Part 1: A Comedy of Manners: The Importance of Being Earnest

Question 1

Read the excerpt from Act I of The Importance of Being Earnest.Jack. My dear Algy, you talk exactly as if you were a dentist. It is very vulgar to talk like a dentist when one isn’t a dentist. It produces a false impression.

Revolt · Accepted Answer

witty wordplay

Question 2

Which line from The Importance of Being Earnest is an example of a commentary on marriage?

Revolt · Accepted Answer

“The very essence of romance is uncertainty. If ever I get married, I’ll certainly try to forget the fact.”

Question 3

Jack.

Revolt · Accepted Answer

Algernon pokes fun at the fact that marriage in his society often is based on social rules, not romance.

Question 4

Lady Bracknell.

Revolt · Accepted Answer

her concern with a party instead of Mr. Bunbury’s health

Question 5

Read the excerpt from Act I of The Importance of Being Earnest.Jack. Oh, Gwendolen is as right as a trivet. As far as she is concerned, we are engaged. Her mother is perfectly unbearable. Never met such a Gorgon . . . I don’t really know what a Gorgon is like, but I am quite sure that Lady Bracknell is one. In any case, she is a monster, without being a myth, which is rather unfair . . . I beg your pardon, Algy, I suppose I shouldn’t talk about your own aunt in that way before you.Algernon. My dear boy, I love hearing my relations abused. It is the only thing that makes me put up with them at all. Relations are simply a tedious pack of people, who haven’t got the remotest knowledge of how to live, nor the smallest instinct about when to die.

Revolt · Accepted Answer

In traditional society, Algernon would be expected to defend his aunt. Instead, he speaks freely about his feelings toward family.

Question 6

Read this sentence from a report on Oscar Wilde.Oscar Wilde’s humor points out that many people are not who they appear to be, which is a critique on the emphasis placed on appearance in society.

Revolt · Accepted Answer

“Well, my name is Ernest in town and Jack in the country . . .”

Question 7

Jack.

Revolt · Accepted Answer

Gwendolen says that her brother proposes to all her friends.

Question 8

Read the excerpt from Act I of The Importance of Being Earnest.[Lady Bracknell.] I have always been of opinion that a man who desires to get married should know either everything or nothing. Which do you know?Jack. [After some hesitation.] I know nothing, Lady Bracknell.Lady Bracknell. I am pleased to hear it. I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever.

Revolt · Accepted Answer

education

Question 9

Which line from The Importance of Being Earnest shows the difference between city and country living?

Revolt · Accepted Answer

“When one is in town one amuses oneself. When one is in the country one amuses other people. It is excessively boring.”

Question 10

The tone of Oscar Wilde’s critique in The Importance of Being Earnest is

Revolt · Accepted Answer

humorous.

Part 1: A Comedy of Manners: The Importance of Being Earnest Answers

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