YMMV / The Importance of Being Earnest

• Alternate Character Interpretation: The 2002 film reveals at the end that Jack is lying about his real name being Ernest. Lady Bracknell finds out but lets it go due to how happy he makes her daughter. This naturally caused some controversy among fans of the play, though a few actually say it fits the tone perfectly.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Jack plans to claim that his brother Ernest died of disease in a Paris hotel. This is exactly how the play's author, Oscar Wilde, would die five years after the play premiered.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: In 2007 a rare first edition of the Play was found in a Charity Shop in a handbag.
• Ho Yay: Unsurprisingly, given the author. Which quickly becomes squicky at the end.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Lady Bracknell's incredulous "A handbag?!!" has almost entered British English as a stock phrase.
    • The Large Ham delivery by Dame Edith Evans in the 1952 film has taken on a life of its own on YouTube. She manages to get about six or seven syllables into "handbag".
  • To a lesser extent, "To misplace one parent might be regarded as a misfortune, to misplace both seems like carelessness!" is often used by Private Eye for political scandals, Mad Libs-style.
• Overshadowed by Controversy: The original production was curtained by the events of Wilde's arrest and trial for Homosexualty, in an attempt to protect the play the Theatre removed Wilde's name from posters and programs but it failed, the play closed just as the trials which left Wilde guilty and sentenced for 2 years.
  • This downfall affected the play with the Broadway Premiere lasting only 16 days.
  • It wouldn't be until a London revival in 1909 (with Wilde's work now back in print) ended the controversy.
• Retroactive Recognition: Miss Prism is played by Margaret Rutherford, who would later be best known for playing Miss Marple in the Miss Marple films.
• Shipping Bed Death: Discussed.
  It is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal. Why, one may be accepted. One usually is, I believe. Then the excitement is all over. The very essence of romance is uncertainty.
• Tough Act to Follow: Dame Edith Evans as Lady Bracknell cemented the way the character would be played for nearly half a century, but the 1982 production starring Judi Dench as Bracknell changed the view on her as a Large Ham.
• Unintentional Period Piece: The play takes a jab at the Liberal Unionist Party, who had split from the Liberal Party out of opposition to Irish Home Rule and formed a coalition with the Tories. Jack tells Lady Bracknell that he is a Liberal Unionist because he has no politics, and she replies, "Oh, they count as Tories. They dine with us. Or come in the evening, at any rate." All this will likely go over the heads of modern audiences.
• Values Dissonance: The play ends with Jack and Gwendolyn getting married, but no attention is made to the fact that they've turned out to be cousins. Though to a modern view it might add to the hilarity instead.

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