Read the statement from a paper on The Importance of Being Earnest.The Importance of Being Earnest contains the features of a comedy of manners.
deviceepigramjokepun
Read the passage from The Importance of Being Earnest.Lady Bracknell. . . . I think some preliminary inquiry on my part would not be out of place. Mr. Worthing, is Miss Cardew at all connected with any of the larger railway stations in London? I merely desire information. Until yesterday I had no idea that there were any families or persons whose origin was a Terminus.
Read the beginning of The Importance of Being Earnest.Title: The Importance of Being Earnestby Oscar WildeThe Persons in the PlayJohn Worthing, J.P.Algernon MoncrieffRev. Canon Chasuble, D.D.Merriman, ButlerLane, ManservantLady BracknellHon. Gwendolen FairfaxCecily CardewMiss Prism, GovernessFirst ActSCENEMorning-room in Algernon’s flat in Half-Moon Street. The room is luxuriously and artistically furnished. The sound of a piano is heard in the adjoining room.[Lane is arranging afternoon tea on the table, and after the music has ceased, Algernon enters.]Algernon. Did you hear what I was playing, Lane?Lane. I didn’t think it polite to listen, sir.
Miss Prism. . . . The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means.How does the epigram affect this scene?
How does Wilde poke fun at Victorian society in the passage? Select three answers.
analytical datapersonal anecdotesrhetorical devicesstatistical evidence
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.
The tone of Oscar Wilde’s critique in The Importance of Being Earnest is
Which line from Act I of The Importance of Being Earnest is a paradox?
A type of wordplay that relies on two words that sound the same or a single word that has two distinct meanings is called a(n)
Which two definitions of the word little does the pun in this excerpt rely on?
Which of these are features of a comedy of manners? Select four answers. witty wordplayscientific explanationsconcern with appearancesdifferences between social classesdifferences between country and city life
A writer should use a reciprocal pronoun when
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.
Which excerpt from Act I of The Importance of Being Earnest. is an understatement?
Read the passage from The Importance of Being Earnest.Gwendolen. Let us preserve a dignified silence.Cecily. Certainly. It’s the only thing to do now. [Enter Jack followed by Algernon. They whistle some dreadful popular air from a British Opera.]Gwendolen. This dignified silence seems to produce an unpleasant effect.Cecily. A most distasteful one.Gwendolen. But we will not be the first to speak.Cecily. Certainly not.Gwendolen. Mr. Worthing, I have something very particular to ask you. Much depends on your reply.
Read the passage from The Importance of Being Earnest.Gwendolen. [To Jack.] Darling!Algernon. [To Cecily.] Darling! [They fall into each other's arms.][Enter Merriman. When he enters he coughs loudly, seeing the situation.]Merriman. Ahem! Ahem! Lady Bracknell!Jack. Good heavens![Enter Lady Bracknell. The couples separate in alarm. Exit Merriman.]Lady Bracknell. Gwendolen! What does this mean?
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