A satire is a work designed to ridicule or tease a group or organization, usually with the aim of being humorous. “The Importance of Being Earnest,” a play by Oscar Wilde, is a satire ridiculing social class, gender, and marriage. This essay will describe a few points from each of these sections, as well as give a brief summary of the piece these examples come from. The Importance of Being Earnest includes three acts, with seven main characters. In the first act, we begin with a conversation between Jack (a notable bachelor) and Algernon (a laid-back, debt-ridden bachelor), in which we learn that both have made "friends", who are often ill, as to escape from the place where they live whenever they want. We also learn that Jack is in love with Gwendolyn (a beautiful young woman), herself in love with Jack's false first name, Ernest. Jack proposes, but Lady Bracknell (Gwendolyn's mother) refutes. In the second act, we begin with Miss Prism (a tutor), who is teaching German to Cecily (Jack's young and beautiful ward). Chausable (the reverend near Jack's estate) and Miss Prism ...