(1895). Comedy devised to display the wit of its author, who called it his "somewhat farcical comedy."
The play concerns the amorous misadventures of two carefree young gentlemen: John Worthing, inventor of a fictitious brother, "Ernest," whose wicked ways provide John with an excuse to leave his country home from time to time for London; and Algernon Moncrieff, his friend and confidant, with whose cousin, Gwendolyn Fairfax, John is in love.
Using the name Ernest, John has won Gwendolyn 's love, for she strongly desires to marry someone with that confidence-inspiring name. But when he asks her hand from the formidable Lady Bracknell, John has to reveal that he is a foundling who was left in a handbag at Victoria Station. This is all very disturbing to Lady Bracknell, who refuses to consent unless he can produce at least one parent.
Returning to the country home where he lives with his ward, Cecily Cardew, and her governess Miss Prism, John finds that Algernon has arrived, using the identity of the non-existent brother. Algernon falls madly in love with the imaginative Cecily, who has long been enamoured of the mysterious, fascinating Ernest.
With the arrival of Lady Bracknell and Gwendolyn, chaos erupts. It is soon discovered that Miss Prism is the absent-minded nurse who twenty years ago misplaced the baby of Lady Bracknell's brother in Victoria Station. So John, whose name really is Ernest, is Algernon's elder brother. The play ends with each couple in a happy embrace.