How is the consumption of food used as a symbol in the play? What does food stand for in the play? How does Oscar Wilde use symbolism in his social commentary? Use examples from the play

In act one, we see Algernon eat all of the cucumber sandwiches meant for Lady Bracknell. He will not allow Jack to eat any of them. When Jack exclaims that Algernon has been eating them all along, Algernon says, "That is quite a different matter. She is my aunt." He offers Jack some bread and butter, telling him that Gwendolen (the woman Jack loves) "is devoted" to this particular food, and then when Jack begins to eat, Algernon says, "Well, my dear fellow, you need not eat as if you were going to eat it all. You behave as if you were married to her already." Algernon has, it seems, done the socially correct thing in ordering cucumber sandwiches to be made for his aunt, because she really likes them; however, he proceeds to eat every single one so that there are none left when she arrives. It is as though he only goes through the motions of propriety. Algernon doesn't particularly care for his Aunt Augusta, and he even tries to look for a reason to get out of dining with her. As it is, he can honestly say that he asked for cucumber sandwiches to be served, but he can deny her the enjoyment of them. Further, his comment that Jack is eating all of the bread and butter as though he were already married seems to imply that a married man might purposely eat all of his wife's favorite food in order to deny her the chance to enjoy it—as if this kind of behavior is common in a marriage!
Later in the play, we see Cecily and Gwendolen register their dislike of each other through food as well. When Cecily asks Gwendolen if she'd like sugar in her tea, Gwendolen icily responds that "Sugar is not fashionable any more," implying that Cecily, herself, is not fashionable. To retaliate, Cecily tacitly disrespects Gwendolen when she puts four lumps of sugar into the tea. Next, Gwendolen insults Cecily by telling her that "Cake is rarely seen in the best houses nowadays," when Cecily offers her a choice of cake or bread and butter. To retaliate, Cecily cuts her a large slice of cake. Everything spoken seems quite proper, but in denying Gwendolen the food and drink as she's requested it, Cecily registers her dislike of the other woman and insults her. Again, propriety seems to be upheld, on some level, but food is used almost as a weapon in the way it is altered or withheld.
We might say, then, food can be used as a way in which these upper-class characters can appear to be proper but can register their dislike or dissatisfaction with one another. Algernon orders the sandwiches but eats them all, denying his aunt the pleasure. Cecily offers Gwendolen the proper choices but thwarts her by giving her the opposite of what she's requested. We see how ridiculous the rules of propriety are for this class. During this era, of course, there are people dying in the street for want of food, and yet it is used as a figurative weapon for the members of the upper class to insult one another and/or deny one another pleasure. It is another way in which Wilde satirizes this class and makes them appear vapid and ridiculous.