Who is the giver of the inscription on the cigarette case?

• A. Little Cecily.
• B. Algernon.
• C. Gwendolen.
• D. Lady Bracknell.

Answer: (A)

Focusing on how inscriptions in a text reveal who authored or gifted an item helps decode character relationships. The cigarette case carries an inscription signed by “Little Cecily,” which identifies Cecily herself as the giver. In this scene Wilde uses the sign-off on the object to show who wrote the message and thus who gave the case. The other characters—Algernon, Gwendolen, Lady Bracknell—would not be indicated as the signer on a note signed “Little Cecily,” so they don’t fit as the giver. This detail matters because it ties Cecily’s romantic fantasy and her sense of identity to the objects she possesses, a recurring Wildean device in the play.