Algernon, in full Algernon Moncrieff, fictional character, a witty man-about-town in Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance Of Being Earnest (1895). Algernon Moncrieff, known as Algy, is the nephew of Lady Bracknell. He pretends to be the brother of his friend Jack Worthing so that he may meet Cecily, Jack’s ward. Algernon invents an imaginary invalid friend named Bunbury, whom he pretends to be called away to visit whenever he wants to avoid an encounter or an activity.
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Oscar Wilde, Irish wit, poet, and dramatist whose reputation rests on his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray(1891), and on his comic masterpieces Lady Windermere’s Fan(1892) and The Importance…
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest, play in three acts by Oscar Wilde, performed in 1895 and published in 1899. A satire of Victorian social hypocrisy, the witty play is considered Wilde’s greatest dramatic achievement. Jack Worthing is a…
English literatureEnglish literature, the body of written works produced in the English language by inhabitants of the British Isles (including Ireland) from the 7th century to the present day. The major literatures written in English outside the British Isles are treated separately under American literature,…