Wedding reading
from The Importance of Being Earnest, Act I
Oscar Wilde
“from The Importance of Being Earnest, Act I” by Oscar Wilde is a prose reading read at a wedding ceremony. It takes about two minutes read aloud, usually by a guest reader. It is in the public domain, so the full text is printed on this page and goes straight into a ceremony script.
The full text
JACK. I am in love with Gwendolen. I have come up to town expressly to propose to her. ALGERNON. I thought you had come up for pleasure? … I call that business. JACK. How utterly unromantic you are! ALGERNON. I really don't see anything romantic in proposing. It is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal. Why, one may be accepted. One usually is, I believe. Then the excitement is all over. The very essence of romance is uncertainty. If ever I get married, I'll certainly try to forget the fact. JACK. I have no doubt about that, dear Algy. The Divorce Court was specially invented for people whose memories are so curiously constituted. ALGERNON. Oh! there is no use speculating on that subject. Divorces are made in Heaven — [Jack puts out his hand to take a sandwich. Algernon at once interferes.] Please don't touch the cucumber sandwiches. They are ordered specially for Aunt Augusta. [Takes one and eats it.] JACK. Well, you have been eating them all the time. ALGERNON. That is quite a different matter. She is my aunt. [Takes plate from below.] Have some bread and butter. The bread and butter is for Gwendolen. Gwendolen is devoted to bread and butter. JACK. [Advancing to table and helping himself.] And very good bread and butter it is too. ALGERNON. Well, my dear fellow, you need not eat as if you were going to eat it all. You behave as if you were married to her already.
Public domain, so these words can be printed in a ceremony script or an order of service.
Where it comes from
The cast list printed with The Importance of Being Earnest is from the St. James’s Theatre, London, on February 14th, 1895, with George Alexander as John Worthing.
What it says
Jack arrives at Algernon’s flat in London and announces that he is in love with Gwendolen and has come up to town to propose. Algernon is appalled. Being in love is romantic, he says, but a proposal is not, because one might be accepted, and then the excitement is over. The essence of romance is uncertainty. If he ever marries, he will try to forget it. Jack gets in a jab about the Divorce Court, and then the scene dissolves into a squabble over the cucumber sandwiches and the bread and butter, ending with Algernon accusing Jack of behaving as if he were married already. The joke is that Algernon’s cynicism is so thorough it loops back round to romance.
Dialogue, so it wants two readers or one who can mark the switch. Algernon has nothing kind to say about marriage, including a line on the Divorce Court — that is the joke, but know it is coming. Read at a wedding ceremony. Themes: it is very romantic to be in love · the very essence of romance is uncertainty · proposing · cucumber sandwiches · a scene for two voices · arch and witty · a couple who like Wilde · theatrical.
Who it suits
Couples who love Wilde or the theater, couples with a dry sense of humor, and a wedding with two friends who can perform a scene. It suits a civil ceremony or a reception. It is not for a couple who want sincerity in the reading, and the Divorce Court line can sit badly in a family with a recent divorce, so read it through with the couple first.
Where it goes in the ceremony
It works best as the lighter of two readings, placed early, so that the room relaxes before the vows. Two readers can take the two parts, which is the most effective way to do it. If only one reader is available, they should name each speaker clearly.
Reading it aloud
The text on this page is 255 words. At a ceremony pace of about 130 words a minute, which is slower than conversation, that comes to about two minutes of reading.
- With two readers, rehearse the timing together at least once. The lines are short and quick, and gaps kill them.
- Algernon is unbothered and languid. Jack is earnest and exasperated. The contrast is the comedy.
- The stage directions in brackets can be read aloud in a flat voice, or left out by agreement. Decide in advance.
- Let the final line, “as if you were married to her already”, land, then step back without comment.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “from The Importance of Being Earnest, Act I” take to read aloud?
“from The Importance of Being Earnest, Act I” takes about two minutes read aloud at a ceremony pace, which is slower than conversation — roughly 130 words a minute. That is the figure the run-sheet uses when it works out the timing for the whole service.
Who usually reads “from The Importance of Being Earnest, Act I”?
Usually a guest reader rather than the officiant. “from The Importance of Being Earnest, Act I” runs about two minutes, which is a manageable amount to hand to a friend or family member. Give them a printed copy of their own, in a size they can read without their glasses, and tell them where to stand and how you will introduce them.
Can “from The Importance of Being Earnest, Act I” be printed in a ceremony script?
Yes. It is in the public domain, so the full text is on this page and can be printed in a script or an order of service.
Where this text was checked
Checked word for word against a full-text edition that is itself the authority — a Project Gutenberg or Wikisource transcription, a publisher’s own edition, or the issuing body’s page.
Checked
A reading is two minutes of the hour.
The rest is the welcome, the vows, the ring exchange, the pronouncement — and the timing that holds them together. Answer some questions about the couple and get the whole ceremony, written out, with this reading in its place.
Other readings that suit the same service
- On marriage, from The Devil's Dictionary — five definitionsa minute and a halfMore cynical wit about marriage, for a couple who like it dry
- Sonnet 130a minute and a halfA shorter comic reading with a sincere ending
- from Extracts from Adam's Diary — selected entriesa minute and a halfComedy that ends in a sincere line about marriage
- On Marriage, from The Propheta minute and a halfKahlil Gibran
- On Becoming Real, from The Velveteen Rabbit55 secondsMargery Williams
- from Obergefell v. Hodgesa minute and a halfJustice Anthony Kennedy