Jack Worthing lives in the country with his pretty ward Cecily Cardew. But in the city, he goes by the name of Earnest and is in love with Gwendolyn Fairfax. Miss Fairfax's cousin is Algernon Moncrieff, who, also using the name Earnest, goes to the country and falls in love with Jack's ward Cecily. When they all come together, we have two men who claim to be Earnest and aren't and two girls who are love with men named Earnest who aren't Earnest.