The title The Importance of Being Earnest contains a pun. Why does Oscar Wilde use a pun for the title of his play? A. Wilde didn't intend for the title of his play to be a pun B. The earnest/Ernest joke strikes at the very heart of Victorian notions of respectability and duty. Gwendolen wants to marry a man called Ernest, and she doesn't care whether the man actually possesses the qualities that comprise earnestness. C. Jack and Algernon both invent the secret identity of Ernest in order to escape being earnest with women during courtship. D. Neither Gwendolen nor Cecily desires to marry anyone of the name of Ernest; therefore, Jack and Algernon, both posing as men named Ernest, must get christened to change their names, which isn't earnest behavior.