In Oscar Wilde's satire, The Importance of Being Earnest, he engages the audience with a profound amount of contradictory dialogue starting with the title . The importance of being Ernest has a completely different meaning than the importance of being serious. Wilde displays a considerable amount of wit in unveiling the importance of being both Ernest and serious. The play centers on a young man named Jack, who incidentally creates an alter ego, Ernest, in order to frequent the high aristocratic life of London. Jack became romantically involved with an upper-class socialite named Gwendolen. Although Gwendolen is equally fascinated by Jack, whom she knows as Ernest, it is largely for his name. She explains: “My ideal has always been to love someone named Ernest. There is something about that name that inspires absolute confidence” (Earnest Act 1). Algernon, Gwendolen's cousin, introduced the starry-eyed couple without knowing that the character of Ernest was not a reflection of his first name. As the story progresses, it is revealed to Algernon that Ernest is in truth Jack and the ward of a young woman named Cecily, who Algernon develops a curiosity for. Jack tells Algernon how he created the persona of his troubled younger brother, Ernest, so that he could escape the country to the city. Algernon describes his own deceptive creation of an invalid he calls Bunbury, whom he uses as a noble pardon to send himself from the city to the country. Algernon excuses himself during an important visit to Bunbury, an urgent and entirely fictional patient, to visit Cecily. When introduced, he explains that he is Jack's wayward brother, Ernest. Cecily, too excited to meet Ernest, is immediately seduced by Algern...... middle of paper ...... National Bibliography. Internet. April 26, 2014.Lalonde, Jeremy. “A “Revolutionary Outrage”: “The Importance of Being Serious” as Social Critique.” » Modern Drama 48.4 (2005): 659-676. Academic research completed. Internet. April 28, 2014. Raby, Peter. “The origins of the importance of being serious.” Modern Drama 37.1 (1994): 139-147. MLA International Bibliography. Internet. April 27, 2014. Felicia J. Ruf. “The Importance of Being Earnest (review).” Theater Journal 63.3 (2011): 462-464. MUSE project. Internet. April 26. 2014. .Sale, Roger. “Be serious.” Hudson Review 56.3 (2003): 475-84. JSTOR. Internet. April 26, 2014. Walkley, Alberta, Karl Beckson and BC Southam. “PART 15: THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING SERIOUS: Chapter 74: AB Walkley, On the Importance of Being Serious.” Oscar Wilde (Routledge) (1997): 223-225. Literary reference center. Internet. May 1 2014.