《认真的重要性》（不可儿戏） 英文原声文学作品

The Importance of Being Earnest (认真的重要性 或 不可儿戏)

本剧主角 Jack Worthing 是 Cecily Cardew 的监护人。在 Cecily 眼中，Jack 是个极其认真和严谨的人。

然而多年来 Jack 一直骗 Cecily 自己在伦敦有个挥霍无度的弟弟叫 Earnest。由于要接济这位虚构的弟弟，Jack 要经常要离开 Cecily 居住的赫特福德跑到伦敦去。

Jack 在伦敦时则以“Earnest”自称。他结识了 Algernon Moncrieff（简称 Algy）的表妹 Gwendolen Fairfax，并和她开始交往。

至于另一位主角 Algy 则讹称自己在城郊有位经常生病，名叫 Bunbury 的朋友。

每当 Algy 想逃避一些社会责任，或者只是想趁周末外出休息一下，他就骗人说要去探望这位同样是虚构出来的朋友。他将这种虚构身份或制造双重身份的做法称为“bunburying”。

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 fashionable young man who lives in the country with his ward, Cecily Cardew. He has invented a rakish brother named Ernest whose supposed exploits give Jack an excuse to travel to London periodically to rescue him. Jack is in love with Gwendolen Fairfax, the cousin of his friend Algernon Moncrieff. Gwendolen, who thinks Jack’s name is Ernest, returns his love, but her mother, Lady Bracknell, objects to their marriage because Jack is an orphan who was found in a handbag at Victoria Station. Jack discovers that Algernon has been impersonating Ernest in order to woo Cecily, who has always been in love with the imaginary rogue Ernest. Ultimately it is revealed that Jack is really Lady Bracknell’s nephew, that his real name is Ernest, and that Algernon is actually his brother. The play ends with both couples happily united.