Question

after jack learns the truth of his birth, he excitedly embraces Miss prism and comments double standards between men and women. What statement, if any, do you think wilde is trying to make about gender inequalities?

Answer 1

After Jack learns that Miss Prism accidentally left him in the handbag at Victoria station, he embraces her with joy. She is taken aback, claiming that she is unmarried, and he goes on to mention that, while “that is a serious blow” to know his ‘mother’ had gotten pregnant from a random man, there is no need “to be one law for men and another for women” and she is forgiven (177). Wilde is trying to state that women and men should be on the same respective level when it comes to matters of fault. He forgives her for her “act of folly”, saying that women should be forgiven just as easily as men can be forgiven for their wrongdoings, like how easily Jack and Algernon were forgiven by the girls for lying about their names (177).