In your essay, make sure to:

• Analyze at least two specific characters (such as Algernon, Jack, Gwendolen, or Lady Bracknell) and illustrate how their actions reveal the disparity between social appearances and reality.
• Explore how Wilde utilizes wit, wordplay, and comic inversion to critique Victorian values like marriage, class, and respectability.
• Reflect on the significance of the name "Ernest" and what it suggests about the play's central irony.
• Support your argument with direct textual evidence (quotations and specific scenes).

In your essay, be sure to:

• Define what "social performance" means in the context of the play, using specific examples of characters adopting false identities or personas.
• Analyze how at least two characters (e.g., Algernon, Jack, Gwendolen, or Lady Bracknell) use deception, wit, or artifice to navigate social expectations.
• Examine how Wilde employs irony, wordplay, and paradox to critique the values of earnestness, duty, and propriety.
• Address a counterargument: Does the play's resolution imply that authenticity is, in fact, rewarded? How does Wilde complicate or challenge this notion?
• Conclude with a reflection on what Wilde's comedy reveals about the relationship between identity, truth, and social class.

Tip

Pay special attention to Wilde's title — the double meaning of "earnest" (the name Ernest vs. the quality of being sincere) is central to the play's satirical critique.