Algernon Moncrieff
A charming and decorative bachelor, nephew of Lady Bracknell, he is madly in love with Cecily Cardew, and best friend of Jack/Ernest Worthing. |
Jack/Ernest Worthing
A seemingly responsible and respectable young man who leads a double life. He is known as Jack in the country and Ernest in town. As a baby, Jack was discovered in a handbag in the cloakroom of Victoria Station by an old man. He is the guardian of Cecily Cardew. |
Lady Bracknell
Algernon’s snobbish, mercenary, and domineering aunt and Gwendolen’s mother. Lady Bracknell married well, and her primary goal in life is to see her daughter do the same. She is a cunning, narrow-minded, and authoritative lady. |
Gwendolen Fairfax
Algernon’s cousin and Lady Bracknell’s daughter. Gwendolen is in love with Jack, whom she knows as Ernest. She is sophisticated, intellectual, cosmopolitan, and utterly pretentious. |
Cecily Cardew
Jack’s ward, the granddaughter of the old gentlemen who found and adopted Jack when Jack was a baby. She is the age of 18 and is love with Algernon, whom she thinks is Ernest, Jacks fictitious younger brother. |
Miss Prism
Cecily’s governess, she speaks of having once written a novel whose manuscript was “lost” or “abandoned.” Also, she entertains romantic feelings for Dr. Chasuble. |