What is a key motif that recurs to signal deception besides Bunburying?

• A. The persistent focus on names, especially the name 'Ernest', as a sign of character.
• B. The recurring motif of weather changes during key scenes.
• C. The color palette of costumes.
• D. The gardener's mistaken identity.

Answer: (A)

Names carry social weight in Wilde’s comedy, and the way characters fixate on the name Ernest is a sustained signal of deception and performance. The jokey belief that being named Ernest automatically proves honesty lets characters craft identities around that name, testing others’ trust and creating comic tension when appearances clash with truth. This name-based motif recurs as Cecily and Gwendolen foreground the importance of the name in romance, and Jack and Algernon adopt or reference the name to shape how others perceive them. The humor hinges on the discrepancy between surface status—what name one uses—and actual character, making this naming motif a clear, repeated cue for deception beyond Bunburying.

Weather changes, color choices in costumes, or a gardener’s mistaken identity don’t function as a tight, recurring device signaling deception throughout the play in the same way names do. They appear more as situational details rather than emblematic signals of identity fabrication that Wilde uses to drive the central jokes.