In the importance of being earnest, Wilde suggests that marriage in the Victorian era was not worth it because it was only for family alliances. After jack proposes to Gwendolen because she told him to, Lady Bracknell comes into the room and interrupts saying that she is not engaged to him and that she will be told by her or Gwendolen's father when she will be engaged to someone. Lady Bracknell says she will interview Jack to put him on the list of eligible men for Gwendolen. As she interviews she makes remarks on him and then eventually when he says he does not know who his parents are she harshly says that she cannot allow her daughter to marry him unless he produces parents which is impossible. This use of invective satire by Wilde shows
