What is Wilde’s message: Through comedy and irony, Wilde constructs a satirical play that pokes fun at the values of the aristocracy, marriage, and love (because in this play, the last two are different). One of the most significant portions of the first act is when Lady Bracknell asks “Ernest” (Jack) several questions to evaluate if he may marry Gwendolen. Already from that past statement, you can tell that Wilde is satirizing marriage by making it a legal and economic system rather than something caused by love, but that wasn’t enough to get Wilde’s point across. Lady Bracknell then continues to ask acceptable questions for the situation, but is thrilled to hear the exact opposite response you would expect. By doing so, it is clear to see that the values of the aristocracy are absolutely backwards from our expectations and current morals. This goes to exaggerate Wilde’s view that there are more important things than family background and status. Later on, in a scene between Cecily and Algernon, Wilde once again satirizes love through Cecily’s fabrication of their relationship. The play implies that two people who have met for the first time that day were already engaged, had broken it off, and got back together, because “it would hardly have been a really serious engagement if it hadn't been broken off at least once” (Act III). Clearly, love is a weak attraction at most to these people, and not true backbone to a marriage. In addition, both marriages in the play could not take place unless the men’s’ names were Ernest. Both of these factors come together to imply that marriage is not a social event, but rather strengthens the aforementioned believe that marriage is legal and economical.