The characters in the graphic novel Fun Home are greatly influenced by various works of literature. The mother in the household is enthralled by the art of acting. In Chapter 6 of the graphic novel, the mother figure spends her time rehearsing for the play The Importance of Being Earnest. After helping her mother rehearse lines, the protagonist becomes interested in the play as well. The same thing happens later in the graphic novel with the literary works The Odyssey and Ulysses. Both she reads for school, but help her to create a connection with her father, much like Earnest did with her mother. Below I have linked the sparknotes for all three pieces of literature. By reading the overviews and summaries on the sparknotes page, it can help make some of the references in Fun Home easier to understand. Rather than the references going over your head while reading, you can read the sparknotes of the three literary works and understand things you wouldn’t have without reading Earnest, The Odyssey, or Ulysses.
Sparknotes for The Importance of Being Earnest