What is the significance of the title The Importance of Being Earnest?

The
title relates to two aspects of the play: the last line and the overall conceit. At the very
end, when all four characters are sorted out into two couples, Jack says he has learned the
vital importance of being earnest. Of course, he has done no such thing. If anything, he has
learned that lying pays off. In general, however, Jack is not much worse than the other
characters in that regard. Wildes main point is to ridicule the conventions of society and point
out the pervasiveness of hypocrisy.

While Jack uses the pseudonym
"Ernest" to hide his shenanigans, other characters also engage in duplicity. Algernon
appropriates the Ernest identity when it suits him, compounding his own deceptive practice of
employing an alter ego to go carousing in London. Although the young men improve their behavior
somewhat, when they decide it is time to marry, their sincerity remains in doubt. When
it...