Which plot device prominently drives humor in the play?

• A. Time travel
• B. Mistaken identities and deception
• C. Supernatural intervention
• D. Musical numbers

Answer: (B)

Mistaken identities and deception drive the humor. Wilde builds comedy by letting characters pretend to be someone else and bend the truth to fit social expectations. Jack Worthing lives a respectable rural life while adopting a city persona, “Ernest,” which he uses in town; Algernon concocts a fictitious friend named Bunbury to dodge obligations; Cecily and Gwendolen are drawn to the idea of marrying someone named Ernest, which intensifies the irony when real identities collide. The resulting misunderstandings, witty exchanges, and reversals fuel the playful satire and farce that define the play’s humor. There are no time-travel, supernatural, or musical elements driving the comedy, so the laughs come from these clever deceptions rather than any fantastical devices.