with Aunt Augusta's admission that she had "some crumpets with Lady Harbury," a nod to her own willingness to not only abide by but also attempt to uphold the social mores of the upper class. She eats when it is proper. Further, later in this scene, Algernon tells Aunt Augusta that he will not be able to attend her dinner party that very night, despite her concern that his absence "would put [her] table completely out." In other words, Algernon is again refusing to abide by typical social convention, backing out of the dinner at the last minute and throwing off Lady Bracknell's place settings and seating. He has created an imaginary invalid friend named Bunbury, a totalfiction that he has dreamed up in order to get out of social functions that he doesn't want to attend, like the dinner. Such a creation would be considered uncouth and strange by society, and it helps to underscore Algernon's unwillingness to do what is expected of him and his class.

Later, at Jack's country estate, his disagreement with Algernon over how and when one should eat extends this symbolism. Both men are upset about their ruses being discovered by the women they love, and they begin to argue. Algernon starts eating the muffins, which Jack criticizes because he thinks that it makes Algernon seem "perfectly heartless." It seems, then, that—by convention—those who are in "horrible trouble" are supposed to not want to eat. Algernon, on the other hand, says,

Indeed, when I am in really great trouble, as any one who knows me intimately will tell you, I refuse everything except food and drink. At the present moment I am eating muffins because I am unhappy. Besides, I am particularly fond of muffins.

Therefore, Algernon's food habits again establish him as being one who ignores social convention. Not only is he eating muffins at this particularly upsetting time, but he is, according to Jack, eating all the muffins in a very "greedy way." Double the offense!

The nearest thing to a method that can be found in The Importance of Being Earnest is Wilde's determination to turn every social convention and popular precept on its head. Languishing young lovers are supposed to refuse all sustenance and pine away, so Wilde's characters, of course, do the exact opposite. Algernon even states this as a general principle:

When I am in trouble, eating is the only thing that consoles me. Indeed, when I am in really great trouble, as any one who knows me intimately will tell you, I refuse everything except food and drink. At the present moment I am eating muffins because I am unhappy. Besides, I am particularly fond of muffins.

It is the ingredients of afternoon tea: muffins, crumpets, cucumber sandwiches and cake which play the largest part in the three-act version of The Importance of Being Earnest which is now most often performed. The continual mention of such foods help to create the impression of a fantastical land of the lotus-eaters "In which it seemed always afternoon." Wilde's original four-act version, however, contains a scene in which a solicitor named Gribsby arrives at Jack's country house to arrest "Mr. Ernest Worthing" for having failed to pay his dinner or supper bills at the Savoy. The bills come to £762, 14 shillings and tuppence. Jack eventually pays Gribsby, but his intrusion is a grim reminder of the sordid reality that meals, even at the Savoy, must be paid for eventually.

Wilde's plays frequently reflected his life, and there is a bitter irony here. Gribsby threatens to take Algernon to Holloway prison, at which he indignantly protests:

Well, I really am not going to be imprisoned in the suburbs for having dined in the West End.

Within two months of the opening night of Earnest, Wilde was in Holloway prison himself, imprisoned for his failure to pay legal costs. The amount at stake was only £600, less than "Ernest's" bill at the Savoy.

Several scenes in The Importance of Being Earnest involve food, and the food usually serves as a prop to reveal characterization and/or relationships between characters and to invest the play with humor.

In the first Act of the play, the issue of the cucumber sandwiches reveals Algernon's selfishness and hypocrisy. He has his servant Lane prepare the sandwiches for his Aunt Augusta / Lady Bracknell, who is on her way to his flat for a visit. However, Algy eats all of the sandwiches while talking to his friend Jack / Ernest before Lady Bracknell arrives. Algy claims that he is allowed to eat them while Jack is not because Lady Bracknell is his aunt. Algernon shows himself to be greedy and selfish and also reveals that a different set of rules applies to him and to other people.

In Act II, Gwendolen and Cecily meet for the first time and are under the mistaken impression that they are both engaged to the same man (Ernest). Cecily expresses her aggression toward Gwendolen by ignoring her requests to have no sugar in her tea and giving her cake instead of the requested bread and butter. Gwendolen returns her aggression by making snide comments about how "the best houses" no longer serve cake. The ladies must not act "improperly" in front of the servant, so this also reveals that even when wanting to insult each other, the women will follow social mores.

Later in Act II, Jack and Algernon fight with each other while eating muffins. As in the earlier scene, Algy tries to eat all the muffins and make Jack eat tea cake. In other words, Algy continues to be greedy and selfish, as well as frivolous because he doesn't seem that troubled by the women finding out the men's real names and breaking off the relationships. Both men are acting like absurd children rather than mature adults.

All of the humor and characterization created by these food-related scenes allows Wilde to satirize the absurdity of the English upper class in the Victorian era.

Like the previous answer to this question stated, food is used in different ways, but mostly as a symbol of attachment and status.

The foods most well known for their cultivated taste, the crumpets and the cucumber sandwiches that Algernon eats after promising them to his aunt, are a symbol of detachment from his responsibility towards her.

The huge meals in which he indulges and never pays for in restaurants are also a symbol of detachment from his responsibilities towards society in general.

The requirement of a meal when he went to meet Cecily against Earnest's will was his way of making a bond and attaching Cecily to him.

The showdown between Cecily and Gwendolyn over their respective "Earnests" had its insults thrown around in the form of food:

Cecily's offering of cake and sugar lumps for the tea denoted her lack of sophistication according to Gwendolyn, who was devoted to bread and butter, and unsweetened tea: She finds these more "fashionable" and even "honorable." And the offer that Cecily made of cake and sugar was met with haughtiness as ammo for insults.

The final food mention in the story shows Algernon and Earnest eating THE VERY FOOD that Cecily and Gwendolyn were fighting over. This may be another symbol of their overall detachment to THEM. We know that Oscar Wilde was not only homosexual but he did show a specific disdain for marriage and the idea of it, in general. In his plays, he likes to present the idea of a man ignoring their nagging female companions.

Perhaps when Algernon and Earnest ate the all-important cake and tea and bread and butter, they were basically telling off the very angry women, and indulging instead of the company of food, used here as a symbol of detachment.

Oscar Wilde, a well-known gourmand himself, said once

The man who can dominate a London dinner-table can dominate the world.

These words greatly apply to The Importance of Being Earnest, and the character of Algernon attests to that much. This is because Algy not only uses food as a substitute for his obvious hunger for life, money, and adventure, but also as his conduit for enforcing his power over others. Although Wilde does not directly employ food as a theme of dominance, it is in its subtle use that the reader can discover its clever treatment.

Food is used as a way to demonstrate power in several occasions. First, in Act I, Algernon eats the cucumber sandwiches that he orders for his aunt, Lady Bracknell, prior to her arrival. Similarly, he invites Jack (Earnest) to partake from the bread and butter that would be have been offered to his cousin Gwendolen. This action from Algy foreshadows his nature: he is careless, selfish, and quite proud of it. It equally shows that Jack (Earnest) is really no different.

Lady Bracknell also uses food for social dominance.  Her main social duty consists on planning dinners where she can show off her "tastes" for music and arts. In reality, these dinners are typical upper class Victorian gatherings used by well-to-do ladies to find husbands for their daughters. Here, too, food means power.

Similarly, the famous "tea showdown" scene between Gwendolen and Cecily in Act III shows food as a social identifier of power. This is evident when, as country girl Cecily kindly offers city girl Gwendolen cake and sugar at tea, the latter shuns the offer saying that these items are "seldom seen" in fashionable homes. Cecily's dumping lumps of sugar on Gwendolen's tea and then serving her a huge slice of cake is the ultimate declaration of war between the two women.

Food also seems to be an important issue for Jack's alter ego, Earnest, who presumably goes all over London running up huge restaurant bills that he, although able to, is not willing to pay. This is an indication of how food is used as a power tool that helps to differentiate one person's standing from the other. It also shows how Jack's alter ego of Earnest loves to be bad and disruptive.

One final use of food occurs towards the middle of Act III, after the "tea showdown scene" between the women. When they find out that neither Algernon or Jack are the "Earnest" that they are both engaged to marry, the girls quickly enter back into the manor in hopes of being dramatically followed by the men who lied to them.

Instead, Algeron and Jack stay behind eating the food that Cecily had first laid out for her tea. In Algernon's own words, his reason is quite simple:

When I am in trouble, eating is the only thing that consoles me... I refuse everything except food and drink. At the present moment I am eating muffins because I am unhappy. Besides, I am particularly fond of muffins

Therefore, food is a tool of power in several instances: it allows Earnest to "be bad" by his superb consumption of it and his defiance to not pay it. It allows Algernon to offer it and then take it away at will, denoting his inherent selfishness. It identifies social class between Gwendolen and Cecily, and it also serves as a social medium to network among the upper classes such as in the case of Lady Bracknell. Moreover, food is the ultimate pleasure because it is available at all times. Algernon surely seems to enjoy it and Jack, as his equal, is no different either.