Wilde's Ending and Age

I found the end of this play very intriguing. The whole argument that Cecily, Lady Bracknell and Jack have about Cecily’s age was interesting to me. I could almost understand Cecily’s reasons behind saying, “Well, I am really only eighteen, but I always admit to twenty when I go to evening parties” (lines 240-241). But when Jack mentions that “Miss Cardew does not come legally of age till she is thirty-five” I was astounded (line 251-252).  How can they (these people in charge of Cecily, and more broadly men) be so controlling in someone’s life? It just does not seem fair. I know it probably was not too bizarre at the time, but now it seems so preposterous. This is when the absurdity of Wilde’s play comes back into play, when Lady Brackness cites other women in similar positions (lines 253-261). For as crazy as the reasons are for the marriage, Wilde makes the reader want Cecily to be able to marry Algernon. This age distraction is so typically Wilde that it gives the play a good ending.