Read the passage from the importance of being earnest.

algernon. i really don't see anything romantic in proposing. it is very romantic to be in love. but there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal. why, one may be accepted. one usually is, i believe. then the excitement is all over. the very essence of romance is uncertainty. if ever i get married, i'll certainly try to forget the fact.

in the passage, wilde uses to achieve an aesthetic impact.

edwards uses the phrase "o who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is! " in order to illustrate that this type of suffering is unimaginable. the word "express" denoted that the state of a suffering soul is required to be described by any person, but it would not happen because no one can imagine how this suffering is felt.  

-show what might happen if the reader disobeys edwards is not correct because this is described trhough the text, not by the phrase used.

-describe what endless suffering looks and feels like is not correct because this description might be the porpuse of the excerpt provided, not the porpuse of using the phrase during the writting.

-prove that few people have survived limitless suffering is not correct because it is implied that the soul of a person is already suffering and doesn't have any way to escape.