Which character delivers the line about all women becoming like their mothers?

• A. Algernon Moncrieff
• B. Lady Bracknell
• C. Jack Worthing
• D. Cecily Cardew

Answer: (B)

This line hinges on Wilde’s sharp satire of gender roles and the way society expects women to follow inherited patterns of behavior. The speaker here is Lady Bracknell, whose blunt, authoritative voice as the guardian of propriety in the play makes a sweeping claim about women and motherhood feel both biting and socially recognizable. Her remark—that all women become like their mothers and that this is their tragedy—fits her habit of delivering crisp, judgmental statements about marriage and female behavior, revealing her worldview that a woman’s path is defined by family lineage rather than personal choice. The other characters tend to discuss love and courtship in more personal or playful terms, not in this broad, cynical generalization about women.