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Dramatic Irony
Explanation and Analysis—A Brotherly Reunion:
The scene in which Jack arrives at his country estate and discovers Algernon masquerading as his brother is filled with dramatic irony. The audience is already aware of Algernon's presence and is awaiting the inevitable confrontation between the two men, which makes Jack's conversation with Cecily in Act 2, Part 1 quite ironic:
Cecily: Your brother Ernest. He arrived half an hour ago.
Jack: What nonsense! I haven't got a brother.
Cecily: Oh, don't say that. However badly he may have behaved to you in the past he is still your brother. You couldn't be so heartless as to disown him.
At this point, the audience possesses information that Jack does not (that Algernon is at his house) as well as information that Cecily doesn't know (that Algernon is pretending to be Ernest). As a result, Jack's claim that he doesn't have a brother means something completely different to the audience than it does to Cecily.
The scene that follows in Act 2, Part 2 is situationally ironic—Algernon appears to be one person, but he is actually someone else—as well as dramatically ironic. For example, Jack, Algernon, and the audience are all aware that Bunbury is fictional, while Cecily is not:
Cecily: Uncle Jack, do be nice. There is some good in everyone. Ernest has just been telling me about his poor invalid friend Mr. Bunbury, whom he goes to visit so often. And surely there must be much good in one who is kind to an invalid, and leaves the pleasures of London to sit by a bed of pain.
Jack: Oh! he has been talking about Bunbury, has he?
Cecily: Yes, he has told me all about poor Mr. Bunbury, and his terrible state of health.
Cecily's comment about "the pleasures of London" is ironic because, as the audience knows, Algernon uses Bunbury as an excuse to abandon his dull social obligations and financial difficulties in town so he can lead a life of pleasure in the country. It is also ironic that Cecily views Algernon's relationship with Bunbury as evidence of his good character, since the audience knows that Bunbury is a deception and therefore evidence of the exact opposite.
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