<P> After the success of Wilde 's plays Lady Windermere 's Fan and A Woman of No Importance , Wilde 's producers urged him to write further plays . In July 1894 he mooted his idea for The Importance of Being Earnest to George Alexander , the actor - manager of the St James 's Theatre . Wilde spent the summer with his family at Worthing , where he wrote the play quickly in August . His fame now at its peak , he used the working title Lady Lancing to avoid pre-emptive speculation of its content . Many names and ideas in the play were borrowed from people or places the author had known ; Lady Queensberry , Lord Alfred Douglas 's mother , for example , lived at Bracknell . There is widespread agreement among Wilde scholars that the most important influence on the play was W.S. Gilbert 's 1877 farce Engaged ; Wilde borrowed from Gilbert not only several incidents but , in Russell Jackson 's phrase `` the gravity of tone demanded by Gilbert of his actors '' . </P>
<P> After the success of Wilde 's plays Lady Windermere 's Fan and A Woman of No Importance , Wilde 's producers urged him to write further plays . In July 1894 he mooted his idea for The Importance of Being Earnest to George Alexander , the actor - manager of the St James 's Theatre . Wilde spent the summer with his family at Worthing , where he wrote the play quickly in August . His fame now at its peak , he used the working title Lady Lancing to avoid pre-emptive speculation of its content . Many names and ideas in the play were borrowed from people or places the author had known ; Lady Queensberry , Lord Alfred Douglas 's mother , for example , lived at Bracknell . There is widespread agreement among Wilde scholars that the most important influence on the play was W.S. Gilbert 's 1877 farce Engaged ; Wilde borrowed from Gilbert not only several incidents but , in Russell Jackson 's phrase `` the gravity of tone demanded by Gilbert of his actors '' . </P>
when was the importance of being ernest written
when was the importance of being ernest written
1894
1894