How does food play a role in The Importance of Being Earnest?

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.