The Importance of Being Earnest Lesson Plan

How do the setting, dialogue, and events of the first half of Act I help set the mood?

Set on a late afternoon in the luxuriously furnished morning room of a London flat, the first act of The Importance of Being Earnest is instantly recognizable as a drawing-room comedy. (Discuss the definition of this term with the students, allowing them to guess at its meaning first if they are uncertain—they'll likely get close.) Algernon's early dialogue, first with Lane and then with Jack, introduces witty banter and light-hearted social critique that will characterize the rest of play's dialogue. The first act goes on to introduce the play's inciting incident through Algernon's...