How does the ending affirm social order despite the chaos of deception?

• A. The engagements are legitimized and the couples wed; The social order remains intact through proper marriages.
• B. The play ends in tragedy that shatters social rules.
• C. The social order collapses as characters reveal hidden identities.
• D. The ending leaves marriages unresolved and questioning.

Answer: (A)

Wilde uses deception to mock social pretensions, but the ending restores order through marriage. By the close, both couples are engaged and will marry, and even Lady Bracknell’s approval is secured once Jack’s true, respectable lineage is established. The social system—based on class, inheritance, and propriety—reasserts itself through these legitimate unions, showing that appearances and social rules ultimately govern behavior and stabilize society, even after a romp of mistaken identities and trickery.

That’s why this is the best answer: it captures how the play turns chaotic deception into a conventional resolution, reaffirming social norms rather than dissolving them. The other scenarios describe tragedy, collapse, or unresolved outcomes that don’t fit Wilde’s comic restoration of order through marriage.