The importance of being serious: Characters

The importance of being serious: Characters

(John) Jack Worthing

John was found in a handbag at a train station as a baby, and it is unknown who his biological family is. He leads a double life as the responsible and moral Jack, who runs a mansion in Hertfordshire, and the dissolute and irresponsible Ernest, who frequently flees to London.

Algernon Moncrief

Algernon is a friend of Jack Worthing, but he knows him as Ernest. He’s funny and charming, but a bit of a bad boy. He avoids his social responsibilities by pretending to have a chronically ill friend who he frequently has to take care of.

Gwendolen Fairfax

Gwendolen is Lady Bracknell’s daughter and Algernon Moncrief’s cousin. She knows Jack as Ernest and is in love with him (and the name Ernest). She exudes the sophistication and morality of high society.

Cecily Cardew

Cecily is Jack Worthing’s ward. She is obsessed with the false beliefs of Jack’s brother Ernest, to whom she is attracted both by her name and her reputation as a bad boy. She imagines a romance with her fake brother so strongly that she believes they are already engaged.

Lady Bracknell

Mrs. Bracknell is Gwendolen Fairfax’s mother and Algernon Moncrief’s aunt. She is aristocratic and snobbish, more interested in appearance than substance. She wants Gwendolen to marry someone of high social status.