Editing The Importance of Being Earnest (section)

===In translation===
''The Importance of Being Earnest''{{'}}s popularity has meant it has been translated into many languages, but the pun in the title ("[[wikt:Ernest#Proper noun|Ernest]]", a masculine proper name, and "[[wikt:earnest#Etymology 1|earnest]]", steadfast and serious) poses a special [[Translation#Fidelity and transparency|problem for translators]]. The simplest instance of a suitable translation of the pun is in German, where {{lang|de|ernst}} (serious) and {{lang|de|Ernst|italic=no}} (given name) are the same.<ref name="Pablé 2005:319">Pablé, p. 319</ref>{{refn|Nonetheless there are many different possible titles in German, mostly concerning sentence structure. The two most common are {{lang|de|Bunbury oder ernst / Ernst sein ist alles}} and {{lang|de|Bunbury oder wie wichtig es ist, ernst / Ernst zu sein}} ''Bunbury or Ernst/ Serious is everything'' and ''Bunbury or How Important it is to be Serious'' / ''To be serious''.<ref name="Pablé 2005:301"/>|group=n}}

[[File:Oscar-Wilde-Toulouse-Lautrec.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|alt=Drawing of head and torso of white man, clean-shaven, with longish light-coloured hair, holding a large menu or folio, in semi-profile|left|Wilde by [[Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec]] (1896)]]
As wordplay is usually unique to the language in question, translators are faced with a choice of either staying faithful to the original or creating a similar pun in their own language.<ref>Pablé, p. 299</ref> Some translators leave all characters' names unchanged and in their original spelling: readers are reminded of the original cultural setting, but the liveliness of the pun is lost.<ref>Pablé, p. 318</ref> Others, favouring comprehensibility over fidelity to the original, have replaced ''Ernest'' with a name that also represents a virtue in the target language.<ref name="Pablé 2005:319"/> For instance, Italian versions variously call the play {{lang|it|L'importanza di essere Franco/Severo/Fedele}}, the given names being respectively the values of honesty, propriety and fidelity.<ref>Pablé, p. 314</ref> Translators differ in their approach to the original English honorific titles; some change them all or none, but most leave a mix, partly as a compensation for the loss of Englishness.<ref name=p317>Pablé, p. 317</ref>

French offers a closer pun. According to [[Les Archives du spectacle]] in its listing of productions in French since 1954, the title of the play is most often given as {{lang|fr|L'Importance d'être Constant}},{{refn|"[[:fr:wikt:Constant|Constant]]" is both a French first name and an adjective meaning steadfast.<ref name=p317/><ref>[https://www.dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A9C3742 "constant"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240825133611/https://www.dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A9C3742 |date=25 August 2024 }}, ''Dictionnaire de l'Académie française''. Retrieved 25 August 2024</ref>|group=n}} but has also been rendered as {{lang|fr|L'Importance d'être sérieux}}, {{lang|fr|Il est important d'être aimé}}, {{lang|fr|Il est important d'être Désiré}} and {{lang|fr|Il est important d'être Fidèle}}.<ref>[https://lesarchivesduspectacle.net/recherche?q=Oscar+Wilde+Importance "Oscar Wilde: Importance"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240823104022/https://lesarchivesduspectacle.net/recherche?q=Oscar+Wilde+Importance |date=23 August 2024 }}, ''L'Archives du spectacle''. Retrieved 23 August 2024</ref>{{refn|''The Importance of Being Serious, It Is Important to be Loved, It Is Important to be Desired'' and ''It Is Important to be Faithful'', Désiré and Fidèle being given names.|group=n}}