History Theatre / TheImportanceOfBeingEarnest

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Played with; Cecily claims that her "first impressions of people are never wrong" when really they are ''consistently'' wrong.

* BecomingTheMask: Jack pretends to be another person (his own brother) name Ernest while in the city, and Algernon pretends to be Jack's fictional brother Ernest while visiting Jack's relative Cecily. Both end up actually having to become men named Ernest when their love interests both want them to actually be named Ernest.

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Cecily

* SpotOfTea: Almost every single scene.

* TheKlutz: Miss Prism is this, especially as played by Margaret Rutherford. There's a moment in the film where she gets her watch chain tangled with her eyeglass chain holder and Cecily either hides a giggle, or Dorothy Tutin is {{Corpsing}} and they [[ThrowItIn threw it in]].
* KissingCousins / IncestIsRelative: At the end of the play, [[spoiler:since Jack is Algernon's brother, Jack's girlfriend Gwendolyn is his cousin. Of course, in Wilde's time this wasn't a particularly big deal.]]

[[quoteright:314:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_importance_of_being_earnest.jpg]]

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Allegedly, "Earnest" was a contemporary term, among homosexuals, for "homosexual". Thus, to those in the know, the title of the play becomes "The Importance of Being Homosexual", and the main characters who change their names...

* InventedIndividual: Algernon's [[InventedIndividual Ernest]] is the nonexistent "Mr Bunbury"; Jack's is, naturally, his brother Ernest.

Adapted for the screen several times, most famously a 1952 film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Creator/MichaelRedgrave and a 2002 film directed by Oliver Parker and starring Creator/ColinFirth.

* ParentalMarriageVeto

* PunBasedTitle: Meaning, of course, both "The importance of being named Ernest" and "the importance of being honest."

* PunBasedTitle: Meaning, of course, both "The importance of being named Ernest" and "the importance of being sincere."

* {{Adorkable}}: Miss Prism and Dr. Chasuble. Miles Malleson and Margaret Rutherford take this UpToEleven.

''The Importance of Being Earnest'' is an 1895 play by Irish playwright Creator/OscarWilde. It is a farce on the societal conventions and restrictions of late-Victorian society, and remains enormously popular today.

* LukeIAmYourFather

'''[[strike:Jack]]Ernest:''' On the contrary, Aunt Augusta -- I've now realised for the first time in my life the vital importance of being earnest.

* TurnOutLikeHisFather: "All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy."

* BrickJoke: "You will call me sister, will you not?"

* ContrivedCoincidence: The resolution of the plot hinges on a huge one.
** The Colin Firth film averts this. [[spoiler: Jack just lies. Lady Bracknell knows, but goes along with it.]]

* EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench: This is why Lady Bracknell ''doesn't'' want French songs played at her next reception.
** German, on the other hand, sounds "thoroughly respectable" -- and not just to Lady Bracknell. Cecily insists that studying German makes her look plain, and that's probably why Jack insists on her studying German extra hard whenever he's not there to chaperone her.

-->'''Cecily''': This is no time for wearing the shallow mask of manners. When I see a spade I call it a spade.
-->'''Gwendolyn''': I am glad to say that I have never seen a spade. It is obvious that our social spheres have been widely different.

* InventedInvalid: Algernon claims to be visiting his invalid friend Mr Bunbury, who suffers from "curiously bad health", allowing him to avoid his engagements with his relatives.
** Amusingly, Algy tries to [[ForcedMeme popularize]] with Jack the word "Bunburyist" to describe people who invent faraway, needy friends as excuses. The fanciful Bunbury, however, inspires minor pity in others and mostly just irritates Lady Bracknell, so he's not the Trope Namer.

* TheJailBaitWait: Algernon and Cecily can't marry without Jack's consent until Cecily is ''thirty-five''. Algernon is willing to wait that long, but Cecily isn't.
** Although that may have been yet another lie on Jack's part. In any case, he's clearly only withholding consent to blackmail Lady Bracknell into letting him marry Gwendolen.

* MeaningfulName: Dr. Chasuble's name refers to a piece of clerical clothing; also, the names of Algernon and Lady Bracknell allude to Wilde's lover Alfred Douglas and his mother -- the latter lived in the town of Bracknell and Moncrieff was the name of an ancient Scottish family just like that of Douglas.

-->'''Lady Bracknell:''' My nephew, you seem to be displaying distressing signs of triviality.
-->'''[[strike:Jack]]Ernest:''' On the contrary, Aunt Augusta -- I've now realised for the first time in my life the vital importance of being earnest.

* VerbalBackspace: "I must get christened at once--I mean we must get married at once."
** There's also "Oh! I killed Bunbury this afternoon. I mean poor Bunbury died this afternoon."

* EmbarrassingTattoo: In the 2002 movie, Gwendolyn gets a tattoo of the name "Ernest" ... and ''then'' finds out his name is Jack. Oops.

* NoLovesIntersect: Played straight, but double subverted InUniverse when Gwendolen and Cecily fall out when they both believe they are engaged to the same man.

* EmbarrassingTattoo: In the 2002 movie, Gwendolyn gets a tattoo of the name "Earnest" ... and ''then'' finds out his name is Jack. Oops.

* ImagineSpot: In the 2002 movie, Cecily has several involving her as a maiden being rescued by a knight. When she meets "Earnest" (Algie), she imagines him as a knight [[spoiler:and then imagines his visor snapping shut when she learns he isn't really named Earnest]].

* PunBasedTitle: Meaning, of course, both "The importance of being named Earnest" and "the importance of being sincere."

-->'''[[strike:Jack]]Ernest:''' On the contrary, Aunt Augusta -- I've now realised for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest.

* [[IHaveNoSon I Have No Brother]]: Cecily thinks Jack is invoking this trope when he really means that his brother has died.

* NiceToTheWaiter: When we first meet Algernon we know he's likable because he's having a pleasant conversation with his servant.

* KissingCousins / IncestIsRelative: At the end of the play, [[spoiler:since Jack is Algernon's brother, Jack's girlfriend Gwendolen is his cousin.]]

* GorgeousPeriodDress: The 1952 film is full of these.