Bunburying is the art of taking on another identity, preferably in another city, as a form of escape. Coined in Oscar Wilde's play, The Importance of Being Earnest. Bunburying is introduced by Algernon, who explains how he created the fictional persona of Bunbury, a conveniently permanent invalid, so that he would have an excuse to get out of prior engagements. The character of Jack, also a Bunburyist, had created the persona of Earnest, a man quite different from himself, for any voyages he took out of the city.