Do Miss Prism and Canon Chasuble become engaged by the end of the play?

• A. No; they part ways.
• B. Their engagement is explicitly stated to fail.
• C. They never interact.
• D. Yes; their relationship is suggested to culminate in marriage.

Answer: (D)

The main idea here is how Wilde wraps up the comic world of Earnest by tying off the smaller, gentler romance alongside the main plot, using Miss Prism and Canon Chasuble to reinforce the play’s light, joyful view of marriage as a social solution. Throughout the farce, their exchanges show a sweet, teasing affection between the governess and the rector, contrasting with the more glamorous, overt romances of Jack and Algernon with Cecily and Gwendolen. In the final moments, Wilde signals that their relationship will also culminate in marriage—the situation is resolved with the sense that Miss Prism and Canon Chasuble are on the path to engagement, even if no long, formal declaration is spelled out onstage. This fits the play’s pattern of endings where social harmony and happiness are secured through marriage, not through separations or lack of interaction.