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John Worthing (Jack/Ernest)

A Justice of the Peace and country gentleman who was found as a baby in a handbag at Victoria Station and adopted by the wealthy Thomas Cardew. He maintains a double life: 'Ernest' in town, 'Jack' in the country, using a fictitious profligate younger brother named Ernest as an excuse to escape his rural duties. He is guardian to Cecily Cardew and lives at a manor house in Woolton, with a London address at 149 Belgrave Square. He falls in love with Gwendolen Fairfax, who will only marry a man named Ernest, and eventually 'kills off' his invented brother before the plot forces a real reckoning with his identity.

Algernon Moncrieff

A witty, idle young bachelor living in a luxuriously furnished flat on Half-Moon Street, nephew to Lady Bracknell and cousin to Gwendolen Fairfax. He invents a permanently sickly friend named 'Bunbury' as a pretext to escape social engagements and go into the country, a practice he calls 'Bunburying.' He discovers Jack's secret via an engraved cigarette case, then travels to the country posing as Jack's brother 'Ernest' and falls in love with Cecily Cardew. He eats voraciously (cucumber sandwiches, muffins, bread and butter) throughout the story.

Lady Bracknell (Augusta)

A formidable, imperious society matron who vets suitors with a notebook and pencil, judging eligibility by income, address, and family connections rather than character. She is Algernon's aunt and Gwendolen's mother, married to the largely offstage Lord Bracknell. She initially forbids Jack from marrying Gwendolen because he has no known parentage, having been 'found' in a handbag, and later reveals she once employed Miss Prism as a nursemaid whose negligence caused a scandal twenty-eight years earlier.

Hon. Gwendolen Fairfax

Lady Bracknell's daughter, a fashionable and self-assured young woman devoted to bread and butter and fixed ideals. She declares she can only love a man named Ernest, believing the name inspires 'absolute confidence,' and accepts Jack's proposal on the spot, having decided in advance to say yes. She keeps a diary in which she records events, and briefly quarrels bitterly with Cecily Cardew over which of them is engaged to 'Ernest Worthing' before they reconcile as 'sisters.'

Cecily Cardew

The eighteen-year-old ward of John Worthing, granddaughter of his late benefactor Thomas Cardew, living at the Manor House under the tutelage of governess Miss Prism. Impulsive and imaginative, she keeps a diary of her own invented romance with Jack's fictitious brother 'Ernest,' writing his love letters to herself and recording that she 'broke off the engagement' with him on March 22nd before ever meeting him. She has a fortune of £130,000 in the Funds and does not legally come of age until thirty-five, per her grandfather's will.

Miss Prism

Cecily's governess at the Manor House, prim and moralizing, secretly the author of an unpublished three-volume novel. Twenty-eight years earlier, while employed as a nursemaid in Lord Bracknell's household, she absentmindedly placed a baby boy in a handbag and her novel manuscript in a perambulator, then left the pram in Bayswater and vanished with the handbag containing the child. She shows an interest in Dr. Chasuble and lectures Cecily on German grammar and Political Economy.

Rev. Canon Chasuble, D.D.

The local rector at the Manor House parish, a scholarly bachelor devoted to recycling a single sermon on 'the manna in the wilderness' for nearly any occasion, including christenings, harvest festivals, and funerals. He agrees to christen both Jack and Algernon under the name 'Ernest' in the same afternoon, and is on the verge of a romantic understanding with Miss Prism.

Lane

Algernon's manservant at the Half-Moon Street flat, dryly philosophical about marriage (having been married once, 'in consequence of a misunderstanding') and champagne consumption, which he attributes to the superior quality of a bachelor's wine.

Merriman

The butler at the Manor House, who announces visitors, manages the dog-cart, and diplomatically coughs to signal Lady Bracknell's arrival at an inopportune romantic moment.

Thomas Cardew

Cecily's late grandfather, who adopted the infant Jack Worthing and, in his will, made Jack guardian of Cecily and stipulated she would not come of age until thirty-five.

Bunbury

Algernon's entirely fictitious invalid friend, invented as a pretext for last-minute escapes to the country; Algernon eventually announces that Bunbury has died of being 'exploded,' i.e., found out.

Algernon's Flat, Half-Moon Street

A luxuriously and artistically furnished London bachelor apartment where Algernon entertains with cucumber sandwiches and champagne, and where Jack's secret cigarette case first reveals his double identity.

The Manor House, Woolton

Jack Worthing's country estate, featuring an old-fashioned rose garden, a morning-room, and a drawing-room. It is the setting for Cecily's lessons with Miss Prism, Algernon's arrival disguised as 'Ernest,' and the climactic revelations about Jack's parentage.

149 Belgrave Square

Jack Worthing's London address, dismissed by Lady Bracknell as being on 'the unfashionable side' of the square.

Willis's Restaurant

A fashionable London dining establishment where Jack and Algernon plan to dine together, requiring a reservation secured well in advance.

London Society

The world of eligible bachelors, marriageable young women, and matchmaking mothers governed by strict codes of income, address, and pedigree, epitomized by Lady Bracknell's habit of interviewing suitors from a prepared list and note-book of eligible young men.

The Cigarette Case

A silver cigarette case belonging to Jack, inscribed 'From little Cecily, with her fondest love,' which Algernon refuses to return until Jack explains his double life, precipitating the discovery of Jack's 'Bunburying.'

Miss Prism's Hand-bag

A capacious old handbag in which Miss Prism mistakenly placed an infant boy twenty-eight years before the main events, while depositing her novel manuscript in the pram instead; the bag was later found by Mr. Thomas Cardew's brother and its contents (the baby) became Jack Worthing. Jack still keeps the very handbag in his dressing-room as proof of his origins.

Cecily's Diary

A diary in which Cecily records an entirely imagined romance with 'Ernest,' including a fictitious engagement beginning February 14th and a breakup on March 22nd, complete with love letters she wrote to herself on his behalf.

Bunburying

A term coined by Algernon Moncrieff for the practice of inventing a fictitious person or excuse (such as an invalid friend) in order to escape social obligations and pursue private pleasures elsewhere, considered both scandalous and essential among fashionable young men.

The Importance of the Name Ernest

Both Gwendolen Fairfax and later Cecily Cardew independently declare that they can only love a man named Ernest, believing the name itself inspires confidence and romance; this fixation drives both Jack and Algernon to arrange emergency christenings so they may legally take the name.

The Bayswater Perambulator Incident

Twenty-eight years before the present action, Miss Prism, then a nursemaid in the Bracknell household, absentmindedly swapped a baby and her novel manuscript, leaving the pram (with manuscript) abandoned in Bayswater while she carried the baby away in a handbag; the child was later found and adopted, becoming the man known as John Worthing.