The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People

The final play from Oscar Wilde’s pen is a stylish send-up of Victorian courtship and manners, complete with assumed names, mistaken lovers and a lost handbag. Jack and Algernon are best friends, both wooing ladies who think their names are Ernest, “that name which inspires absolute confidence.” Wilde’s effervescent wit, scathing social satire and high farce make this one of the most cherished plays in the English language.