How is the pun in the title introduced as a central motif?

• A. Through a literal, repeated chase of a character named Ernest.
• B. The fixation on the name Ernest and the value of being 'earnest' in social life.
• C. Through a hidden code about money.
• D. Through a symbol of religious devotion.

Answer: (B)

The pivotal idea here is how a single pun—the overlap between the name Ernest and the trait earnest—drives the play’s humor and meaning. Wilde uses the name Ernest as a literal identity and as a stand-in for moral seriousness, so characters chase social advantages by presenting themselves as “earnest.” In the plot, characters adopt or claim the name Ernest, and even create fake Ernest identities, to navigate love, marriage, and social expectations. This makes the idea of sincerity, or being earnest, a living motif that comments on how people perform virtue in society, rather than how they genuinely feel. The humor and irony come from the tension between the apparent value placed on earnestness in social life and the characters’ frequent disingenuous actions. So the central device is the fixation on the name and its associated virtue, which Wilde repeatedly ties to the outcomes of the characters’ schemes. The other options miss that core mechanism—the joke isn’t about a literal chase, a money code, or religious symbolism—so they don’t capture how the title’s pun becomes a guiding thread throughout the work.