 The play opens with Algernon Moncrieff , an idle young gentleman , receiving his best friend , John Worthing , whom he knows as Ernest . Ernest has come from the country to propose to Algernon 's cousin , Gwendolen Fairfax . Algernon , however , refuses his consent until Ernest explains why his cigarette case bears the inscription , " From little Cecily , with her <unk> love to her dear Uncle Jack . " ' Ernest ' is forced to admit to living a double life . In the country , he assumes a serious attitude for the benefit of his young ward , the <unk> Cecily <unk> , and goes by the name of John ( or , as a nickname , Jack ) , while pretending that he must worry about a <unk> younger brother named Ernest in London . In the city , meanwhile , he assumes the identity of the <unk> Ernest . Algernon confesses a similar deception : he pretends to have an invalid friend named Bunbury in the country , whom he can " visit " whenever he wishes to avoid an unwelcome social obligation . Jack refuses to tell Algernon the location of his country estate . 
