his duties He says I have always pretended to have a younger brother of the name of Ernest The Obsession with the Name Ernest The second meaning is the name itself Gwendolen declares she can only love a man called Ernest In Act I she says The only really safe name is Ernest Cecily also imagines herself engaged to Ernest before meeting Algernon Love is linked to a name not to real character This shows the shallow values of Victorian society Comic Resolution of the Pun At the end Jack learns his true name was always Ernest In Act III he says I ve now realised for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest The pun becomes complete linking honesty and identity In Conclusion the title The Importance of Being Earnest is a brilliant pun It makes trivial things serious and serious things trivial Through this wordplay Wilde satirizes Victorian obsession with names honesty and appearances