The Importance of Being Earnest: The Persons of the Play

Dramatis Personae

John Worthing, J. P.
Algernon Moncrieff
Rev. Canon Chasuble, D.D.
Merriman, Butler
Lane, Manservant
Lady Bracknell
Hon. Gwendolen Fairfax
Cecily Cardew
Miss Prism, Governess

The Scenes of the Play

Act I: Algernon Moncrieff’s Flat in Half-Moon Street, W.

Act II: The Garden at the Manor House, Woolton.

Act III: Drawing-Room at the Manor House, Woolton.

Time: The present.

The Persons of the Play in brief

Jack Worthing, a justice of the peace, and his friend Algernon Moncrieff lead a cast that includes Algernon's aunt Lady Bracknell, her daughter Gwendolen Fairfax, Jack's ward Cecily Cardew, Cecily's governess Miss Prism and the rector, Canon Chasuble. Lane is Algernon's manservant and Merriman the butler at Jack's country house. Act I is set in Algernon's flat in Half-Moon Street, in the West End of London. Acts II and III move to the garden and then the drawing-room of the Manor House at Woolton, in Hertfordshire.

Summary

Who's who

Jack Worthing
The man with two names. A justice of the peace with a country house in Hertfordshire and guardian to Cecily Cardew, Jack was found as a baby in a handbag at Victoria Station and adopted by Thomas Cardew.
Algernon Moncrieff
The dandy Bunburyist. Lady Bracknell's nephew, who lives in Half-Moon Street, tears up what look like bills after a glance at the envelopes, and eats every sandwich and muffin within reach.
Lady Bracknell
Society's stern examiner. Gwendolen's mother and Algernon's Aunt Augusta, she keeps a list of eligible young men and interviews Jack with notebook and pencil.
Gwendolen Fairfax
In love with a name. Lady Bracknell's daughter and Algernon's cousin, poised, fashionable and entirely sure of herself.
Cecily Cardew
The romantic country ward. Thomas Cardew's granddaughter and Jack's eighteen-year-old ward, who finds German unbecoming and would rather water the roses.
Miss Prism
The governess with a past. Cecily's governess, a stern moralist who says 'As a man sows so let him reap' and urges Canon Chasuble to give up his single life.

Words to know

J. P.: justice of the peace, an unpaid local magistrate
Canon: a senior clergyman attached to a cathedral
D.D.: doctor of divinity, a senior university degree in theology
Hon.: short for Honourable, a courtesy title for a peer's child