Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest has a title that is a play on words embodying the dichotomy in the play between reality and illusion, a dichotomy embodied as well in the main character of John Worthing, It is important for Jack to be earnest, meaning honest and aboveboard as well as open and sincere, and it is also important for him to be named "Ernest" because the woman he loves, Gwendolen, would prefer that this were so and fervently believes it to be so. Yet, in order to be named "Ernest" he has to fail at being earnest, since his name is not Ernest at all. He has been manipulating appearances and reality for some time, and he is soon to be caught in his own deceptions. The course of his travails actually leads him to a point where he can be both Ernest and earnest in reality, thus making an honest man of his in spite of himself.
John Worthing first gets himself into trouble when he is talking to his friend Algernon, who believes Jack's name is Ernest but who discovers that this is not so when he sees the name "Ernest" engraved on Jack's cigarette case:
Well, my name is Ernest in town and Jack in the country, and the cigarette case was given to me in the country (893).
This explanation does not suffice, so Jack has to tell Algy about his double life. In so doing, he inadvertently gives Algy an idea for becoming Ernest in order to meet Cecily.
Of greater importance is John's deception with regard to Gwendolen. He has manipulated reality with her as well, for she believes that his name is Ernest. When asked if she could love him if his name were not Ernest but were Jack, she replies that she could not:
No, there is very little music in the name Jack, if any at all, indeed. It does not thrill. It produces absolutely no vibrations. . . (897).
Of course, this is not the primary obstacle standing between Jack and Gwendolen, for that would be the fact that he has no idea who his parents...