Ignorance is like a delicate fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone.".
Eventhough she is not conserned with his smoking or knowledge, she shows disapproval of his lack of having a real parent--something which is not even under his control. "May I ask what you would advise me to do? I need hardly say that I would do anything in the world to ensure Gwendolen's happiness." asks Jack. "I would strongly advise you, Mr. Worthing, to try and acquire some relations as soon as possible, and to make a definite effort to produce at any rate one parent, of either sex, before the season is quite over." This is, of course, impossible as Jack has no clue who his parents even are.
This absurd logic is quite a simple idea but is so incredibly ludicrias that it is funny. It plays a huge part in "The importance of Being Ernest" .
Now, you can plainly see that Lady Bracknell is asking him to do something that is literally impossible. But it is not that she is so against her Gwendolen being with Ernest, it is just that she wants him to have a parent, so she asks him to produce one. Quite the simple idea, but the logic is anything but correct, it is severely inverted, and plays a huge role in creating the comedy in "The Importance of Being Ernest". Another character that embraces inverted logic as though it was a way of life is Algernon Moncrieff. Algy, as he is called in the play, is the one of biggest contributors to Oscar Wilde's style of writing. He is the one that presents the idea of "Bunburying" in the first place, and sets the stage for all of the controversy that comes from it later on. Even though his logic is quite backwards various times in the story, it is always justified in his mind, or so it appears. Although, it is very interesting how he reacts in the end of his Bunbury when they are caught and called "cowards" by the ladies. You would think that when they get caught, they will give up the act and turn themselves in for whatever mercy they can manage.