No doubt you have studied the sheer
irony of this short story, about a woman whose secret turns out to
be that she does not have a secret at all. The very thing Lady Alroy uses to attract a
man, ends up driving him away in the end.
The themes of
this story follow the satirical irony. It is a story that speaks a message about the
sheer irony of love and relationships, and perhaps the so-called "laws of attraction."
At first meeting, Lady Alroy certainly intends to portray herself as a woman of
mystery. Her reasons for doing this are left ambiguous, which is likely a comment on
one of the nuances of women that men don't understand. What is clear, however, is that
her mysteriousness is exactly what attracts Gerald (and possibly other men) to her.
This seems to be the goal.
It does not seem like Wilde's
purpose for this story was to solve this particular mystery of
women. Instead, he simply intends to point out the irrationality of women who seek to
succeed in the game of attraction, and when they do, refuse to participate in the
resulting relationship. No matter what, these women are destructive. The story
suggests that the thrill of the chase will always end in disappointment, because whether
it ends in success (catching the man) or not, the chase must
end.
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