How does Wilde use irony to critique marriage?

• A. By treating marriage as a social game where appearances and names matter more than genuine affection.
• B. By portraying marriage as a purely sacred, unproblematic bond.
• C. By showing marriage as a purely economic arrangement with no emotional cost.
• D. By presenting marriage as a predictable, straightforward institution.

Answer: (A)

Wilde uses irony to show that marriage is less about real affection than about social performance. Throughout the play, appearances, names, and status carry more weight than true feeling. The characters pursue engagements that are shaped by social expectations and reputations rather than by genuine love. For example, the fixation on the name “Ernest” reveals that what matters to the lovers is not sincerity but the impression of honesty and seriousness that the name connotes. Lady Bracknell’s probing about lineage and wealth satirizes how marriage is treated as a social contract—an arrangement that secures status and property more than it secures happiness. The misrepresentations and secret lives of Jack and Algernon underline the joke: the characters pretend to pursue marriage for virtue, while their actions show marriage functioning as a game driven by appearances.

So the best description is that Wilde presents marriage as a social game where appearances and names matter more than genuine affection. The other portrayals—seeing marriage as sacred and unproblematic, as purely economic, or as straightforward—don’t fit the satirical energy Wilde gives to marriage, which exposes hypocrisy and triviality behind the veneer of serious domesticity.