What is the significance of ending with multiple marriages?

• A. It ends with a tragedy of unfulfilled love.
• B. It mocks marriage as a mere superstition.
• C. It parodies matrimony as a social contract while providing a light, satisfying conclusion.
• D. It resolves with a formal separation.

Answer: (C)

The ending uses multiple marriages to show how Wilde satirizes marriage as a social performance and contract, not a solemn, all-consuming bond. The couples are united through a quick, witty, and almost effortless series of revelations and approvals, which keeps the tone buoyant and comic rather than tragic or solemn. Marriage here aligns with social expectations—inheritance, status, and family approval—yet it’s wrapped in clever wordplay and theatrical reversals, highlighting the idea that society often treats wedlock as a convenient arrangement as much as a romantic vow. The result is a light, satisfying conclusion where happiness is achieved through wit and social maneuvering as much as through deep sentiment, which is exactly what Wilde intends to mock and entertain.