Calling off the search for Virginia in order to eat a familial meal around the table—or procure a hat—seems bizarre. One should take care not to assign this entirely to the tale’s decorum-obsessed day and age, however. When Lady Dedlock disappears in Charles Dickens’
Bleak House, the need to attend to such customs disappears altogether. This abandonment of the proper way of doing things creates a moment of uniquely high drama. Wilde eschews this. Doing so lends a comic note, certainly, but it also should make the reader pause.