The Importance of Being Earnest Act One
The play opens in the apartment of a young bachelor, Algernon Moncrieff, located in the illustrious neighborhood of London’s West End. Algernon plays the piano rather badly off-stage and enters just as his Butler brings in a tray of Cucumber sandwiches. The sandwiches are meant for Algernon’s aunt, Lady Bracknell, who is expected to arrive shortly with her daughter, Gwendolen Fairfax. Algernon absentmindedly eats a sandwich while questioning Lane about the household books, particularly about the inordinate number of champagne bottles that have been ascribed to him. Lane dismisses the inquiry languidly, and the two move to a discussion about married life. Lane departs, and Algernon soliloquizes about the need for the lower classes to set a better example for the higher classes. The butler returns to announce the arrival of Mr. Ernest Worthington, and he is soon shown to the room. Ernest explains that he is in Town for business rather than pleasure, and upon further examination, he reveals that he is in town because he intends to propose to Miss Gwendolen Fairfax.
Algernon and Ernest are consumed by a discussion about whether Ernest’s purpose can truly be recognized as a business. Egernon then halts the discussion as he feels responsible for Gwendolen since she is his cousin, and he has learned of a connection between Ernest and a woman named Cecily. Ernest vehemently denies knowledge of anyone with that name, but Algernon proves that this is untrue by producing a cigarette case that Ernest had left during his last visit. The contains an inscription that deems the case a gift by Cecily for someone named Jack. Ernest refuses to engage with Algernon’s questions at first but he soon relents. Ernest explains that he is Jack, a name he uses for himself in the country, while he presents himself as Ernest upon his visits to Town. The young woman, Cecily, is his ward who had been entrusted to his care by the man who had adopted Ernest as a child. This role as a guardian necessitated unquestionable moral values, which made life rather dull, and so he invented a young and troubled brother called Ernest Worthington.
Algernon attempts to gain further information about Cecily but Jack refuses to reveal anything beyond the fact that she lives on his estate in the country with her governess Miss Prism. Algernon further reveals that he had always suspected Jack of being a fellow Bunburyist, but Jack doesn’t quite understand the term. Algernon explains that he had invented a perpetually ill friend named Bunbury, whose poor health could be used as an excuse to extricate himself from arduous social engagements. He explains that he intends to use Bunbury as an excuse that very evening to dine with Algernon instead of attending his aunt’s dinner. Jack refuses the title of a Bunburyist, as he states his desire to kill off Ernest Worthington after proposing to Gwendolen, and he cites Cecily’s interest in the fictitious personality as a further reason for his intended course of action. He advises Algernon to pursue a similar tact with Bumbury, and they begin discussing the merits of Bunburying for marriage. Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Lane, who announces the arrival of Lady Bracknell and her daughter.
Lady Bracknell gossips avidly about women from her society and asks for the cucumber sandwiches that he had promised her. Algernon discovers that he has consumed all the cucumber sandwiches, and when he questions Lane about them, the butler covers for his master by claiming that he has found no cucumbers in the market. They move to a discussion about that evening’s dinner, and Algernon excuses himself on account of his sick friend, Bunbury. Lady Bracknell dislikes Bunbury’s indecision about dying and living, and Algernon leads her to the other room with an excuse of discussing music. Gwendolen and Jack are left on their own, and he immediately begins to hesitantly tell her about his feelings for her. Gwendolen takes charge of the conversation and explains that she has similar feelings for him. Jack is disappointed to learn that a large part of her feelings for him are based on the fact that he is called Ernest. She loves the name and goes further to claim that she wouldn’t be quite as interested in marrying him if he were named anything else. Lady Bracknell returns and learns from Gwendolen that she intends to marry Ernest Worthington. Lady Bracknell dismisses the notion until she has interviewed him herself. They interview in private, and Jack resembles a favorable match until she turns the conversation to his lineage. Jack adroitly explains that he had been adopted by his benefactor after he had been discovered in a handbag that was found in the cloakroom of Victoria Station.
The scandalized Lady Bracknell leads Gwendolen out of the house, and Algernon joins Jack. He questions Jack about whether he had confided in Gwendolen about his Bunburying and the fact that he had a young ward on his estate. Jack restates his desire to kill off Ernest and believes that Cecily and Gwendolen will be like sisters to one another when they meet one another. Gwendolen reappears and asks to speak with Jack in private, and Algernon excuses them. She tells Jack that his background has inspired deeper love for him and that she wishes to be with no one besides him. She asks him for his address in the Country, and Algernon covertly writes it down on his shirt cuff. Jack escorts Gwendolen to her carriage, while Algernon has Lane prepare his suitcase for a day of Bunburying. Jack returns singing praises of Gwendolen, while Algernon laughs as he surreptitiously examines his shirt cuff.
