ernest. The name inspires absolute confidence. She pities any married woman whose husband bears another name. Algernon, horrified, suggests his actual name—Algernon—but she rejects it outright. She might respect him, she admits, but she could not give him her undivided attention. Desperate, Algernon asks about Dr. Chasuble and rushes off to arrange an immediate christening, promising to return in half an hour. Cecily, left alone, enters his proposal in her diary.
Merriman announces a visitor: Miss Fairfax has called on important business. Gwendolen enters, and the two women exchange eager compliments. Gwendolen declares they will be great friends; her first impressions are never wrong. They sit together, and Gwendolen mentions her father, Lord Bracknell, unknown outside the family circle. She examines Cecily through a lorgnette, expressing satisfaction that Cecily is Jack’s ward rather than his wife—though she wishes the ward were older and less alluring, given Ernest’s noble but susceptible nature. The conversation turns dangerous when Cecily reveals she is engaged to Mr. Ernest Worthing.
Gwendolen rises with perfect politeness. There must be some error: Ernest is engaged to her. The announcement will appear in the Morning Post on Saturday. Cecily counters that Ernest proposed ten minutes ago, showing her diary. Gwendolen produces her own diary, noting that Ernest proposed yesterday at five-thirty. Each woman claims prior right. The rivalry sharpens into accusation—Gwendolen suggests entrapment, Cecily retorts that Ernest has clearly changed his mind. They drop the shallow mask of manners.
Merriman arrives with tea, and the servants’ presence forces a strained ceasefire. The women exchange barbs disguised as conversation. Gwendolen disparages the country, its crowds, its flowers. Cecily sweetly suggests that flowers are as common in the country as people are in London. When Gwendolen requests no sugar, Cecily puts in four lumps. When Gwendolen asks for bread and butter, Cecily serves a large slice of cake. Gwendolen’s indignation finally breaks through her composure.
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