All the main characters lead a double life.

Jack has invented an imaginary broth er, Ernest, who enables him to get up to all kinds of mischief in town with impu nity. Into the bargain, Jack gains an appearance of charitable behavior in his f orays to town ostensibly taken to help his brother out of trouble. Algernon has invented an imaginary friend, Bunbury, who enables him to escape his responsibil ities by going to the country, and, like Jack, to appear charitable. Gwendolen f ixates so strongly on marrying someone called Ernest that by the time Jack propo ses, she has already constructed their romance in her mind; he hardly has to do any wooing for herself. For her, the imaginary Ernest represents sincerity. Ceci ly too constructs an entire engagement for her and Ernest, complete with a break a nd reconciliation, so fascinated is she by his wicked reputation. Even those paragons of apparent Victorian respectability, Lady Bracknell and Mi ss Prism, have hidden pasts. Lady Bracknell had a sister whose son was lost at t he very railway station that, in her mind, is such a disreputable place that it disqualifies Jack from marrying Gwendolen. Moreover, the son who was lost is Jac k, whom, before the revelation of his true identity, she had despised as a socia l outcast. Miss Prism, too, has a dark secret, having fled her position as Mrs. Moncrieff s governess after mistaking the baby Jack for the manuscript of her nove l. Thus, in the play, nobody is what they seem. In particular, the veneer of respe ctability that society demands is never what it seems. It cannot be taken at fac e value. Bunbury was then the name Oscar chose to name the non-existent character of the invalid that Algy goes to visit each time he also wants to go somewhere else and do whatever it is that he does. Yet, if we use the term "as is", bunburying would be the antithesis of earnestne ss, that is, lies vs. truth. In those days, however, the truth "was never pure a nd rarely simple" and the hypocritical, uber prudish and elitist Victorian menta lity permeated just about every aspect of morality and righteousness. Everyone bunburied amidst the societal insistence of earnestness As Jack, otherwise know as John, has an alternate identity through his "younger brother" Ernest, Algernon also has an alternate one through his invalid friend B unbury. As stated by Algernon, "I have invented an invaluable permanent invalid called Bunbury, in order that I may be able to go down into the country whenever I choose." As Algernon constantly tries to rile Jack up, he creates this indent ity in order to not only contradict Jack's own secret, but also to have the chan ce to meet Jack's ward, Cecily, whom he later proposes to. Now Bunburying relate s to the title of the play and modern victorian society just as the name Ernest does. Wilde's contemporary society was focused on earnestness and the beauty of their society. The definition of earnest used in this play literally means truth ful and honest which is the opposite of what is actually portrayed. Wilde just u ses Bunburying as another example of the so-called earnestness that the characte rs believe they have when in fact all they are doing is living false lives and a re lying to their loved ones. The only time the characters specifically realize the importance of being earnest is actually with Jack's very last line in which he states this exact thing and therefore opens "society's" eyes to the true mea ning of being earnestAlgy invents a friend "Bunbury" who is an invalid, in that way allowing Algy to get out of boring dinners with family friends and relatives . When he wants to get out of something, he tells his family that he has to go c are for the invalid. He calls this "bunburying" obviously for the name of his ma de up invalid, bunbury. What this says about Victorian earnestness is that frien dship is important, and everyone believes that tending to an invalid is a good e xcuse for leaving at the last minute. It's a critique at Victorian society. Ever yone is so earnest about caring for relatives and invalids, they just assume tha t Algy is the same, and accept it at face value. Overall, even today the term "Bunburyist" refers to a person with a double life,

and it is still termed as a homosexual coinage.

"Bunbury" is the imaginary friend Jack (Earnest) must "visit" in order to avoid attending his aunt's long and boring dinner parties. This is a purely virtual in vention of his to have an excuse for his absence. According to Jack, his "friend " is of very fragile health and often needs his personal attendance. Of course, these "spells" conveniently occur whenever Jack needs them to get away. On a symbolic level Bunbury represents all the sham and double talk that has got Jack into trouble in the first place. It is the main vehicle for the intrique o f the story- along with, of course, his own lost (then refound) identity.