Wilde embodied society 's rules and rituals artfully into Lady Bracknell : minute attention to the details of her style created a comic effect of assertion by restraint . In contrast to her encyclopaedic knowledge of the social distinctions of London 's street names , Jack 's obscure parentage is subtly evoked . He defend himself against her " A handbag ? " with the clarification , " The Brighton Line " . At the time , Victoria Station consisted of two separate but adjacent terminal stations sharing the same name . To the east was the ramshackle LC & D Railway , on the west the up @-@ market LB & SCR — the Brighton Line , which went to Worthing , the fashionable , expensive town the gentleman who found baby Jack was travelling to at the time ( and after which Jack was named ) .