Read the excerpt from Act III of The Importance of Being Earnest.Jack. [In a pathetic voice.] Miss Prism, more is restored to you than this hand-bag. I was the baby you placed in it.Miss Prism. [Amazed.] You?Jack. [Embracing her.] Yes . . . mother!Miss Prism. [Recoiling in indignant astonishment.] Mr. Worthing! I am unmarried!

Miss Prism recoils because Jack calls her “mother,” then insists, “I am unmarried!” Her reaction shows how strongly she is concerned with society’s rules and expectations about marriage and respectability. The excerpt focuses on those social rules, not on wealth, rank, or equality.

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