Internal
External
- Jack’s conflict with his identity: He has to decide on who he wants to be. He can either be Earnest and live the fast city life and marry Gwendolen, but be a liar. Or he can tell the truth and be rejected by the love of his life, but live a simple life in the country with his family.
- Algernon’s conflict with being responsible: Algeron creates Bunbury to be able to avoid societal obligations and travel.
- Mrs. Prism’s living with guilt: She lost baby Jack in a train station by accident and still lives with the guilt.
- Reverend Chasuble’s inability to reciprocate love: The Reverend is deeply in love with Mrs. Prism, and she loves him, but cannot return the love due to moral obligations.
External
- Jack doesn’t want Cecily to fall in love with Algernon: Jack cares for Cecily very much and doesn’t want her to go into a corrupt relationship because Algy is lying about who he is. This is ironic because it is exactly what Jack is doing
- Gwen only wants to marry an ‘Earnest’: She is enchanted by the name Earnest and only wants to marry an Earnest. This shows how materialistic and superficial people were in Victorian society.
- Gwendolyn and Cecily find out Jack and Algy lied: The women find out their love interests are liars and form a band against them.