AHis aristocratic parentage
BHis real name
CHis gambling habit
DHis secret wife
Answer:
B. His real name
Read Explanation:
In The Importance of Being Earnest, both Algernon Montcrieff (Jack’s best friend) and Gwendolen Fairfax (Jack’s love interest) are unaware of Jack’s double life and true identity.
Algernon doesn’t know Jack’s real name or his country life:
In London, Jack goes by the name "Ernest Worthing," a carefree bachelor with a troublesome "brother" in the countryside.
Algernon only discovers the truth when he finds Jack’s cigarette case, engraved with a message from "Cecily to her dear Uncle Jack."
This forces Jack to confess that "Ernest" is fictional and that his real name is Jack, and he has a ward named Cecily Cardew, living at his estate in Hertfordshire.
Gwendolen doesn’t know Jack’s real name or background:
Gwendolen believes Jack’s name is Ernest, and she’s infatuated with him largely because of that name, which she associates with integrity and romance.
She also doesn’t know about Cecily, Jack’s guardianship, or his invented "wicked brother"—until the truth unravels later in the play.
Jack’s double life sets up the central conflict and comedy of the play, as the tension between appearance and reality escalates with each misunderstanding.
Wilde uses this deception to satirize Victorian social conventions, showing how identity and moral “earnestness” are often performative rather than genuine.