ShmoopTube

Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.

Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos


19th-Century British Literature Videos 14 videos

A Tale of Two Cities
53963 Views

It may be the best of times for Chuck Darnay, but it's pretty much constantly the worst of times for Sydney. Poor guy.

A Tale of Two Cities Summary
75858 Views

Meet Charles Darnay, the nobleman who spends more time on trial and in prison than attending balls and drinking expensive wine. Don't feel too bad...

Emma
6948 Views

Meet Emma Woodhouse of Jane Austen's Emma. She’s a rich young woman with a good social life living in 18th-century England. We bet she has an aw...

See All

The Importance of Being Earnest Summary 123038 Views


Share It!


Description:

They say that honesty is the best policy, but Jack lies about his identity and still gets the girl. Does that mean we should all lie to get what we want? Not so much.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:00

The importance of being earnest a'la Shmoop

00:08

just like to get one thing clear That guy over

00:10

there is not the real Ernest His real name is [Imposter waving]

00:14

algernon and he's An impostor Oh can you weren't well

00:18

ok my name isn't really earnest either My real name

00:21

is jack worthing but i only use that name

00:24

when i'm doing responsible grownup things like caring for my

00:27

ward cecil e sometimes though a guy just has to

00:31

get away from it all and let his hair down [Jack laying on beach]

00:33

so to speak that's Why i invented a wild younger

00:36

brother and earnest when i'm going nuts I simply

00:40

make up a story about ernest latest hijinks and i

00:43

have to go away for a while Tio rescue him

00:46

Basically ernest is really code for mental health break Sometimes [Jack covered in wrapping]

00:51

i even pretend to be earnest In fact that was

00:53

undercover is earnest when i first met algernon and more

00:57

importantly his cousin gwendolyn at what point during the dating

01:01

process is it appropriate to reveal your secret identity Well [Jack appears with Ernest face]

01:05

anyway things We're all good with me and glenn I

01:08

was even thinking marriage but aldranon found a cigarette case

01:11

that cecil e had Given me and jumped to conclusions

01:14

Wait you smoke So i had to tell him about

01:17

ernest and that's when the trouble started Luckily aldranon also

01:21

had an imaginary getaway Excuse So he thought ernest was

01:25

kind of cool eh Too bad his buzz kill aunt

01:28

lady bracknell didn't feel the same way Apparently nice girls [Lady Bracknell headbutts Jack]

01:33

aren't supposed to marry men who were abandoned in a

01:35

train station as an infant I was so upset that

01:38

i decided to murder my brother ernest I headed home

01:43

to break the news to cecil e about dear departed [Jack riding train]

01:45

uncle ernest Much to my surprise ernest was already there

01:49

in living color looking a lot like aldranon and flirting

01:52

with my war You're dead a boxer because you're a knockout

01:55

Now there were two ladies in love with fake ernest

01:59

And to make matters worse gwendolyn and cecily got together

02:02

and became convinced that they were engaged to the same

02:05

ernest Lady bracknell was less than thrilled about the idea

02:09

of her daughter and nephew marrying total nobody's But fortunately

02:12

these nobody's had redeeming qualities Cecil was loaded and i [Money falling from sky]

02:16

had a handbag that doesn't sound too impressive but it

02:19

did solve the mystery Of my birth Wait your name

02:21

is actually ernest I read me so now i have

02:25

a new brother anu aunt and a slamming fiance [Oscar wilde sighs at desk]

Related Videos

A Tale of Two Cities Summary
75858 Views

Meet Charles Darnay, the nobleman who spends more time on trial and in prison than attending balls and drinking expensive wine. Don't feel too bad...

Shakespeare on Love
17379 Views

We may all be fools when it comes to love, but thankfully none of us will accidentally switch places with our twin brother and fall in love with ou...

Utopias Becoming Dystopias
29768 Views

This video defines utopias and dystopias, and investigates how a utopia might become a dystopia. Can a seemingly perfect world actually be a dystop...

ELA 5: Themes
1128 Views

Picking a theme for a party is pretty easy—always go karate party, because they come with nunchuck egg rolls. Themes in writing are a little diff...

Stop Worrying and Love the Book
1669 Views

Books are meant to be enjoyed. Sure, authors have different motives for their works—some may want to start a revolution while others hope to deli...